At yesterday's EGA meeting, a very bright woman who does all kinds of needlework, sewing, and other crafts had never heard the term 'orts' before. If someone would point me to an online something that discusses when the word became related to needlework, I'd appreciate it. If that's not available, a quoted reference from a real book will do ;-)
Try the Oxford English Dictionary (commonly known as the OED). It not only defines words, but also identifies when each word was first used with a particular definition or in a particular context. For example, you can discover when the word "brave" was first used to describe a Native American warrior. Sorry I don't currently have a copy of the OED handy, but it is a fabulous source!
Here's the Merriam-Webster definition
I have access to the online OED through my library's web site. Their definition is:
"A fragment of food left over from a meal; fodder left by cattle; a refuse scrap; leavings. Usu. in pl. Also fig.: a fragment, esp. of wisdom, wit, knowledge, etc."
The earliest citation is from 1325. The newest citation is:
"2000 Piecework May-June 5/1 Thread ends are sometimes called ?orts?, a term that originally referred to food scraps left over after a meal."
No indication of when needleworkers first started using the term.
--Charlene
Thanks everyone. It's not a big issue but I find it interesting, especially since a google search turned up a gazillion and three pages and sites that have information about ort kits, ort holders, and ort etceteras.
I just Googled RCTN and my oldest user name, and got back as far as late
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