[Vwoolf] boss of the back

[Jeremy Hawthorn]

This triggered a memory. In Charles Dickens's /Sketches by Boz/, the 
verb to emboss is used three times. In two cases that which is embossed 
clearly stands out rather than sinks in. But then there is this example.


"He [a small child] had a light blue cap with a gold band and tassel on 
his head, and a damp piece of gingerbread in his hand, with which he had 
slightly embossed his countenance." ("The Steam Excursion")


Of course, if the child has pressed his face into the cake, there may 
well be a convex image on one side of it and a concave one on the other 
side. However for me the primary image is that of a depression, rather 
than a raised impression. Whatever the case, it's a wonderful piece of 
Dickensian observation I think!


Jeremy H




On 22.04.2020 18:38, Clark, Hilary wrote:
> A hollow, but also a hump: French "bosse" means hump.
>
> In English, "to emboss" is "to cause to bulge or swell out, make 
> convex or protuberant" (OED online).
>
>
> Hilary Clark

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