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Bonfire

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 4:22 pm
by HelenBrits
I was thinking about the time of year - Guy Fawkes, gun powder plot and all associated and wondered why a bonfire is so called?
Any ideas?

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:00 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Hi Helen! Always like to see a newcomer, and we hope to see you often. As to bonfire, Oxford online says: late Middle English: from  bone  + fire. The term originally denoted a large open-air fire on which bones were burnt (sometimes as part of a celebration), also one for burning heretics or proscribed literature. Dr Johnson accepted the mistaken idea that the word came from French bon 'good'
Thanks for asking, you taught me something.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 9:07 pm
by Slava
Howdy HelenBrits, and welcome to the Agora!

To put my two pence in and add to Perry's note, isn't it interesting that a pyre in which we burn bones has turned into a happy time? Most bonfires are collegial times, with marshmallows and all that jazz.

I have to ask, in case anyone out there knows; just how well do bones actually burn? Good topic for the month of Halloween, eh?

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:14 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Slava, One word. Cremation.

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 11:18 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Slava, One word. Cremation.