Monday, August 5, 2013

handsome, hand some, hansom

Handsome or handsome ( one word ) means good-looking, said of a male, or occasionally of a thing--
"It was a brown-eyed handsome man."
She thinks he's handsome, but we think he's funny-looking.
It's a handsome old piece of furniture.
Handsome is an old-fashioned term for well-done or graceful--
He took a handsome bow when he heard the applause.

Hand some or hand some ( two words, rhymes with handsome ) means to give or pass ( hand ) a quantity ( some ) of something--
Hand some of these cookies to your cousin.
Hand some of these ads to the people in the parking lot.

Hansom or hansom ( almost rhymes with handsome) is the name of an old-fashioned horse and carriage, named for its inventor and used as a taxi, with two wheels and one horse, the driver seated on top, behind the carriage--
They tired of walking, and looked for a hansom cab.
Sherlock Holmes got around London in a hansom cab.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Would you help us to hand some of the luggage to the handsome driver of this hansom cab?"

No comments:

Post a Comment