Quote:
Originally Posted by Araucaria
Have a look at the Google Ngram viewer with ancle/ankle (a fascinating tool). The spelling with a "c" was more common up to about 1830, after which it went into terminal decline. Mrs Gaskell would have seen the older spelling frequently in her younger days.
Mind you, I'm surprised that Victorian authors were able to mention the word at all without blushing. Perhaps they were talking about horses? |
Thanks so much for the reference to NGram viewer. That looks to be an interesting and useful tool for future use. Karma on its way.