In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
SURPLUSAGE
excess, surplus, surplusage, nimiety
(noun) a quantity much larger than is needed
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
surplusage (countable and uncountable, plural surplusages)
(now rare) A surplus; a superabundance.
(legal) Matter in pleading which is not necessary or relevant to the case, and may be rejected.
(finance) A greater disbursement than the charge of the accountant amounts to.
Source: Wiktionary
Sur"plus*age, n. Etym: [See Surplus, and cf. Superplusage.]
1. Surplus; excess; overplus; as, surplusage of grain or goods beyond what is wanted. Take what thou please of all this surplusage. Spenser. A surplusage given to one part is paid out of a reduction from another part of the same creature. Emerson.
2. (Law)
Definition: Matter in pleading which is not necessary or relevant to the case, and which may be rejected.
3. (Accounts)
Definition: A greater disbursement than the charge of the accountant amounts to. [Obs.] Rees.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
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Coffee Trivia
