AD (728x90)

Monday 28 January 2013

WORD FOR THE DAY: COLLINS

Share it Please

Your word for today is: Collins, n.1

Collinsn.1
[‘A letter of thanks for entertainment or hospitality, sent by a departed guest; a ‘bread-and-butter’ letter.’]
Pronunciation:/kɒlɪnz/
Etymology: < the name of a character, William Collins, in Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice (ch. xxii).
  A letter of thanks for entertainment or hospitality, sent by a departed guest; a ‘bread-and-butter’ letter.
1904 Chambers's Jrnl. 27 Aug. 611/2 When we do not call a letter of thanks for a visit ‘a board and lodging’, we call it a ‘Collins’.
1907  Lady Grove Social Fetich 74 The ‘Collins’ letter I had dutifully bored my hostess with.
1911  W. A. Raleigh Lett. (1926) 375 This is only a Collins, and a Collins should not wade into deep places. It should be loving but neat.
1926  R. Bridges Henry Bradley ii. 19 Wherever I can I shall let him speak for himself, and..group the quotations from his letters under subjects..This first Collins will serve to prelude them.
1940  W. de la Mare Pleasures & Speculations 327 The amateur composer even of a Collins or bread-and-butter letter realizes that his mother tongue is a stubborn means for the communication of gratitude.

Written by

Native English Spain is dedicated to make learning English simple, fun and affordable for Spanish people.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

© 2013 NATIVE ENGLISH SPAIN. All rights resevered. Designed by GauravVish | Templateism