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Sunday, November 14, 2010

The History of the Grieving Widow

Another interesting look into etymology!

Grieving Widow. A saddened woman mourning the recent death of her husband.

From ancient Etruscan times to the 18th century, soldiers wore protective leather or cloth leggings called "greaves." When soldiers died in battle, their widows back home then earned their living cutting and sewing greaves for other soldiers. They became known as "greaving widows," which later evolved into "grieving widows."

(Information provided by “The Complete Footwear Dictionary: Second Edition” by Dr. William A. Rossi, 2000.)

8 comments:

  1. That's neat-o. What prompted you to look into that?

    Btw, you misspelled "Grieving" in the bold section.

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  2. Huh...that's pretty interesting!

    Hey.....I wonder if we did a piece on Manalo Blahnik if maybe we'd be noted as publicists and awarded with oh ionno.....something nice in appreciation for our wonderfulness....like something with heels..... >.>

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  3. Matt...since I've started assisting Libby Brouwer with her new website "A Vintage Sole" and writing a some shoe copy writes for her, I have had to do quite a bit of shoes research. Hence, "The Complete Footwear Dictionary" and all these random facts that connect to shoes.

    djpr...I wish! yes, something with heels would be very nice.

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  4. That's an intriguing anecdote. I should post some things from my Stupid History book in my own blog...

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  5. I know that shoes are an important part of the story of the world, but is it possible that one can draw a line from all the most important words in the English language to something shoe-related? In my narrow little mind I am beginning to think this is quite possible.

    But in all seriousness, this is very neat piece of knowledge. I was wondering, however, would this fun fact make a good icebreaker at a party I am attending tonight? Please advise.

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  6. I don't know about that lol. Maybe if everybody is really in the mood or someone so happens to ask "Hmmm...grieving is such a starnge word. I wonder where it somes from." Other than that, I advise that you only tell a select few, as to not kill the buzz of the party when everyone stops to give you confused looks. :) Unless that is your intention. Then, tell away.

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  7. I've done that before. Just stopped an entire party. It's scary. Everyone looks at you and you don't know what to say next. Ahhhhh!

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