Date:  Thu, 9 Nov 1995 08:54:53 EST

From:  Larry Horn <LHORN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALEVM.CIS.YALE.EDU>

Subject: Re: No 'friend of yours'



Seth writes:



----------------------------Original message----------------------------





>My sister, who was a Phi Beta Kappa (they must have been desperate that year)

>took great delight in correcting people. One of her favorites was:

>"It's my forte," which she insisted was pronounced (fort) and not (fortay).

> (Fortay) is an Italian musical term.

> She had no friends.



No need to ask Phi Beta Kappa to reclaim your sister's award. In fact,

etymologically speaking, your sister was right. The expression you cite

is a calque on the French "C'est mon fort" (it's/that's my strong point)

and has no direct connection with the Italian 'forte', although the latter is

obviously a cognate of Fr. _fort_, both from Lat. _fortis_. Somewhere along

the way, the spelling was changed to _forte_, perhaps through a folk etymology

with the more familiar musical term.

  On the other hand, both Webster's and the OED give _knarled_ as a now

obsolete variant of _gnarled_, so maybe _knarly_ is historically correct (or

at least attestable).



   Larry