Arming Blanche
When a French-speaking person wants to enjoy a wee glass of white wine, he orders vin blanc. When, however, he finds himself in Belgium, and wants to hazard an encounter with white beer, he asks for bière blanche.
People au courant with French grammar know that blanc and blanche serve as forms, one manly, the other ladylike, of the same adjective. When, however, blanc and blanche crossed the Channel, folks on the receiving end, who spoke a tongue bereft of grammatical gender, treated the two faces of the adjective as separate words.
‘Blank’ became a noun, one that acquired the sense of ‘something unfinished, incomplete, or lacking in detail’. Smiths thus found a name for a piece of metal they had yet to shape, bureaucrats got a word for a form that they had yet to fill out, and folks awaiting the arrival of suitable emotions obtained a way to describe their expressions. (The fact that we spell ‘blank’ with a ‘k’ reminds us that the naturalization of blanc took place before the final ‘c’ in the original took its vow of perpetual silence.)
‘Blanch’, however, turned into a verb, one that could be either transitive (‘make white’) or ergative (‘become white’). Thus, a cook can blanch almonds and the victim of a first-class fright blanch with fear. Moreover, as the realm of ‘white’ also encompassed the color we now call ‘silver’, a whitesmith could blanch an object by covering it with tin.
Back in France, the presumption that burnished steel was every bit as white as a blanched almond led to the expression arme blanche. This term, which could be translated ‘white weapon’, referred to sharp and shiny items of ironmongery that had been put to warlike ends. ‘Having fired off all of his cartridges, Digby was obliged to resort to the arme blanche.’
Digby is probably in a bit of a tight spot then!
"The fact that we spell ‘blank’ with a ‘k’ reminds us that the naturalization of blanc took place before the final ‘c’ in the original took its vow of perpetual silence.)"
American comedian and actor Mel Blanc, noted for his work as an animation voice over artist, had originally had his last name spelled with a 'k', but it was changed to "Blanc" in part because of an insult directed at him by a teacher ("You're just like your last name- blank!").