Back in the day, an assistant huntsman would sit behind a hunter on horseback and hand him his weapons as required. He became known as the “croupier.” Nowadays, the casino employee who hands out cards, chips and markers to gamblers when required is also known as the “croupier.”
The original source of this term comes from the horse, or more accurately, the top part of the trunk of the horse’s body where that assistant huntsman sat. The English word for this part of the horse was derived through Norman French from Old Germanic – and that word was “croup,” the name we still use to refer to the muscular area on the rump of a dog. What does this have to do with purebred dogs? Not a thing beyond the fact that every dog has one. And now you know.
Image: Poodle Portrait in oil by Kim Stenberg
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