Do you happen to know whether "smarm" (OED etym. obscure) has anything to do with marmalade (OED etym. quince-ade)? (I assume Marmite had one or the other in mind.) Not that it should, it is a perfectly good bit of onomatopoeia...
I have no good answer for that, but after pondering OED entries, it certainly seems possible: the underlying root for marmalade goes back to the word for honey. Ask someone who knows Old English, though!
Do you happen to know whether "smarm" (OED etym. obscure) has anything to do with marmalade (OED etym. quince-ade)? (I assume Marmite had one or the other in mind.) Not that it should, it is a perfectly good bit of onomatopoeia...
ReplyDeleteI have no good answer for that, but after pondering OED entries, it certainly seems possible: the underlying root for marmalade goes back to the word for honey. Ask someone who knows Old English, though!
ReplyDelete