merrythought

merrythought (MER-ee-thawt) - n., the wishbone or furcula of a bird.


This is the older term for the wishbone, and has survived more in British English than in America -- it dates to around 1600, while wishbone is an Americanism from the 1850s. Both names come from the custom, older than either (recorded mid-15th century), of two people pulling on either end, with the one with the larger half supposedly getting a wish.


Thanks, WikiMedia!

---L.