the.com/tablecloth
a meal's bodyguard, taking the spill so your wood never has to.
means A cloth spread over a table to protect its surface and dress it up for a meal.
from A plain English compound of "table" and "cloth." "Table" came through Old English "tabule" and Old French "table" from Latin "tabula," a board or plank. "Cloth" is purely Germanic, from Old English "claþ." So the word is exactly what it says: a cloth for the board — Rome's furniture wearing a Germanic coat.
- magic trick
- Yanking one out leaves dishes via inertia, not luck
- medieval napkin
- Diners once wiped greasy hands on communal edges
- status symbol
- White linen signaled you could afford ruining it
- sizing rule
- Proper drop hangs six to twelve inches over edges
damask tablecloth — traditional linen weave from damask, syria, dating back to medieval times with intricate floral patterns
madeira tablecloth — hand-embroidered linen from madeira, portugal, famous since the 1700s for delicate cutwork and eyelet designs
irish linen tablecloth — premium linen from ireland, particularly belfast, which produced 80% of world's linen in early 1900s