Re: sci.lang FAQ and the word "laser."

Heidi Graw (or somebody else of the same name) wrote thusly in message
<2ZOBh.99482$Oa.12860@edtnps82>:


"Prai Jei" <pvstownsend@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:er80ch$kq3$1@xxxxxxxxxxx
(snip)

I'm a scientist who maintains an interest im Middle English literature so
let me toss the following quotations into the newsgroup:

"If that I hadde leyser for to seye" - Chaucer

"He hadde not leyser for to loke after who is his freend & who is his fo"
- The Cloud of Unknowing (anon, 14th century)

So the laser - and its use for IFF purposes - seems to have been
anticipated
and desired for many centuries. :)

<chuckle> You do realize that leyser in the above context means
"leisure."

So the glossary at the back of each book would have me believe :)

Yes it was startling to come across these expressions at first, and being
what I am my mind jumped to the wrong modern respelling of "leyser", having
realised that "laser" would fit into both contexts - if it were not for the
fact that both books are of mediaeval origin.
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    ... He hadde not leyser for to loke after who is his freend & who is his fo. ...
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    ... He hadde not leyser for to loke after who is his freend & who is his fo. ...
    (sci.lang)