OT trick or treat

Posted by Ginger in CA on November 2, 2009, 8:34 am

I know what a mathom is. People have told me "it's an East Coast
thing". Dunno. My parents were from Pennsylvania, and there were many
phrases we grew up with, considered them normal [whatever that is!]

Ginger in CA

wrote:
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Posted by Dr. Zachary Smith on November 2, 2009, 8:53 am

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AFAIK, it's strictly a J.R.R. Tolkien thing. It may have entered
different fans' vocabularies from there.

Doc

Posted by Leslie& The Furbabies in MO. on November 2, 2009, 10:42 am

I just *had* to look it up- I tried resisting since this thread first
started. I don't need any more little factoids crowding my poor pea-brain!

According to "Michael Quinion writes on international English from a British
viewpoint"-

"This word is hardly new, since it was used by J R R Tolkien at the
beginning of the first volume of the Lord of the Rings, published in 1954.
As with so many unfamiliar words in his works, he derived it from Old
English, in this case the one usually written maðm, "a precious thing,
treasure, valuable gift", that was current in about the year 1000. Following
Tolkien, it has gained significant currency online and in a few printed
sources. To define the modern meaning, I can do no better than quote
Professor Tolkien's own words: "Anything that Hobbits had no immediate use
for, but were unwilling to throw away, they called a mathom. Their dwellings
were apt to become rather crowded with mathoms, and many of the presents
that passed from hand to hand were of that sort". It's a useful little word
for which there seems no simple alternative and now that we have come across
it, mathom will no doubt become part of our family's standard vocabulary,
since we have an attic full of the stuff."

So now I have one more thing I will forget as soon as I need to remember
it..... and I have LOTS of mathoms hanging around my house. Most seem to be
in my quilting studio! LOL

Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.

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AFAIK, it's strictly a J.R.R. Tolkien thing. It may have entered
different fans' vocabularies from there.

Doc

Posted by Sandy E on November 2, 2009, 11:28 am

Howdy!

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Tolkien readers.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the treats are gone, the
trick was to see every trick-or-treater, 'cause they were all
great fun and everyone had a good time.

Today: of all the skads of ideas, which quilt to start next?
Scrappy? Wizard of Oz fabrics? Scrappy?

R/Sandy

On 11/1/09 10:03 PM, in article
8f5c879a-4bc4-48ac-8d95-8675fab48a3c@g23g2000yqh.googlegroups.com, "Dr.

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Posted by Kate XXXXXX on November 2, 2009, 11:47 am

Sandy E wrote:
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How about a scrappy Wizard of Oz quilt? ;)

--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

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