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Pastimes : SI Grammar and Spelling Lab

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To: Janice Shell who wrote (138)	1/2/1998 5:02:00 PM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) of 4710

"Fogey" may have something to do with "foggy" or possibly with the idea of being covered with moss or slime. It was used in the eighteenth century for retired soldiers. I think the general idea is somewhat like being stuck in the mud or lost in the fog--left in past. My penultimate vocabulary acquisition was "swashbuckling"--brought up last week on "Prairie Home Companion." That comes from "buckler" --or shield--plus to "swash" or to bang on. So a swashbuckler goes around banging his shield with his sword. His or her shield, I mean. Maybe an old fogey is a former swashbuckler.

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