protector of the bread

one of the eight-million *really* cool things i've learned in english 101 (a class called 'the history and structure of the english language'...not, as its name may suggest, english for fourth-graders):

the modern word for 'lady' comes from the old english word 'hlæfdige'.

this word is the compound of 'hlæf' (trans. 'loaf', as in a loaf of bread) and 'dige' (trans. 'one who kneads'). 'hlæfdige', then, means 'the kneader of the bread-loaf'.

the word for 'lord', on the other hand, comes from the OE word 'hlæford'.

this in turn is the compound of 'hlæf' and 'lord' (trans. 'protector'). 'hlæford' (or 'hlaford') means 'protector of the bread-loaf'.

so our grand titles of lady and lord?
the kneader of the bread, and the protector of the bread.

oh yeah.