View Single Post
  #1   Report Post  
Old 31-07-2003, 03:03 AM
Iris Cohen
 
Posts: n/a
Default Why do wiseacres crack?

You know that the world is nearing the end of time when you pause and wonder
why stamens is not spelled stamina.

It's the same word. Stamina is the Latin plural of stamen, meaning a thread. It
received the separate meaning of endurance in 1726, being derived from the
thread of life spun by the Three Fates. Since stamen is now an English word, it
becomes plural in English by adding an s.
Iris,
Central NY, Zone 5a, Sunset Zone 40
"If we see light at the end of the tunnel, It's the light of the oncoming
train."
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)