Fermez la bouche!

My French teacher in high school used to say that to me a lot. We were always getting her to talk about her personal life, instead of teaching French.

So I use the word 'maw', a lot and was wondering where that term came from. So for today's bit of useless info:

Maw:

1. The mouth, stomach, jaws, or gullet of a voracious animal, especially a carnivore.
2. The opening into something felt to be insatiable: “I saw the opening maw of hell” (Herman Melville).

Word Origin:

From Old English: 'maga' meaning "stomach" (of men and animals), from P.Gmc. *magon (cf. O.Fris. maga, O.N. mag, Du. maag, Ger. Magen "stomach"), perhaps cognate with Welsh megin "bellows," Lith. makas, O.C.S. mosina "bag, pouch."