Monday, April 9, 2012

A to Z Challenge: H - Haberdasher

Haberdasher

I really wanted to go with holdfast today, in honor of last night's Game of Thrones episode, but after researching it this morning, Martin apparently made that word up, at least in the context of it being some kind of small medieval fort or fortification.

So instead, you get haberdasher. It's on the mind because my sister is getting married this summer.

hab·er·dash·er [hab-er-dash-er] n. a retail dealer in men's furnishings, as shirts, ties, gloves, socks, and hats

Synonyms: clothier

Etymology: early 14c., "seller of various small articles of trade" (late 13c. as a surname), agent noun from Anglo-Fr. hapertas "small wares," also a kind of fabric, of unknown origin. Sense of "dealer in men's wares" is 1887 in Amer.Eng., via intermediate sense of "seller of caps."

68 comments:

Laura Pauling said...

I love fun words like that that rhyme with rhetoric devices. So fun.

Karen Baldwin said...

So? Will you be wearing a hat at the wedding? LOve the Game of Thrones too.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Quite an old fashioned word, I remember when I was young mum taking me to the Hberdasher's.
Wonderful H word and post.

Yvonne.

Huntress said...

Nothing wrong with haberdasher.

Old Kitty said...

I hope you find a great Haberdasher in time for your sister's wedding! Yay!

take care
x

Nick Wilford said...

Great word, not one we hear all that often these days. I love learning about word origins!

Steve MC said...

Sounds like a shop you'd go to for spices.

And you'd look cool in a top hat.

Creepy Query Girl said...

Oh fun! is it weird this word sounds like something from Alice in Wonderland? The mad hatter might get his hats from a haberdasher!;)

S.A. Larsenッ said...

This is one of those words that gives me a visual image in total contrast to what it actually represents. Sounds like some evil gnome from far-far-away. lol

farawayeyes said...

This word definitely does not sound like what it means.

Bummed about the 'Game of Thrones' (no commercial TV) still debating buying the first season. (Can't wait to see what excuse Amazon will have to not sell it to me.) Enjoy it for me, will ya?

Unknown said...

Another new word for me! Love the picture, and you watch GoT, too?! After last night's episode, this EW write-up flitted across The Hubby's Twitter: http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/game-of-thrones-night-lands/

Read, laugh, watch episode 2 over again, then laugh some more. Good stuff.

Zan Marie said...

This is one of those words that can only come out of certain character's mouths? My retired Marine Gunny wouldn't dare say it ; )

Think Positive, Be Positive said...

Hi...I'm hopping over from the A to Z challenge. Lovely post...good luck with the challenge. I love the word Haberdasher!

Donna L Martin
www.donasdays.blogspot.com

Bish Denham said...

Haberdashery, it just sounds so jaunty.

K.D. Storm said...

Cool! I am going to use this word tonight on my boyfriend. He is a clothes horse of sorts and he has been checking the net for his suit for our wedding. This will throw him for a loop :)

S. L. Hennessy said...

I think holdfast should count. It SOUNDS like a real word, and Martin gets free license to make up as many as he'd like in my book. But haberdasher has a great ring to it too. Awesome post.

Rick Daley said...

I've seen / heard this word but never knew what it really meant, cool bit of new knowledge to start the week.

Anonymous said...

I learned something new today. Can't wait to get out there today and use it on someone. Thanks! Oh, ummm ... is today the letter H?

Dani said...

This probably sounds soooo silly but I hear that word a lot because of iCarly. Yes, the childrens show which I get a kick out of watching on occassion. One of Carly's arch-nemesis' wants to be a haberdasher when he grows up. My kids walk around saying it all the time now.

Unknown said...

I would have gone for holdfast. A made up word opens worlds for interpretation - much more fun than a fussy old hatter.
http://badmoodgoodmood.blogspot.com/

jp@A Green Ridge said...

I'm partial to "old" so I LOVE your selection, Matt! Like "cobbler"...some people don't even know what that is!!!...:)JP

Nancy Thompson said...

I've always loved that word ever since I saw it in a Bombay Company catalogue! It just sounds so elegant & debonair! (But isn't it awesome that authors can simply make up words?)

Sarah Ahiers said...

SUCH a great word! I wish i had reason to use it more

Charlie Warren said...

This is one of those "funky" words - I like it!

Unknown said...

Holdfast sounds like a word. I'm surprised it's not.

Haberdashery is a great word though.

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I didn't know holdfast was a madeup word.
Words are strange and haberdasher is odder than some.

50 foot QE said...

I can't help but hear the word with a British accent.

Are there still haberdasheries outside the U.K.?

Bryan Russell said...

Off to the haberdashery! After I finish my pint, of course.

Johanna Garth said...

Are you going to get something for the wedding at the haberdashery?

Donna K. Weaver said...

Fascinating where words come from, isn't it? Especially when they're not what people sometimes thing they really are.

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Just because Martin made up a word doesn't make it any less real. You should have blogged about it and then shown pictures from Martin's world or something like that.

vic caswell said...

and all this time i thought is was a special kind of hat!
*word fail*

Pat Hatt said...

Game of thrones is a great show. Heard the word and knew it meant something like that, but now I know for sure that a haberdasher isn't some regal flasher..haha

Rusty Carl said...

That's a cruel reminder that we don't have that many great words for everyday things - well, I'm still a fan of cobbler, but as soon as something awesome gets used, people start coming up with lamer words to substitute for it.

That's poppycock!

Brinda said...

I really love the word haberdasher. As a matter of fact, I think the title "Haberdashery of Tall Tales" would make a great blog title or tagline.

Jenna Renee said...

I have heard the word but never knew what it meant! Thank you for sharing! I love the picture you included as well :)

Visiting from A to Z Challenge!

http://lawyergirlruns86.blogspot.com/2012/04/h-is-for-high-heels.html

Shannon Lawrence said...

I've always liked that word. I'm sure if I had to use it on a regular basis I wouldn't, though.

Shannon at The Warrior Muse, co-host of the 2012 #atozchallenge! Twitter: @AprilA2Z

Cassie Mae said...

This totally makes me think of that Friends episode when Chandler gets violated by Joey's Tailor. Hehehe.

Annalisa Crawford said...

I love that word, but it always seems like there should be an extra -er on the end - haberdasherer...

Anonymous said...

Love that word. How sad that it has fallen (relatively) into the realm of obsolescence.

cleemckenzie said...

I've always loved that word, haberdasher. It tickles the tongue and sounds very elegant.

Hope the wedding is splendid.

Just stopped in to say hi from the A to Z Blogging Challenge

http://writegame.blogspot.com

Lynn Proctor said...

love a hat on a man--a young friend of mine recently inquired of me--just why was it unsavory for men to keep their hats on in a building--wasn't sure :)

Jessica Salyer said...

Believe it or not,I knew this one. I haven't seen Game of Thrones. I've been meaning to start reading them. Soon.

T. Powell Coltrin said...

I love saying the word. It thrills my tongue.

Teresa

Ruth said...

I have seen that word in a lot of books, but never did know what it was. Or even think to stop reading and look it up.
Now, I know!
Thanks for the knowledge.

Rebecca said...

i've always wonder what that word meant

ediFanoB said...

Haberdasher has been used in a book I read last year. Can't remember which one.
Anyway a word I did not forget.

k~ said...

I love the stylish look of the hat shown in the image you used for this post. The word haberdasher is one I have enjoyed for as long as I can recall, it's pretty fun to say out loud too.

Thanks for the visit!

A-Z 2012 (#49) - Bloggit Write A-Z 2012 - Poetry
A-Z 2012 (#861) - Bloggit Write A-Z 2012 - Haiku

4 Life said...

always loved saying the word 'Haberdasher'. It's just a fun word - something you really have to move your mouth to say properly! Great post!

Texas Playwright Chick

4 Life said...

always loved saying the word 'Haberdasher'. It's just a fun word - something you really have to move your mouth to say properly! Great post!

Texas Playwright Chick

Andrew Leon said...

I wonder if that's at all related to balderdash.
But I'm not looking it up...

Jay Noel said...

So a clothier haberdashes? Love it! I guess if I'm buying clothes, that makes me the haberdashee.

Elizabeth said...

I love language and words. There is always something new to learn.

ShaunaKelleyWrites said...

Has the Haberdasher been sufficiently helpful in getting you ready for your sister's wedding?

DL Hammons said...

Do they come with or without the rabbit? :)

Bethe77 said...

Thank you for helping me to learn a new word today. A wedding is so much fun! I have two this June. I am so excited!
Blessings

Ishta Mercurio said...

I was just singing "Soldier, Soldier" to my sons the other day - you know, the song about the maiden who keeps asking the soldier to marry her, and he keeps putting her off by protesting that he can't marry her without nicer pants/shoes/hat, so she goes off to the haberdasher and buys him the best she can find, until the end when he tells her thanks, but he's already got a wife and a baby at home. The rascal.

Great word! It brings back fond childhood memories of singing that some with my own mom. :-)

Laura Barnes said...

I'm actually watching Game of Thrones as I type. But haberdasher is a fine word as well.

Laura B Writer

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Matthew - it means something different in England .. isn't it interesting how words change meaning ..

Here we go to a haberdashers to buy thread, buttons, sequins, ribbon, needles, pins etc etc .. they're now often a department within a soft-furnishing store .. I used to love wandering around them .. so much to see ..

Great fun - enjoy your trip to your Haberdasher's .. for some 'wedding attire' ... the wedding will be great .. cheers Hilary

Melanie said...

The original metrosexual!

Anonymous said...

Such a weird word when/if you hear someone say it.

D.G. Hudson said...

I love hats! A Sharp Dressed Man will always turn heads. I'm sure that's what you'll be for the wedding.

BTW - I knew that 'hold' was a name for the old basic fort structures before castles and such became more viable. 'Holdfast' I haven't heard of before.

alberta ross said...

I still go to the only habdashers in town only here in the UK it is a place to buy small articles for sewing - such as needles, thread, lace, fastenings etc some materials and yarns - word changed as it went across the pond:) thanks for dropping by

J.L. Campbell said...

In Jamaica, the term has come to mean a shop where anything from a pin to an anchor is sold.

Unknown said...

That kind of fashion needs to make a resurgence I think :)


Jamie
Fellow A-Z Bloggy Buddy
Mithril Wisdom

Anna Staniszewski said...

I think this word is too close to "balderdash" so all I can think of is shouting "haberdash!" if someone is talking nonsense. :-)

Matt Conlon said...

Only reason I know what a Haberdashery is, is that it was on an eposide of iCarly... So sad.

LOVE Game of Thrones... reading the series, which is why I've been so incredibly lax in my blog commenting...

=]V[=
The Brew Newb

Unknown said...

Love this word. A couple years ago I worked on a show that come over from London and there was a box labeled Haberdahery.