Fellmonger

[David Myer]

I have just searched the internet to find what it is that a fellmonger deals in. My search reveals a whole collection of dictionaries that are not worth the e-paper they are written on. Lots of them say that a fellmonger is someone who works with skins and hides, in the manufacture of leather, say, or the production of wool.

Dear, oh dear. A monger is a dealer, a trader or seller. Not someone who works with them. Doh!

But it isn't easy to see quite how fell- covers skins and hides. Is this a rather obscure connection with a fell swoop - a deathly one? Falling over when dead? Or is there some other, even more obscure connection?

[Slava]

Seems 'a fell swoop' is actually credited to some guy named Shakespeare and MacBeth. I've always enjoyed putting it as 'one swell foop'.

The fell of the monger is probably from Latin pellis, pelt. And the idea of being the one that prepares them is easily related to the idea of dealing in them; the one selling them probably made them himself.

Hope this helps.

[David Myer]

Thanks for the work on this one Slava. Fell from pell- or pelt certainly makes sense.

And as you say, maybe most fell sellers were originally in production too. But -monger is surely the dealing part? A fishmonger deals in fish; he may actually catch them too but more likely he buys from the fisherman or even a wholesaler.

[Dr. Goodword]

Fell is the German word for "pelt". It means the same thing in English!

[Debbymoge]

Then "fell swoop"?
"Fell is the German word for "pelt". It means the same thing in English!"
swishing a pelt through the air?

[Slava]

No room to swing a cat, eh? Well, that's a different fell that fell into cahoots with swoop. Related to felon; cruel, mean and nasty.

Not to fall victim to tomorrow's Good Word, but 'at one fell swoop' is from the Big Guy himself, in 'MacBeth'.