11-25-2021, 03:49 PM
@danielt Thanks for reading it!
Your thesis is correct; I've consulted the Chambers dictionary which is the final authority on all things spelt in the Queen's English. It lists the negative definition first.
I picked up that phrase "well worth patronising" from an old fellow long ago. The meanings must have shuffled over the years. But it still isn't uncommon to refer to locals at the pub as "patrons", and I assume most people understand what a "patron saint" does in Catholicism - he doesn't talk down to you, but rather advocates for your country or cause.
One of those understandable drifts in meaning, when the one being patronised is made into a helpless pauper!
Your thesis is correct; I've consulted the Chambers dictionary which is the final authority on all things spelt in the Queen's English. It lists the negative definition first.
I picked up that phrase "well worth patronising" from an old fellow long ago. The meanings must have shuffled over the years. But it still isn't uncommon to refer to locals at the pub as "patrons", and I assume most people understand what a "patron saint" does in Catholicism - he doesn't talk down to you, but rather advocates for your country or cause.
One of those understandable drifts in meaning, when the one being patronised is made into a helpless pauper!