espalier.


http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300102086

I certainly agree and appreciate that article sks24. Thank you

This must also be the root of the word epaulet.

This must also be the root of the word epaulet.

Yes, both are via different routes (Italian and French) from Latin spatula 'shoulder blade' < dim. of spatha 'broadsword'. Interesting in light of the etymology that epaulets developed from a kind of armor for the shoulders to protect against sword blows glancing off the helmet and chopping into the shoulder.

And now worn as part of dress uniform? Does that refer to the same piece of cloth buttoned to the shirt on the shoulder of police,security guards, prison guards, etc., often with a microphone attached to it????

I was thinking this was that "on the staircase I thought of the perfect comeback" word...

You're thinking of esprit d'escalier.

yup, that's it. thanks!

My pleasure.

So, is esprit d'espalier your attitude when you're walking around with a chip on your shoulder?

could be! but maybe only if you don't think of the comeback until later.

[font:Times New Roman][/font]Don't get me wrong, because I'm not a militant animal-rights activist (although I do think that we should minimize unnecessary suffering), but this impulse to dominate living things - expressed across cultures and history - explains much of what happens in the world of human affairs. To my mind, anyway.

Yi-Fu Tuan's book - I linked to in my first post - is the only one I've come across which specifically addresses this issue, especially as it relates to the impulse to turn living objects into the inanimate . So we force trees to become arches, or bicycle wheels (see the photos attached to "pleach"); it seems like every time I turn around I bump into this in the human world, too: p.16

Needless to say, I think that the world might be a better place if we understood what we were doing in this regard, and so I never let the thinnest of opportunities pass without (as Mencken might say) a whoop-up for Tuan.

sks24: thanks for the response. I am not a militant in anything
either. I don't much care for 'crusades', but I do agree with your first paragraph. We are not alone on this planet. Where I live there are increasing encroachment (if that is the right word)of mountain lions, puma and other animals (e.g.bobcats) because we humans are pushing more and more into their territory.
I don't have an answer to any of it, but it does concern ma.

As for espalier: my question stands, is it the cloth shoulder stap on police, etc. Anyone?

Yep: (bold mine)

<botany> A railing or trellis upon which fruit trees or shrubs are trained, as upon a wall; a tree or row of trees so trained. "And figs from standard and espalier join." (Pope)

Origin: F. Espalier, fr. It. Spalliera, fr. Spalla shoulder, the same word as F. Epaule. See Epaulet.

Source: Websters Dictionary

(01 Mar 1998)

When I saw the word, I wanted a picture, because I've never seen one before. And I thought I was a tree lover. Meh!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Horizontal_espalier.JPG

Nice.

such would not be hard to grow: give it a try, any tree that
adapts to your locality.