On 1/4/2023 at 4:26 AM, Bill W said:

I'd never heard of this word before, but I've since learned it evolved from the Anglo-Norman word amercier, which in turn came from the Old French a merci, which translated to 'at the merci of'.  In other words, at the mercy of the court or your judge.  If I had heard this word used before, I probably would have thought the person was saying immerse, but was using the word incorrectly.  

English can be a tricky language.

I remember telling a story about a certain local nabob who left a $50k Purdy shotgun on the tailgate of a truck while out bird hunting and it fell off. For him it was just an 'oh well' moment. The person I was telling it to finally asked me what kind of shotgun I was talking about because he knew me well enough that I wouldn't be using a word like purty (pretty) in conversation.