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Where does the word “Crosspatch” come from and What does Crosspatch mean?

By Karen Hill

Back in the fifteenth century the jester or fool attached to the retinue of prominent persons was sometimes referred to as a patch, probably because his costume was often “a thing of shreds and patches.”

And whether or not this term was applied to him only when he was ill tempered is not now known, but such was the case by the end of the sixteenth century, and so it remained for another hundred years, though other than court fools were included.

It was then, for additional force, that some genius made assurance doubly sure and labeled a person of ill-nature a crosspatch.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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