Wordology, Napkin

When eating bacon with your fingers, you need a napkin. The word comes from Middle English, borrowing the French nappe, a cloth covering for a table and adding kin, the diminutive suffix. The English word napkin means, “A usually square piece of cloth, paper, etc., used at a meal to wipe the fingers and lips and to protect the clothes”

That same “nappe,” led to the English “apron,” which was originally “napron.” Through a linguistic process the initial “n” of “napron” in the phrase “a napron” shifted and produced “an apron.”

The use of paper napkins is documented in ancient China, where paper was invented in the 2nd century BC. In Roman times, each guest supplied his own mappa and, on departure it was filled with delicacies leftover from the feast. German-speaking people were reputed to be such neat diners that they seldom used a napkin.

In the United Kingdom and Canada both terms, serviette and napkin, are used. In Australia, 'serviette' generally refers to the paper variety and napkin refers to the cloth variety.

There is no relation to taking a nap or snooze during the day, that 'nap' comes from the Old English word 'hnappian', meaning “to doze or sleep lightly.”

Wordology, Apron

An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as to protect clothes from wear and tear.

The apron was traditionally viewed as an essential garment for anyone doing housework until the mid-1960s  in the United States. Wearing aprons remains strong in many places.

A pinafore is a full apron with two holes for the arms that is tied or buttoned in the back, usually just below the neck. Pinafores have complete front shaped over shoulder while other aprons usually have no bib, or only a smaller one.

Cobbler aprons are a type of apron that covers both the front and back of the body. It is fastened with sides ties or with waist bands that tie in the back. It covers most of the upper part of the body and is often made of leather.

The Salon Apron protects clothing from hair color stains and hair clippings while serving as a place to keep tools quickly accessible. A Salon Apron is typically water repellent.

Barbecue aprons are fashionable for the back yard chef (with at least one pocket to hold a beer), while white half aprons are still used by serious chefs.

Apron is a corruption of the original old French word “naperon,” a change that likely occurred when people misheard “a naperon” as “an apron.”