Info - for the Brits

[Barb]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Neil Ward" <neilward at d...> wrote:
> Martin said:
> 
> > Hoardings are large areas that people advertise on.  Usually on 
the side of buildings or stuck in the middle of a large piece of 
land.    These are very very large!

[snip]

I have to say, this is something that caught me completely by 
surprise.  When I read the original post and saw the word "hoardings" 
(or it may have been singular) I assumed that it was a typo and the 
word should have been "boardings," as in message-boards that had 
multiple advertisements or notices on them.  In subsequent posts, of 
course, I discovered that the word is in fact "hoarding(s)" but I 
still find this rather odd.  I could conceivably think of a plausible 
etymology for "boardings" (see above) but I admit to being mystified 
about the real word.  Anyone in the UK (or out of it) have any idea 
how this term came to be used this way?

--Barb