So I found this in my inbox...

[Erisianmonkey]

I subscribe to the OED word of the day. I don't always read all my e-mail everyday, but glance through for what might be important, so this got missed from the other day, but thought the folks here might enjoy:

saltire
SECOND EDITION 1989
Her.

({sm}sælta{shti}{schwa}(r)) Forms: 4-5 sawturoure, 5 sawtire, 7 saltoyre, -tyr, 8 salteer, salter-, 6-9 saltier, 6- saltire. [a. OF. saut(e)oir, sauteur, -our, -ouer, salteur, saultoir (from 13th c.), mod.F. sautoir, {dag}(1) silken or hempen stirrup-cord (? forming a deltoid figure when in use), (2) stile to keep cattle from straying, (3) saltire:{em}L. salt{amac}t{omac}rium (see SALTATORY).]

An ordinary in the form of a St. Andrew's cross, formed by a bend and a bend sinister, crossing each other; also, a cross having this shape. Hence, in saltire: crossed like the limbs of a St. Andrew's cross. per saltire (see quot. 1828-40).
?a1400 Morte Arth. 4182 He had sothely for-sakene the sawturoure engrelede, And laughte vpe thre lyons alle of whitte siluyre. c1420 Anturs of Arth. xxiv, A sawtire engrelede of siluer fulle schene. a1550 in Baring-Gould & Twigge W. Armory (1898) 5 Sa: a saltier engr: arg. 1562 LEIGH Armory 45b, The seuenth particion is this. Partye per Saltier, Argent, and Sable. 1603 DRAYTON Bar. Wars II. xxiii, Upon his Surcote, valiant Nevil bore A Silver Saltoyre, upon Martiall Red. 1605 CAMDEN Rem. (1637) 346 King Henry the sixt had two feathers in saltire. a1695 WOOD Oxford (O.H.S.) III. 169 Two keyes in saltire. a1711 KEN Hymns Evang. Poet. Wks. 1721 I. 6 A saltire, which the martyr'd Andrew bore. 1801 SCOTT Fire-King xxxiv, The Saracens, Curdmans, and Ishamaelites yield To the scallop, the saltier, and crossleted shield. 1828-40 BERRY Encycl. Her. s.v., When the field of a coat, or any charge upon it, is divided by two diagonal lines, crossing each other,..it is termed per saltier. 1864 BOUTELL Her. Hist. & Pop. xxi. (ed. 3) 359 Two pastoral staves, in saltire. 1970 H. BRAUN Parish Churches viii. 104 The ‘saltire’ or diagonal cross formed of two struts crossing, was nearly always formed of two serpentine timbers. 1974 Northern Times (Golspie, Sutherland) 2 Aug. 3/4 The gift was a saltire{em}a St. Andrew's Cross in blue and white with the arms of the cross outlined in gold thread.
attrib. 1621 LADY M. WROTH Urania 98 So farre asunder, as they made from corner to corner the fashion of a Saltier crosse. 1727 BOYER Dict., Eng.-Fr. s.v., A Saltire Cross, Croix de S. André. 1851 R. HILL in Gosse Nat. in Jamaica 466 Zig-zag lacings of a thickened tissue corresponding to the Saltier position of the Spider's legs.

[beloitpiper]

Once I combed through all of the clutter, I think I got it...

[TheKiltedWonder]

that clutter is what I majored in, thank you very much (linuistics). I need to subsribe to their word of the day; I love the OED.

[Erisianmonkey]

I love the WOTD thing from them. It isn't always a new word, but often something new about a word I thought I already knew all about. It's pretty cool.

[Coinneach]

I LOVE the OED. A very dear friend gave me the OED on CD as a graduation present. It's absolutely the best.

[TheKiltedWonder]

I'm lucky, I'm a fairly recent college graduate so I can still log into the OED online for free. It's gonna be a sad day when that ends

And I know what you mean Erasianmonkey. Sometimes the etymology is totally different than what I would expect. Or it seems like a normal word that's been around a while and it turns out it was only coined 30/40/50 years ago.
The OED: the final line of defense against terrible folk etymologies...
like Golf = Gentleman only, Ladies forbidden
or kilt = Kuz I Loathe Trews (the gaelic speaking Scots couldn't spell Because or cuz correctly)

[string]

that clutter is what I majored in, thank you very much (linuistics). I need to subsribe to their word of the day; I love the OED.

Dear me, a Lingistics major, you poor thing. I am eagerly waiting for the ending of my Linguistics overview class for anthropology majors. Only 2 more classes and then the final and it's all over.

[TheKiltedWonder]

I am eagerly waiting for the ending of my Linguistics overview class for anthropology majors.

Blasphemy! It's the greatest major there is. And an anthropologist of all people should appreciate Linguistics' importance. So much culture is bound up in which words we use, how we use them, how we pronounce them, how we speak with which people.
But if you don't know something before the final, just ask. I tended to prefer the Historical and Socio-Linguistics classes. But I've had classes in phonetics, generative grammar, field studies and all that jazz, so I should be able to answer your questions. Unless it's about chimps "learning" languages. That bored me.

[bikeolounger]

My mother did you both proud. Her undergrad degree (with honors) is in Anthropology, and her Masters is in Linguistics.

My degree was in Scan-tron(tm) taking, aka Psychology.