445: coarse and course Feb 26, 2016

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'Coarse' and 'course' are similar in spelling, but used to be closer related. 'Coarse' in late Middle English 'meant' ‘ordinary or inferior’. Up until the 1800's, the word was spelled 'course'. The differentiation is possibly from a sense, ‘habitual or ordinary manner’, like we still say for 'day's course'. Both words derive from the Latin verb 'currere' meaning 'to run'.

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