Welsh rarebit
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English
[edit]
Etymology
[edit]Corruption of Welsh rabbit. First attested by Francis Grose in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in 1785; he erroneously marked Welsh rabbit as a corruption (inverting the historical order); this idea may have originated with him, or been widespread at the time.[1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]Welsh rarebit (countable and uncountable, plural Welsh rarebits)
- A dish of cheese melted with a little ale and served on toast.
- 1956, Delano Ames, chapter 25, in Crime out of Mind[1]:
- Afterwards there was apple-pie and cream and a welsh rarebit. Peregrine said it was almost up to prison fare.
Usage notes
[edit]- Some object to the use of the term “Welsh rarebit” as a foolish error, and prefer Welsh rabbit.[2]
Synonyms
[edit]Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Translations
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References
[edit]- ^ "When Francis Grose defined Welsh rabbit in A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue in 1785, he mistakenly indicated that rabbit was a corruption of rarebit. It is not certain that this erroneous idea originated with Grose....", Dictionary of English Usage, p. 592
- ^ "Welsh Rabbit is amusing and right. Welsh Rarebit is stupid and wrong." — Fowler, H. W., A Dictionary of Modern English Usage, Oxford University Press, 1926