English questions

[Raphael]

Is there a connection between the English word "buffoon" and the great, but often sadly mistaken, French scientist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon?

[WeepingElf]

Is there a connection between the English word "buffoon" and the great, but often sadly mistaken, French scientist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon?

No, I don't think so. The English word is a loan from French bouffon, I guess.

[zompist]

Is there a connection between the English word "buffoon" and the great, but often sadly mistaken, French scientist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon?

No, I don't think so. The English word is a loan from French bouffon, I guess.

Wikipedia claims that the French town Buffon (source of the noble title) "takes its name from 'bis fon' which means two fountains". I'd take that with a carload of salt, but I couldn't find any alternative explanations.

[Raphael]

Is there an English word for "pissup" where you're not expected to bleep it out in supposedly "family-friendly" contexts?

[Man in Space]

Is there an English word for "pissup" where you're not expected to bleep it out in supposedly "family-friendly" contexts?

Yes, the word “pissup” itself. It does not seem to be considered coarse up here.

[Darren]

Is there an English word for "pissup" where you're not expected to bleep it out in supposedly "family-friendly" contexts?

Booze-up.

[Raphael]

Thank you!

[Raphael]

Do I get this right that "baron" is, in some contexts, kind of the prototypical English language noble title? That is, I've got the impression that, when people talk about how, in the old days, countries used to be ruled by kings and nobles, this is usually phrased as "kings and barons", not "kings and counts", or "kings and dukes". Is that true? If so, why?

[linguistcat]

Do I get this right that "baron" is, in some contexts, kind of the prototypical English language noble title? That is, I've got the impression that, when people talk about how, in the old days, countries used to be ruled by kings and nobles, this is usually phrased as "kings and barons", not "kings and counts", or "kings and dukes". Is that true? If so, why?

I'd personally phrase it "kings and lords", and do not have experience hearing that specific phrase, but I'm also American. Maybe it's more typical in British English?

[Travis B.]

"Lord" seems more prototypical to me than "baron" myself, so I'd go with "kings and lords".

[Raphael]

Thank you!

[Moose-tache]

"Baron" was used in some cases as a short hand for nobility. E.g., The Barons' War did not exclusively involve barons. This is probably because barons, being the lowest rank of the nobility, are the most numerous. But at least in modern society, these details are pretty obscure. Most Brits are only vaguely aware of what a baron is compared to other ranks, and most Americans couldn't tell a viscount from their elbow. The "kings and nobles" or "kings and lords" phrases work better.

[bradrn]

I’ve definitely heard ‘baron’ as a metonym for the mediaeval aristocracy: e.g. I recall a reference in T.H. White’s The Once and Future King to ‘the old Merry England, when the rosy barons ate with their fingers’. I suspect it has to do with their numbers, as Moose-tache said; also, as the lowest rank, I can speculate that ordinary people would have had more contact with them. Besides, ‘kings and barons’ makes a certain sense in and of itself, as it mentions both the highest and the lowest ranks.

[Raphael]

Thank you, too!

[Raphael]

Would you see it as weird or unusual to italicize to words in a row, but for different reasons, not as one phrase?

[bradrn]

Would you see it as weird or unusual to italicize to words in a row, but for different reasons, not as one phrase?

I don’t understand this question; could you give an example please?

[Raphael]

I don’t understand this question; could you give an example please?

Sorry, I can't think of a concrete example right now.

[zompist]

Would you see it as weird or unusual to italicize to words in a row, but for different reasons, not as one phrase?

Yes, I'd probably re-word to avoid it.

An example might be "Is Pierrot le Fou de trop?" where one bit is italicized as a title and one bit as a foreign phrase.

[TomHChappell]

I use one kind of distinguishing for one of them, and a different kind for the other.
For instance, italicize one, but underline the other.
Other possibilities are;
* boldface one
* write one in ALL CAPS
* write one in a different color
etc.

[Raphael]

Thank you!