"palfrey" = medieval warhorse; charger

[Joel S. Berson]

At 7/9/2009 05:09 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

>2003 Lorrie Goldensohn _Dismantling Glory_ (N.Y.: Columbia U.P.) 75:
>[P]ilots fought each other [in WW1] from airborne palfreys like medieval
>knights.
>
>Professor Goldensohn taught English literature for many years at Vassar
>College. Her 1992 biography of Elizabeth Bishop was nominated for a
>Pultizer.

Jon, is this here because the truth is the opposite -- a palfrey
being "A horse for ordinary riding (as distinct from a warhorse);
esp. a small saddle horse for a woman."?  (Otherwise, once she gets
the carrier right, I like the image.)

Reminds me of the author who wrote that in colonial times it was
expected that good teachers would drive out bad -- "a kind of
academic Gresham's Law" (which I presented here just last week).

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org