Wednesday 30 October 2013

For Frances


Conker: noun British
  • the hard, shiny dark brown nut of a horse chestnut tree.
  • (conkers) [treated as singular] a children’s game in which each has a conker on the end of a string and takes turns in trying to break another’s with it.

Origin:

mid 19th century (a dialect word denoting a snail shell, with which the game, or a form of it, was originally played): perhaps from conch, but associated with (and frequently spelled) conquer in the 19th and early 20th cents: an alternative name was conquerors

2 comments:

Jane and Chris said...

In the grocery store with Chris lat Saturday, I spied chestnuts. In my loudest five year old voice I yelled..."Look, CONKERS!".
Dare I go back?
Jane x

Left-Handed Housewife said...

Thank you, Mags! I think Chestnut trees are a thing of the past here in the States (the American Chestnut having died out awhile back). That might explain my ignorance.

Conkers do look fun!

xofrances

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