Smith and Smithy (unsolicited English lesson)

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Parashooter
Posts: 706
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2010 5:14 am
Location: Kragmudgeon House, CT

Smith and Smithy (unsolicited English lesson)

Post by Parashooter »

Just saw another post using "smithy" as a familiar/diminutive term for a gunsmith. This hurts my brain because the word actually means something different - a place, not a person. (Not as bad as toddler nicknames like "Winnie" and "Remmie", but still dismaying. Thank Odin we've not seen "Kraggie" here!) :oops: :roll:

smith noun
A metalworker, especially one who works metal when it is hot and malleable. Often used in combination: a silversmith; a goldsmith.

smithy noun
A blacksmith's shop; a forge. [Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]

I sometimes wonder if the confusion comes from those who know only the first two lines of Longfellow's poem - forgetting the next lines.

Under a spreading chestnut tree
The village smithy stands;
The smith, a mighty man is he,
With large and sinewy hands; . . .

Knute1
Posts: 1077
Joined: Sat Sep 10, 2016 3:22 am

Re: Smith and Smithy (unsolicited English lesson)

Post by Knute1 »

I was never into poetry,
But I liked geometry. :P
I'd leave poems to others,
Since I have my own druthers.
Good at rhymes I'm not,
So I'll end this with a dot.

Sorry folks, I was put into an artistic moment. Now my head hurts.

FredC
Posts: 1991
Joined: Fri May 31, 2013 4:38 pm
Location: Dewees Texas

Re: Smith and Smithy (unsolicited English lesson)

Post by FredC »

KCA is a learning place when it is not being spammed. The English language changes fairly quickly, some words mean the opposite of what they did 400 years ago, so I decided to check "smithy definition" in yahoo, the first 6 or 7 definitions agree with your explanation. The eighth may have been going in the direction of a "word smith"? I did not bother looking it up. I wish I did not forget things faster than I learn them now, otherwise I would a smart cookie.

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