I am such a librarian
So I was browsing through an author's journal last night looking for fanfic (yes, my guilty pleasure) when I noticed a post in which she linked to an article referencing a "bastard child" and went off in a righteous rant about how we should be beyond attaching insulting names to children born out of wedlock, and how it was the father who should be called a bastard, and not the child.
While I agree with the sentiment, I immediately was compelled to write a reply pointing out that 'bastard' is actually a word that means 'a child born out of wedlock' and that the use of it as an insult came later. Literally, in fact, it is someone who is a product of 'excesses of the pack-saddle' and was a shortened form of the phrase 'fils de bast' meaning 'child of the pack-saddle', referring to the fact that medieval muleteers would use their pack-saddle as bedding in inns and taverns while on the road, and thus the pack-saddle was the site of many indiscretions with tavern wenches.
Um, yeah. The librarian instincts run deep.
While I agree with the sentiment, I immediately was compelled to write a reply pointing out that 'bastard' is actually a word that means 'a child born out of wedlock' and that the use of it as an insult came later. Literally, in fact, it is someone who is a product of 'excesses of the pack-saddle' and was a shortened form of the phrase 'fils de bast' meaning 'child of the pack-saddle', referring to the fact that medieval muleteers would use their pack-saddle as bedding in inns and taverns while on the road, and thus the pack-saddle was the site of many indiscretions with tavern wenches.
Um, yeah. The librarian instincts run deep.