Saturday 12 March 2016

Scholemeister Gibbe tries to stem the tide of change in language



In the Saxon monasterye ye scholemeister Gibbe hears yonge man seyinge "They ware goode the beans, they ware.'
Gibbe is much wrothe: 'What is thisse 'they' of whiche ye speke? It is a filthy danish worde. We Saxonen say 'he' for all. There is no 'they'.'
'I am full sorry Meister Gibbe,' say the yonge man, 'it will not happne agayne.'
'Indeede it will not,' say Meister Gibbe, 'we shall not hear it spoken in this lande ever agayne.' '


[update: in case you were wondering: "The third person plural pronoun 'they', is of Scandinavian origin (Jespersen)"]