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                               What's in a name?
                                        
I was watching this video on a 400 year old recipe for buttered beere [1]
when a word was used in an unusual context: “conner.” Or rather, “ale
conner,” in the context of an official checking the purity of the beer.
Curious, I decided to break out my copy of the Oxford English Dictionary (the
compact edition, two oversized 2,000 page tomes) and sure enough:

> **Conner**^1 … [OE. cunnere, agent-n. from cunninan, ME. CUN to prove, try,
> examine. … ] One who tries, tests, or examines; an examiner, inspector;
> esp. in ALE-CONNER. q.v.
> 

Huh. Well, let's q.v. then … 

> **Aleconner** … [f. ALE + CONNER, OE. cunnere a trier.] An examiner or
> inspector of ale: ‘An officer appointed in every court-leet, and sworn to
> look to the assize and goodness of bread, ale, and beer, sold within the
> jurisdiction of the leet.’ Philips 1706. ‘Four of them are chosen annually
> by the common-hall of the city; and whatever might be their use formerly,
> their places are now regarded only as sinecures for decayed citizens.’
> Johnson 1755. Still a titular office in some burghs.
> 

And there are usages going back to 1350.

1350!

Interesting … I come from a family of bureaucratic inspectors. Or maybe not …
there's this definition:

> **Conner**^2 … One who cons or diligently studies. **1809** W. Irving … A
> great conner of indexes.
> 

A conman or a scholar. Huh … given the current science replication crisis [2]
both meanings could equally apply here. I guess my choice of domain is more
appropriate than I thought.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlMhZvOX2ps
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replication_crisis

Email Sean Conner at sean@conman.org

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