Thanks for clearing that up. I have wondered about that for a long time.

Currently, I am working on old-time sayings and one of my favorites is "bumper crop." I know what it means, but I don't understand the origin of it. How did the word "bumper" come to be used to describe a bountiful crop?

> > My sister is an alto. In Spanish, and maybe some other languages, that means "high." Yet an alto sings at a lower pitch than a soprano. Why do they call a lower pitched voice "high?"

Which online encyclopedia do you use?
Howard
>
> Because alto is a shortened version of the actual term, which is contralto. That derives from Italian (contra=against and alto=high) because it was originally used to denote a lower voice set against the soprano (which means "above," by the way.)
>
> Ahh, the joys of online encyclopedias.
>
> ~Mina "but I sure sound knowledgeable, huh?" moon