Not Quite University Challenge

[gradus]

I thought it was either a street urchin, or what you have to do if a gobstopper gets lodged in someone's throat!

No intended ambiguity re Alain and read as Vints discerned. Incidentally it would be an 'Oik', wouldn't it?

[ardcarp]

Oh I Know..... (in my Sybil voice).

[Serial_Apologist]

Oh I Know..... (in my Sybil voice).

So did I.................really.

[gradus]

So did I.................really.

Never doubted it.

[Andy Freude]

Did the name "Stephen" exist in whatever demotic language was being used at the time? I assume anybody who could write used either Stephanus or Étienne.

We know that Stephen's successor, Henry II, had a chaplain called Etienne de Fougeres, and his name was written as Esteinvre de Fougeres, and St Stephen was Saint Estenvre. So people at the English court would have said something like that. Ordinary people who spoke some form of English may not have known the king's name.

Sorry, I can only offer -

East Good Bread Dear Father and Good Bread Dear Father Ate which is a bit pathetic.

[Oakapple]

He is now, as I know, but what was he called then? Did the name "Stephen" exist in whatever demotic language was being used at the time? I assume anybody who could write used either Stephanus or Étienne.

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the English of the time at Peterborough, his name is written Stephne.

[Serial_Apologist]

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the English of the time at Peterborough, his name is written Stephne.

I wonder of the name Stepney, for the district in east London, derives from that.

[Andy Freude]

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the English of the time at Peterborough, his name is written Stephne.

I'd forgotten that. Yes, the Laud Chronicle is continued up to 1154. But the official language of the English court remained French for another couple of centuries. There were highly placed Saxons after the Conquest, so I suppose the exact form of the name could vary depending on whether the speaker was of Anglo-Norman or Saxon origin. It seems that either way it would have been closer to 'Stephen' than 'Etienne'.

[Andy Freude]

I wonder of the name Stepney, for the district in east London, derives from that.

This might be getting a bit too close to the real UC to be on topic but -

"The first surviving record of the place name is from around 1000 AD as Stybbanhyð, "Stybba's hyð"; hyð developed into hithe (meaning landing-place) in modern English, so "Stybba's landing-place". The parish of Stebbing in Essex also appears to have taken its name from an individual called Stybba"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepney#Etymology

[ardcarp]

In the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in the English of the time at Peterborough, his name is written Stephne.

An early example of dyslexia?

[cloughie]

An early example of dyslexia?

Or maybe txt speak?

[Serial_Apologist]

This might be getting a bit too close to the real UC to be on topic but -

"The first surviving record of the place name is from around 1000 AD as Stybbanhyð, "Stybba's hyð"; hyð developed into hithe (meaning landing-place) in modern English, so "Stybba's landing-place". The parish of Stebbing in Essex also appears to have taken its name from an individual called Stybba"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stepney#Etymology

Thanks, Andy.

[Alain Maréchal]

We know that Stephen's successor, Henry II, had a chaplain called Etienne de Fougeres, and his name was written as Esteinvre de Fougeres, and St Stephen was Saint Estenvre. So people at the English court would have said something like that. Ordinary people who spoke some form of English may not have known the king's name.
.

Thanks to all who responded to my original query. I have noticed that in some southern dialects the consonant softening renders Étienne as Éstevre or similar. I have even read a suggestion, which I find interesting if not compelling that the shift indicates the Sainthood, so that Stephen equals "Saint Étienne". Interesting, but needs expanding, as I used to scrawl.

[LezLee]

Lovely answer on 'The Chase' today:

Q. The Manchester Ship Canal links Manchester to which other major UK city?

Contestant: Belfast?

[LMcD]

Lovely answer on 'The Chase' today:

Q. The Manchester Ship Canal links Manchester to which other major UK city?

Contestant: Belfast?

Perhaps he (or she) has access to the PM's secret list of upcoming northern infrastructure projects.