https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/11/13/the-tragical-death-of-an-apple-pie-c/ In the midst of life I woke to find myself living in an old house beside Brick Lane in the East End of London Fri, 09 Dec 2022 08:29:14 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.4 https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/11/13/the-tragical-death-of-an-apple-pie-c/#comment-1493847 Fri, 09 Dec 2022 08:29:14 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=193741#comment-1493847 Re Charlotte’s comment, it’s interesting to see that the word ‘farthing’ comes from the old English ‘fēorth’ …(fourth), a farthing or ‘farden’ being a quarter of an old penny. And yes, we all said ‘ha’penny’ pronouncing it ‘hape-nee ’ back in the day!

]]> https://spitalfieldslife.com/2022/11/13/the-tragical-death-of-an-apple-pie-c/#comment-1491191 Sun, 13 Nov 2022 11:05:28 +0000 https://spitalfieldslife.com/?p=193741#comment-1491191 A “farden” was a (mispronounced) farthing, not a halfpenny. Collins describes the word as a dialect one but I think that’s going too far; a soft “d” in the middle would sound very similar to “th”, and the “en” ending suggests a dropped “g” to me. But then, I’m not a lexicographer! It’s like pronouncing “halfpenny” as “ha’penny”, which most people did in my young day, before decimalisation.

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