BREAD - Worldwide
HS: Cultural lexicography - Language and Food
Prof. Josef Schmied
Definition I
(according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 3. ed.)
1.
A staple food made from flour or meal mixed with other dry
and liquid ingredients, usually combined with a leavening
agent, and kneaded, shaped into loaves, and baked.
2.
a) Food in general, regarded as necessary for sustaining life:
“If bread is the first necessity of life, recreation is a close
second” (Edward Bellamy).
b) Something that nourishes;
sustenance:
“My bread shall be the
anguish of my mind”
(Edmund Spenser).
3.
a) Means of support;
livelihood: earn one's bread.
b) Slang. Money.
Definition III
(according to Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary)
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bread
among the Jews was generally made of wheat (Ex.
29:2; Judg. 6:19), though also sometimes of other
grains (Gen. 14:18; Judg. 7:13). Parched grain was
sometimes used for food without any other preparation
(Ruth 2:14). Bread was prepared by kneading in
wooden bowls or "kneading troughs" (Gen. 18:6; Ex.
12:34; Jer.7:18). The dough was mixed with leaven
and made into thin cakes, round or oval, and then
baked. The bread eaten at the Passover was always
unleavened (Ex. 12:15-20; Deut. 16:3). […]
The word bread is used figuratively in such expressions
as "bread of sorrows“ (Ps. 127:2), "bread of tears"
(80:5), i.e., sorrow and tears are like one's daily bread,
they form so great a part in life. The bread of
"wickedness“ (Prov. 4:17) and "of deceit" (20:17)
denote in like manner that wickedness and deceit are a
part of the
daily life.
Definition III
(according to Cambridge International Dictionary of English)
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a food made from flour, water and usually
yeast mixed together and baked
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Plural is possible: breads -> meaning
different types of bread
Linguistic relations
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Homonyms:
bread = food
vs.
bread = money
ex: I needed some bread so I worked as a waiter.
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Idioms:
bread and water = the plainest and cheapest possible
food
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Syntagmatic relation:
„Man cannot live by bread alone.“
- saying from the Bible
- the needs of a person‘s spirit must be looked
after as well as those of their body
Collocations I
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bread-and-butter
= concerned with the things that are necessary for life
= sent as thanks for being treated well as someone‘s
guest
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Bread and circuses
= is used to refr to activities which are designed for
keeping people happy so that they do not ask difficult
questions
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take the bread out of someone‘s mouth
= to make it impossible for s.o. to earn money, esp. by
taking their work away
Collocations II
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break bread with (pompous)
= to eat a meal with
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know which side one‘s bread is buttered
=to know how to make oneself liked by people in power
or how to gain their approval; know what is to one‘s
advantage
Compounds
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breadbasket
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breadfruit
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breadline
bread sauce
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breadwinner
=
=
 bread bin/ box =
 breadboard
=
an important area for grain production;
old-fash. stomach
a container for keeping bread fresh
a wooden board that is used to cut
bread on
= (a tropical tree that bears) a round fruit
that looks and feels like bread when
baked
= being extremely poor
= a mixture of milk, bread, onion, and
spices
= a person in a family whose wages
provide what the family needs to live on
Etymology
Genetic classification:
Indo-European
Germanic
Old Saxon/ Old Low German
Old English
English
BREAD
- Old English
- derived from the root of brew or connected with the root
of break (early uses of bread confined to broken pieces,
bits of bread)
- Until 12th century: hlaf (=loaf) -> generic name for
bread
Lexical Field
focaccia
chapati
baguette
kvashnya
crisp bread
Bread
naan
white bread
ciabatta
fougasse
panettone
pumpernickel
Bread in other languages
German
Dutch
Swedish
Danish
Brot
brood
bröd
brød
Prototype Theory
tortillas
pretzel
baguette
roti
bagel
whit
e
ciabatta
pitas
Sourdough
crisp
Bread
rye
naan
Whole wheat
pumpernickel
focaccia
lavash
History
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one of the oldest prepared foods
dating back to the Neolithic era when cereal grains and water were
mixed into a paste and cooked
in ancient Egypt bread-making became one of the most significant
areas of food preparation, along with the making of beer; both had
religious significance as well
Egyptians are believed to have invented the first closed oven for use
in baking
Bread was a primary staple of diet in much of European history,
from at least 1000 BC into modern times.
Otto Frederick Rohwedder: father of sliced bread
1912 invention of bread slicing machine
1928 invention of slicing and wrapping machine
white bread was considered the preferred bread of the rich while
the poor ate dark bread
Nowadays: dark bread associated with higher nutritional value,
white bread connected with low class standards and ignorance of
nutrition
Bread and the Law
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subject of special laws almost everywhere
Since medieval times, bakers were subject to regulations which
were supposed to protect the consumer
Medieval laws:
Austria: liable to fines, imprisonment and even corporal punishment
Turkey: common to hang a baker or two
Egypt: adulteration resulted in nailing the culprit by his ear to the door-
post of his shop
France: law prevented bakers from increasing the price of bread beyond
a point justified by the price of the raw materials: the price was fixed every
week or two
England: "If any default shall be found in the bread of a baker in the city,
the first time, let him be drawn upon a hurdle from the Guildhall to his own
house through the great street where there be most people assembled, and
through the streets which are most dirty, with the faulty loaf hanging from
his neck; if a second time he shall be found committing the same offence,
let him be drawn from the Guildhall through the great street of Cheepe to
the pillory, and let him be put upon the pillory, and remain there at least
one hour in the day; and the third time that such default shall be found, be
shall be drawn, and the oven shall be pulled down, and the baker made to
foreswear the trade in the city for ever."
Interesting Facts
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Each American consumes, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year.
November is National Bread Month in the U.S. due to the celebration
of Thanksgiving and the significance of bread in American history,
culture and daily diet.
Napoleon gave a common bread its name when he demanded a loaf
of dark rye bread for his horse during the Prussian campaign. "Pain
pour Nicole," he ordered, which meant "Bread for Nicole," his horse.
To Germanic ears, the request sounded like "pumpernickel," which is
the term we use today for this traditional loaf.
In Britain, the ceremony of First Footing is traditionally observed in
the early hours of New Year's Day. A piece of bread is left outside a
door, with a piece of coal and a silver coin, and is supposed to bring
you food, warmth and riches in the year ahead.
Scandinavian traditions hold that if a boy and girl eat from the same
loaf, they are bound to fall in love.
In Russia, bread (and salt) are symbols of welcome.
Bread Superstitions
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Whoever eats the last piece of bread has to kiss the cook
It is bad luck to turn a loaf of bread upside down or cut an unbaked
loaf
If you burn bread it means your sweetheart is angry with you
To prevent ghosts from calling, leave bread and coffee under a
house
Eating bread baked by a woman whose maiden name is the same as
her married name is a cure for many illnesses
If all the bread is eaten, the next day will be good
If you put a piece of bread in a baby's cradle, it will keep away
disease
Cutting bread in an uneven manner is a sign that you have been
telling lies
When a couple is walking down the street holding hands and an
obstacle comes between them, say "bread and butter" to keep the
union until the hands meet again
A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has
been cut from it
Entries in Search Engines
Search Google Eng
Words
Google
Ger
bread 15,700,000
Brot
1,390,000
230,000
MSN
Eng
12,385,154
MSN
Ger
196,966
1,190,000
3,488,165
1,982,381
There is a band called „Bread“.
(www.mid-tn.com/bread)
 In St. Petersburg exists a bread museum.
(www.museum.ru/museum/bread)
 TV-Show in Germany: „Bernd das Brot“
 German Hip Hop Group: „Fettes Brot“
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Sources
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Soukhanov, Anne H. (ed.) (1992):The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language, 3. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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Procter, Paul (ed.) (2001): Cambridge International Dictionary of English.
Cambridge: University Press.
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Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary http://www.ccel.org/e/easton/ebd/ebd3.html
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http://www.history-magazine.com/bread.html
http://www.bread.com/
http://breaddaily.tripod.com
http://www.hungrymonster.com/FoodFacts/
http://www.botham.co.uk/bread/history1.htm
http://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/bread/links.html
http://breadnet.net/
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