SEMANTIC ENIGMAS



What is the origin of the phrase "Scot-free"? IN MACBETH you may recall the line "We have Scotched the snake, not killed it" - which means that the snake is scratched, or injured. So the original expression "Scotch Free" meant uninjured or even unmarked; it very quickly became Scot-Free because of colloquial speech. Paul Keenan, London (mbi@btinternet.com) "SKOT" was an early Icelandic and Old Norse word for "payment" or "tax". It came into Middle English as "bescot", referring specifically to a customary tax paid to a lord, bailiff, or sheriff, and into Old French as "escot", and ultimately into modern English as "scot". Thus "scot-free" literally means "exempt from tax"; it has since been broadened to indicate "exempt from punishment" - as in "the prisoner got off scot-free". W. V. Dunlap, Hamden, Connecticut, USA (dunlap@quinnipiac.edu)



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