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From: jschmitz@qis.net (JoAnne Schmitz)
Subject: Re: Sm|rg}sbord (was: Re: Dialling (was Re: Is '#' a "pound sign" or what?))
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Date: Sun, 3 Mar 1996 18:22:16 GMT
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mcv@pi.net (Miguel Carrasquer Vidal) wrote:

>cindy@nvg.unit.no (Cindy Kandolf) wrote:

>>A "sm|rg}sbord" is a sandwich table,
>>i.e. a table with slices of bread and the butter, meats, cheeses,
>>fish, etc. to put on top.  The word has been Americanized to
>>"smorgasbord", which as i said ironically is used for any sort of
>>help-yourself, all-you-can eat serving situation, even when it doesn't
>>involve sandwich material of any type.

>>I think guest in Swedish is "g{st"/"gaest", which isn't all the
>>similar.

>But what does <gaas> mean?  My very limited pocket dictionary suggests
>"goose".  That would make <smoergaas> "goose fat" or "butter goose".
>That makes some kind of sense to me, since the Dutch term for
>"sandwich" is <boterham>, or "butter ham".  And goose fat is of course
>a delicacy.

And is this related to "German smearcase" cheese?

JoAnne "not German enough to recognize goose fat cheese when I see it"
Schmitz
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