Show TAKE MY WORD FOR IT By Frank Colby Q Were We're wondering about the word bankrupt Will Vill you rou please give us one of oC your entertaining entertain entertain- in ing word stories about It it Mrs C. C B B. B L L. A. A A bankrupt is a person with a broken bench Heres Here's the way it came about In ancient days bankers were little more than mone money changers chang chang- ers and they used to set up business In doorways alleyways and in market places Their entire entire entire en en- tire equipment consisted of oC a banca Italian for bench upon which their little capital of coins was stacked This Is the origin of oC the word bank bank bank-a a place where money is handled Now in those da days s 's there was no Federal Reserve System and no- no Federal Deposit Insurance Corp These money changers and lenders would sometimes suffer financial reverses re and go out of oC business When such a athing athing athing thing occurred the bankers banker's bench was broken to signify that he had lost all his money The Italian term was banca rotta broken bench Banca rotta entered French as which entered English as bankrupt the second syllable from the Latin the same stem tem from which we have such words as rupture corrupt corrupt corrupt cor cor- rupt eruption abrupt Interrupt Interrupt interrupt Inter inter- rupt etc Q Why is a certain kind of window blind called a ja jalousie ja- ja lousie lousie-J. lousie J. J P P. I A A. Jalousie Is the French word for jealousy Jalousie is pronounced pronounced pronounced pro pro- oo oo Jalousie also means a blind that admits light and air and permits one to see without bein being seen It Is likely that the blind was so called because it prevents a jealous lover lo from spying on the actions of his beloved belo |