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The Curious Case of Curry Favor: From Medieval Horse Grooming to Modern Flattery
Episode 10
Published 6 days, 5 hours ago
Description
This episode unpacks the origin of the idiom ‘curry favor,’ tracing it back to a 14th‑century French satire about a horse named Fauvel and the medieval practice of currying horses. We explore how folk etymology reshaped the phrase, turning a literal grooming act into an abstract strategy for gaining influence in English. Along the way we see how language change mirrors social power dynamics across centuries.
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