tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21432259.post4221893455581434879..comments2023-09-07T18:57:41.344+01:00Comments on Early Modern Whale: Those pistol-packing Romans: Richards' "Messalina", 1640DrRoyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01351695058512676554noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21432259.post-66725860350421814972010-04-23T19:32:32.994+01:002010-04-23T19:32:32.994+01:00Well, I can see 'pistolese' for a short sw...Well, I can see 'pistolese' for a short sword or dagger, named from the town where they were made, Pistoia, but that's in some 1566 travels, with a note in the margin to explain what it is. Hard, as you imply, to get away from Richards having messed up. (Unless he meant Messalina to threaten him with 'a small bread roll, originally from Belgium'?)DrRoyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01351695058512676554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21432259.post-84997035228969194102010-04-23T17:02:48.205+01:002010-04-23T17:02:48.205+01:00OED suggests that 'pistolet' and its dimin...OED suggests that 'pistolet' and its diminutives was originally applied to small daggers, and thence to small firearms. But its citations aren't much use in terms of rescuing Richards from gross anachronism.The Spirit of Creative Writinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08814590995293463174noreply@blogger.com