And lo on Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:21:34 -0000, Bill Pragnell  
<bil### [at] hotmailcom> did spake, saying:

> Phil Cook wrote:
>> I was reading a book which mentioned that bureaucracy is the obvious  
>> combination of bureau and -cracy. Now -cracy roughly means 'ruled by'  
>> and bureau is a desk; except that got its name from the *woolen cloth*  
>> used to cover the desks of important people. So the literal translation  
>> of bureaucracy is 'ruled by woolen cloth' or as the book put in 'ruled  
>> by green baize'.
>
> Bureau is also 'office' in French, and I always thought that meaning  
> came first, as the type of desk referred to in English is like a really  
> compact office. Chicken or egg? :-)

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Bureau states the origin as "burel"  
a coarse woolen cloth etc.

-- 
Phil Cook

--
I once tried to be apathetic, but I just couldn't be bothered
http://flipc.blogspot.com

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