On 20/07/2023 18:16, Nick Maclaren wrote:
> In article <u9bop9$2q0kd$1@dont-email.me>,
> Nick Maclaren <nm.maclaren@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> In article <u9avos$2l9n6$1@dont-email.me>,
>> The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>> I am confused. Bay *IS* laurel. Laurel nobilis, and it is not poisonous
>>> at all, cooked or uncooked.
>>
>> We don't speak Latin any more, you know! When most people in Britain
>> speak about laurel, they are talking about Prunus lauracerasus, or
>> sometimes P. lusitanica; also called the cherry and Portugal laurels.
>> Laurus nobilis is normally called just bay, though it was originally
>> called bay-tree, and is sometimes called sweet bay or bay laurel.
>> Yes, it was the laurel of Roman wreaths, but why the Victorians
>> started to call it the bay laurel escapes me.
>
> Perhaps I should say that the word 'laurel' was used for the bay
> before Victorian times, but ONLY in the sense of crowned with bay,
> greenness or in medicinal texts (i.e. poetic or latinate). In
> culinary uses, it was always bay-tree or bay. And, as the OED says,
> the use of 'laurel' to mean 'bay' is now rare.

The OED has an old-fashioned predeliction for spelling words with a 'z'
where the rest of the world uses 's', so they ought to be quite OK with
it innit.

--
Rusty Hinge
To err is human. To really foul things up requires a computer and the BOFH.