What the heck does 'gourmand' mean, anyway?

Posted Jan 23rd 2008 3:00PM by Ellen Slattery
Filed under: Books, Raves & Reviews, America

Anu Garg's new book, "The Dord, The Diglot, and an Avocado or Two: The Hidden Lives and Strange Origins of Common and Not-so-common Words" combines two of my favorite things: food and etymology. Bibliophiles might know Garg from Wordsmith, his 600,000-subscriber word-a-day e-mail system.

Now, while the book isn't entirely about food, Garg, a vegan, devotes one entire chapter to the meaning behind food words (gourmand, by the way, comes from the word gormant, which means glutton - share that one at your next dinner party!)

Some other fun word origins? 'Calzone' means 'trouser leg,' 'taco' means 'plug' or 'wad' (ew), and a 'trencherman' is a hearty eater. Hey - what about us trencherwomen? Check out the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's review of the book for more.

So, next time you're gathered postprandial, use this book as fodder in your conversation about aristology to impress your guests.

Tags: Anu Garg, AnuGarg, book, etymology, origin, vocabulary, words

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

1-23-2008 @ 4:09PM

Henmei said...

I know that this will shock many pretentious types who always thought that gourmand was the French way to say gourmet.

1-23-2008 @ 6:40PM

Jonathan said...

I always thought gourmand was a food aficionado, whereas a gourmet would be a wine aficionade. Is that right?

1-24-2008 @ 10:12AM

Kathy said...

This was given as a gift and passed around at Christmas. I really enjoy the words in it. Anu Garg's love language and words produces yet another delightful tidbit of lexographic bliss. And it is amusing, informative, and something I can browse through with ease. Perplexing at times, but fully readable fun. I think if you love words, their origins and use, this book was written for you: http://dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?deal_id=79889&ru=279

1-24-2008 @ 1:10PM

DK said...

I only knew what gourmand meant because I dated one. He was a pig and ate *all* the mashed potatoes at my Thanksgiving dinner before anyone else had a chance to have any. He was history after that...

1-25-2008 @ 12:56PM

B said...

A gourmet is a food afficinado, a gourmand is a person who overindulges in food.

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