From tin-openers to smartphones, most of us couldn't live without our gadgets. Scholars are still debating its origins, but there are strong associations with 19th century sailors who used the word, which may derive from the French gâchette 'catchpiece of a mechanism' to refer to any small mechanical object which they couldn't remember the name for - or didn't have.
A sheep, a cow and a pig went to market, a meat market, and there they were turned into food. Thanks to the French language we can now differentiate between the live animals and the ready-to-eat versions; 'sheep' becomes 'mutton', 'cow' becomes 'beef' and 'pig' becomes 'pork'. Look out for these words on a menu near you.
