Words about words: A term that took the long way into English

M. Michael Brady Asker, Norway Outdoor drying of fish using sun and wind is a method of food preservation that has been practiced since ancient times. So the words associated with fish drying reveal much about the cultures and movements of fishing peoples through time. An outstanding example is fish flake, the term in English for an outdoor structure for open-air drying of fish. The two words of it attest to its Nordic heritage. The word fish is derived from a shared Teutonic word, fisc in Old English and fiskr in Old Norse. It migrated well into English, as English speakers and Nordic-language speakers interacted through the centuries. The word flake is derived from the Old Norse fleke, the name for a hurdle, which is a rectangular frame