Subject: Coin-toss brew today
From: pedregal@eternity.cs.umass.edu (Message Meister)
Date: Mon, 4 Mar 1996 09:53:01 -0500 (EST)


Greetings and salutations.  Today, some history on the word "coffee".

But first, a word from our sponsors.  The MMC's revenues are threatened,
and we have to do more with less.  Thus, we are trying modern manufacturing
techniques and using "just-in-time-brewing."  Also, this week we will try
adding a game of chance to encourage attendance: coin-toss brew.  The Czar
will brew two different brands for each of the three kinds of coffee.  Come
show your tasting prowess!  Impress your friends and colleagues as a coffee
connoisseur!

Would one be as ready to drink _chaoua_, _kauhi_, or _coffa_ as _coffee_?

Most of these exotic early forms of our word reflect the fact that coffee,
though a normal accompaniment to the life of many English speakers, was
originally an exotic substance.  Coffee came to Europe from the Middle East,
where its name was _qahveh_, an Ottoman Turkish pronunciation of Arabic
_qahwah_, the Turks having borrowed the word and the drink from the
Arabs. The first three forms cited above show the influence of the Middle
Eastern words for coffee. Our form _coffee_ results from combining _caffe`_,
the italian version of the Middle Eastern word, and the vowel of the Middle
Eastern word, represented by _o_. _Coffee_ is first recorded in English in
1601 with the spelling _coffe_.

_The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language_,  Third Edition,
Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York.

Credits: last week's spoof came from the Net, author unknown. Thanks to Jitu
(Jitendra Padhye) for the just-in-time observation.