From: "Jack Fallin" <jakff@astound.net> > Having touched off the grand and great expedition through aunts and > uncles (I think the Wizard of Oz might have been "the Great and > Grand"?), I'll toss in another element on the discussion of how > friend might be linked to relation. It may not be that the word is > merely "general purpose." In Norwegian (and I believe in Danish as > well) the "frende" has the now archaic meaning of "kinsman, relative; > (pl) kindred." Even today, to be "frendelaus" [friendless] is to be > "without relatives." Both the Norse and the Danes packed quite a few > words into English -- so the lingering flavor of relations, stronger > in the past, likely has firm roots. > > Jack Fallin Thank you. You've given me hope. :-) :-) Joe Lake