wow sent me a reminder about the Vernal Equinox. Does the word equinox have any relationship to equine? And while I'm at it, where did vernal come from, please?

Dear Jackie: My dictionary says:equinox:
the time when the sun crosses the equator, making night and day of equal length in all parts of the earth: in the Northern Hemisphere the vernal equinox occurs about March 21, the autumnal equinox about September 22

the time when the sun crosses the equator, making night and day of equal length in all parts of the earth: in the Northern Hemisphere the vernal equinox occurs about March 21, the autumnal equinox about September 22

H-e-l-l-o-o-o-o-o BILL! Anyone home?

I like the Vernal and Autumnal prefixes better than the month ones.
Sounds more mystical and eternal.
But that's just the view of your High Priestess, respectfully submitted.

the time when the sun crosses the equator, making night and day of equal length in all parts of the earth: in the Northern Hemisphere the vernal equinox occurs about March 21, the autumnal equinox about September 22

H-e-l-l-o-o-o-o-o Cap! You been upside down too long? Blood rushing to your head? What's the problem here?

Dear Faldage: You got it wrong. Now that CK is right side up, all the blood has rushed to his feet, and he is suffering from cerebral anoxemia.

If, and, of course, I say if Bill's definition of equinox is correct "all parts of the earth" then it'll be the same all over the world. Work it out.

if Bill's definition of equinox is correct "all parts of the earth" then it'll be the same all over the world.

making night and day of equal length in all parts of the earth

This is true. At the equinoxes the length of the day equals the length of the night all over the world.

in the Northern Hemisphere the vernal equinox occurs about March 21, the autumnal equinox about September 22

This is also true. in the Northern Hemisphere is a prepositional phrase modifying the rest of the phrase. Therefore what follows is only true for the Northern Hemisphere. The language is called English. I realize that you don't use it in other parts of the world with the purity that it still has among USns but there should be some glimmer of recognition even there where you are. It is, however, true all over the world that in the Northern Hemisphere the vernal equinox occurs about March 21, the autumnal equinox about September 22.

Dear CK: Do mean to tell me that the legend about the Antipodeans is not founded on fact?

Dear Jackie,

I decided to do a little search on equus, and found this curiosity on OneLook:

E"quus (?), n. [L., horse.] (Zoöl.) A genus of mammals, including the horse, ass, etc.

Not much on this 1913 Webster's site of use, but what's interesting in the above paste is the question mark. Why is that question mark embedded in the entry? Beats me.

Equably yours,
WordWrestler

In trying to find something about origin of "Antipodes='feet opposite' ". I found a third name for place now called Sri Lanka. Older names were: Lanka, Serendib, or Taprobane. I never heard the last one before.

wasn't Ceylon the name of the island just before it was sri lanka? and i didn't know Taprobane. but Serendib, gave rise to serendipity, from a story of princes of serendib, who found wonderful things, just as they needed them.

the real land of sri lanka is not the land of the story, the name was used to express a far, far away place.

when i was a kid, far away places were china, and Timbuctu.(any one not here, or reachable might as well be in Timbuctu, for all we can get hold of him!)

and wasn't i surprized as i got older, and discovered that the "black hole of calcutta" existed, and what a real 'den of iniquity' was! both of this terms were used to describe my bedroom when it was in need of tidying up and general cleaning.

and no one every looked disshevled.. they looked like the the wreck of the hesperis!

This reminds me of the time I ran into an old friend who was with a friend of hers. The friend's friend was wearing a T shirt with the picture of a waterfall and the words VERNAL FALLS. I asked him if that was anywhere near Autumnal Springs. He didn't have the foggiest idea what I was talking about but my friend still laughs about it.

Here is a site that explains the winter and summer solstices, and the equinoxes. I did not find it easy to understand. Prove you are smarter than I am. Senile Citizen.

http://solar.physics.montana.edu/YPOP/Classroom/Lessons/Sundials/equinox.html

Dr. Bill, it wasn't easy for me to get much from it, but after comparing the graphs of the different solstices, I at least got some idea. At the fall and spring solstices, the sun rises and sets exactly on the imaginary east-west line running through the earth. At the winter solstice, it rises and sets a litle south of this line, making its orbit somewhat like a squashed circle. At the summer solstice, it rises and sets a little north of this line, making its orbit stretch towards being elliptical. I think. Again--this was a drawing for the Northern Hemisphere. At this time of night, I can't make my mind see it all in reverse for the Southern.

It's a little too geocentric to provide a real understanding of what's going on. It's OK for a limited understanding at one point on the earth. To see it for the southern hemisphere picture the little stick figure hanging by his feet from the bottom of the disk. There's also no squashed circles or ellipses involved, just more or less than half a circle for the sun's path.

Dear Helen,

You wrote: wasn't Ceylon the name of the island just before it was sri lanka? .

Yep. I do know that. I don't understand the tilt of the earth and how the days are the same all over the world--and most of this discussion, but I do know that Ceylon was the name of the island prior to its becoming recognized as Sri Lanka by the world and the U.S. Board on Geographic Names in particular, since I've had a pretty hefty correspondece with that board during one part of my life.

Now who's going to break down the historical etymology of equus for Jackie--and let us all know how the word equus came to be? In other words, where is tsuwm on his might charger known as Mr. Ed? or Mr. Oed?

Best regards,
WhirlingWorld

Equus, horse from IE ekwo-, horse.

Equi, equal from Latin aequi, from aequus, equal.

AHD doesn't carry (a)equi back any farther than Latin, but suggests that ekwo- comes ultimately from kwon-, dog.

Thanks, Faldage. What's IE, please?
I knew that "squashed circle" and ellipse were not good examples, but at the time I couldn't think of a better way to say it in short form as relating to a fixed reference point on the earth. I esp. didn't like squashed, as to me that would imply an irregular line. 'Tis more like an arc of a circle, there, rather than 50%.

So does the word serendipity stem from the Sri Lankastrian fairy story, described by "Helen of Troy", and the island's old name? Well I never knew that.

Jackie!!

IE = Indo European.

AHD doesn't carry (a)equi back any farther than Latin, but suggests that ekwo- comes ultimately from kwon-, dog.

Which clearly gives rise to that famous Japanese sport, Tae Kwon-do, picking up dog do in plastic bags ...

"that famous Japanese sport, Tae Kwon-do,"

Dear CK: Since when have the Japanese adopted Korean martial arts?

Dear Max: Here is URL to something the Koreans are not willing to forget: Note last paragraph.
http://asia.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/japan.history/

In the final scene of Doctor Faustus, where there are only a few minutes left until midnight, when Beelzebub and Satan will come to take posession of Faustus and he is reeling about the stage in terror, Marlowe has him declaim this line:
Lente, lente currite, noctis equi
Run slowly, slowly, ye horses of the night!
Richard Burton did full justice to this in the film version of the play.
This line is composed almost entirely of spondees, the slowest of the metrical feet.
(IMHO, this scene is one of the greatest pieces of dramatic writing in the English, or any other, language. And the play is a masterpiece.)

Dear Bobyoungbalt,

Care to translate Lente, lente currite, noctis equi?

Otherwise, it's going to mean, "Slowly, slowly cure, nightmare" in this poor confused brain of mine that only knows some English and a little bit of French...

Best regards,
WonderingWind

WW,
He did so. In white :
"Run slowly, slowly, ye horses of the night"

And I agree, it is a powerful scene in a powerful story.

My husband and I went through a stage of watching every terrible dubbed martial arts movie we could get our hands on at the local movie store. The winner for extreme cheesiness was "When TaeKwonDo Strikes" (which we now always say with a mock-serious announcer-voice). It was about the underground movement of TaeKwonDo schools in Korea during the Japanese occupation. Who knows if it was biased or not, but it was an interesting glimpse into what the Koreans thought of the Japanese actions at the time.

an other aspect to this is, the Japanese still have contempt for the Koreans. this is part of what keeps them from making ammends, apologising, etc. they still see the Koreans as 'less than human' -- not all japanese feel or behave this way, but it is true as a general rule.

I remember reading that the Japanese call the Koreans "garlic eaters" as an insult.

the Japanese call the Koreans "garlic eaters" as an insult

Shows ya what *they know!

Insult indeed! Harrumph®!