To: Libloather
Meanwhile, no one seems to notice that Sandy Berger has gotten off scot-free also.
For the curious:
Like "hopscotch", this word for "without incurring any penalty" has no connection with frugal Scotsmen. In 12th-century England, a "scot" or "sceot" was a municipal tax paid to the local bailiff or sheriff (the word came from an Old Norse cognate of "shoot"/"shot", and meant "money thrown down").
The word "scot-free", which is recorded from the 13th century, referred to someone who succeeded in dodging these taxes. Later, the term was given wider currency when "scot" was used to mean the amount owed by a customer in a tavern: anyone who had a drink on the house went "scot-free". This "scot" was reinforced by the fact that the drinks ordered were "scotched", or marked on a slate, so that the landlord could keep track of how much the customer owed.
To: Jeff Blogworthy
Meanwhile, no one seems to notice that Sandy Berger has gotten off scot-free also. I haven't forgotten. The Clintonista Sandy Berger is hoping to march in John Deutch's shoes and evade prosecution for what he did.
37 posted on
01/01/2005 12:39:39 PM PST by
sauropod
(Hitlary: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.")
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson