Scavenger

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Slava
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Scavenger

Postby Slava » Thu Dec 14, 2023 8:29 am

It's come a long way from its original meaning. I wonder how many such words have not devolved into meaning something much lower.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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bbeeton
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Re: Scavenger

Postby bbeeton » Thu Dec 14, 2023 12:46 pm

Slava, you're tantalizing us, or are you sending us on a scavenger hunt?
(And that is *surely* not the original meaning of "scavenger".)
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Slava
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Re: Scavenger

Postby Slava » Thu Dec 14, 2023 1:15 pm

The original scavenger was the person who collected the fees for outsiders to sell their wares in the city. Then it became the person in charge of cleaning the streets. Now its a ... .
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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DerekB
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Re: Scavenger

Postby DerekB » Thu Dec 21, 2023 4:54 am

Quite right, but the Dec 20 Good Word lists the first meaning as "British) A street cleaner". To the best of my knowledge, the street cleaner meaning is no longer current in Britain and has not been for a very long time.
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