Quotes, Word, other Miscellaneous: April 2005 Archives

John Paul traveled the equivalent of 30 times the circumference of the earth during his reign.

colporteur (KAWL-por-tuhr) noun

A peddler of religious books.

[From French colporteur (peddler), from col (neck) + porter (to carry), from Latin portare, from the idea of a peddler carrying his wares in a bag hung around his neck. Ultimately from Indo-European root per- (to lead, pass over) that gave us other words such as support, comport, petroleum, sport, passport, Swedish fartlek (a training technique), Norwegian fjord (bay), and Sanskrit parvat (mountain).]

"By then, because a Seventh-Day Adventist colporteur had come into
Croscombe selling religious tracts, his parents had joined that Church,
and Hardy became a keen member of it."
The Rev Bertram Hardy; The Times (London, UK); Mar 27, 2003.

[Excerpted from A Word A Day]

Do they really check your signature on credit card transactions? You can find the entertaining answer here.

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This page is a archive of entries in the Quotes, Word, other Miscellaneous category from April 2005.

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