Which pair of English words illustrates French influence on vocabulary in the Middle English period, in the legal/government and culinary domains?

• A. Bread and Cheese
• B. Court and Beef
• C. Beef and Pork
• D. Court and Bread

Answer: (B)

After the Norman conquest, English absorbed many French words in both official life and everyday life like cooking. Court comes from Old French via Anglo-Norman and became the standard term for the royal or legal center of governance. Beef comes from French boeuf, used for the meat itself, while the animal name stayed Germanic (cow). This pairing shows French influence in both the legal/government and culinary domains. The other options don’t capture this cross-domain French origin: the first two are Germanic for the pair, and the remaining option mixes a legal term with a culinary term that aren’t both clearly French-derived.