Brewer's: Fool

In chess, the French call the “bishop” fou, and used to represent the piece in a fool's dress; hence, Regnier says, “Les fous sont aux échecs les plus proches des Rois” (14 Sat.). Fou is a corruption of the Eastern word Fol (an elephant), as Thomas Hyde remarks in his Ludis Orientalibus (i. 4), and on old boards the places occupied by our “bishops” were occupied by elephants.

A Tom Fool.
A person who makes himself ridiculous. (See Tom.)

“The ancient and noble family of Tom Fool.”

—Quarterly Review.

Fool
[a food], as gooseberry fool, raspberry fool, means gooseberries or raspberries pressed. (French, fouler, to press.)
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Fool Thinks
Foods and Wines
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content

✖
 

 

sandbbox logo
©2022 Sandbox Networks Inc. All rights reserved. Sandbox Learning is part of Sandbox & Co., a digital learning company.