Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Where's Charlee?

Here's an item of surpassing triviality and obscurity. My friend Swifty down in Alabama is chortling over how folks down his way refer to a prominent cattle breed as the "Charlee." The correct name, Swifty declares, is the " Charolais."

I was about to tell him he was wrong--that the correct name is neither "Charlee" nor "Charolais," but "Charleroi." Lucky for me I checked Wiki first. Turns out that "Charolais" is indeed a breed of cattle while "Charleroi" is (inter alia) a city.

I have assumed, without knowing, that "Charleroi" is a corruption of "Charles, le Roi," i.e., "Charles the King." Anyone know whether I am right?

Okay, return to your former dull, meaningless lives. There won't be a quiz.

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