"palfrey" = medieval warhorse; charger

[Jonathan Lighter]

Well, some aviators demonstrated some chivalry on the ground. When the Red
Baron was shot down behind British lines, an RFC officer ordered a full
military funeral for him as an honorable and outstanding fellow aviator.
That sort of thing.

CNN was unvailable to poll the feelings of other airmen at the event.

JL


On Fri, Jul 10, 2009 at 1:00 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: "palfrey" = medieval warhorse; charger
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 7/9/2009 07:55 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> >She may have strained for "palfrey" because it sounds so much more
> medieval.
> >As it relates to WW1 aviators, the knightly image itself has been trite
> for
> >over ninety years now.
> >
> >And it was not true of aerial combat anyway.
>
> Are you telling Virginia that Snoopy is not real?  How cruel!  My
> (World War I) hero!
>
> Joel
>
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