A Conversation for Suzie Q's 'It's a Sign'
'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
Bluebottle Started conversation Oct 22, 2018
It's Norse 
Great sign, though.
I love York's whip-ma-whop-ma-gate, that's a great street sign.
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'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Oct 22, 2018
I think you're right, BB. That sounds Old Norse to me.
'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
Paigetheoracle Posted Oct 29, 2018
Norse? There aint no Norses in my stables or fields, can't afford to feed them (I stand corrected after having dismounted my Norse)
'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Oct 29, 2018
Actually, I looked it up, and it's both. 
Anglosaxon is 'gaet' or 'geat' or 'gatu', depending on where you were.
'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
Bluebottle Posted Oct 29, 2018
That's interesting - curiously you only get roads called 'Gate' in the old Danelaw – places like Yorkshire, Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.
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'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Oct 29, 2018
Now, that's interesting. Wonder why?
I'm guessing - and it's a guess - that maybe the Vikings favoured it. Their word was 'gata'. Someone online reminds us that street names in Iceland end in '-gatas'.
Maybe the sign-maker who claimed an Anglo-Saxon origin was just being patriotic? 
Somebody could get a Guide Entry out of this...
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'Gate' ain't an Anglo Saxon street
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