Why do we say that a person is trying to "curry favor"?
Question
#126334. Asked by star_gazer. (Jul 03 12 8:08 PM)
unterkircher
It seems the "curry" has nothing to do with spices and instead refers to "currying" like brushing a horse's coat. The "favor" part has been mispronounced and is actually "favel".
John Palsgrave's Lesclarcissement de la langue françoyse [The clarification of the French language], 1530, records a curryfavell as 'a flatterar'.
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