Hi to all, it seems that I found another uncommon English word, and surely it will happen again in the future. That is no fault of mine, it's due to these Vikings (or Normans). 1000 years ago we spoke nearly the same language. Then William the conqueror landed in England and the Anglosaxons incorporated a lot of French words and structures in their language. To date I did not get accustomed to this :) I learned a new vocable - whalebone -, and from your mails I know something more about corsets. I return the favour by granting a new German style English word: whalebonecorsetsmanufactory. * Dieter