Once I figured out that you don't actually pronounce the 'c' in armscye, it started to make sense. Kinda. The OED* basically tells us what we already know - that it's the armhole of a garment. Yeah. Knew that. And I can actually get that Arm's + Eye gets you to the opening your arm goes through in a piece of clothing. But where did the 'c' come from?? That I couldn't find. So I made it up.
Here's my story... I'm thinkin' some woman, after being up before dawn, cooking a full meal, getting her children and husband ready for the day, plowing the fields, feeding the animals, hiking miles to get the supplies for the week, coming home and then cooking another meal, then sitting down by candlelight to make another shirt for whichever child or spouse needed it most - well, I'm thinkin' and even hopin' she had a little snort of whiskey in her tea that night, and when she went to write down directions to pass down to her daughter, well, she wrote 'a-r-m-s-c-y-e', then took another good pull of that whiskey, then just plum forgot to go back and make sure that the cross mark on that first 'e' was obvious. So it just stayed lookin' like a 'c' instead of an 'e'. So we get a word that looks nothing like it sounds and means exactly what it sounds like. And I don't blame her one bit, and I now really kinda like her and her word... a lot. So that's my made up story about the etymology of 'armscye', and me, I'm stickin' to it.
Now... wanna see mine?
*The OED, or Oxford English Dictionary, is a really, really, big, no - huge dictionary that gives not only the definition of words but tells you where they came from. I used to want one of my very own until I found out that a new one costs almost $1000. Really. Not a typo. One thousand dollars for a dictionary.
Very clever. You could probably work for the OED and then you'd get a discount. ;-)
Posted by: Carole | May 03, 2006 at 11:00 PM
Makes perfect sense to me.
Posted by: Stephanie | May 04, 2006 at 11:52 AM
Yeah, but what a dictionary.
Your armscye looks lovely, and what a great story!
Posted by: | May 04, 2006 at 03:09 PM
I'll stick with my pocket Webster's! This sweater is smashing, can't wait to see it completed!
Posted by: Debi | May 04, 2006 at 10:06 PM
That's a great story, and I SURE it's 100% truish =)*) I like your blog too!
Posted by: April | May 04, 2006 at 11:00 PM
It's a good dictionary though! I wonder how many 'odd' spellings exist because of dodgy handwriting! Or too many snorts of whisky...
Posted by: Anita | May 06, 2006 at 06:53 AM
I'm right there with you for the dictionary lust - I want one of those so badly! But I want some distant relative to will it to me - I don't want to plonk down $1000 either. I can't wait to see your finished Eloise. She's looking beautiful - like something right out of a Rowan magazine!
Posted by: Sarah | May 09, 2006 at 07:42 PM
I think I'm going to like your story better than whatever the real story is. Eloise is looking pretty!
Posted by: Sarah | May 10, 2006 at 03:39 PM
Check out "The Professor and the Madman" for a great history of the OED. So. Good.
Posted by: elisa | May 11, 2006 at 10:56 PM
Nice story! I wonder how many farmwives have whisky on their sewing/knitting tables now... ;o)
Posted by: rhelynn | May 13, 2006 at 07:02 PM
I've got one! (OED) Couresy of my sil getting one that doesn't need a magnifying glass to look up words & definitions.
Noah Webster basically went and invented Americanized spelling with his dictionary. That's why us Yanks dropped the "u's" in colour, etc.
Posted by: Carrie K | May 19, 2006 at 06:42 PM
Hehe...you crack me up!
Posted by: Becky | June 03, 2006 at 11:14 AM