| 词源 |
broom. British housewives in early times used the besom, “a handful of twigs with the leaves attached,” to sweep their homes. Because these “besoms” were often made of twigs from the broom shrub they came to be called brooms by about the year 1000. “Besom,” however, remained the name for a sweep- ing implement well into the 19th century. Brooms were often placed across the door of a house to ward off witches, for even though witches were believed to ride on brooms, it was thought that a witch had to count every straw in a broom placed across a door before she could open it. |