If you’ve ever bought a car and wanted to negotiate over the price, you underwent a chaffer, which means “a haggling about price.” In Middle English, “chaffare” combines “chep,” meaning “trade,” and “fare,” meaning “journey.” “Chep” came from the Old English “cēap,” also meaning “trade,” and ultimately the Latin “caupo,” meaning “tradesman.” In Modern English, “fare” is the price you pay for a train or plane ticket, but in Middle English it referred to the journey itself. Combining all of its root influences, a chaffer can be thought of as a journey you must take to get to an agreeable price.