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#114673 10/28/03 10:29 PM
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"'Come, none o' that 'ere, old Strike-a-light,' interposed Mr.
Weller, elbowing himself into the front rank. 'Beg your pardon,
sir, but this here officer o' yourn in the gambooge tops, 'ull never
earn a decent livin' as a master o' the ceremonies any vere. This
here, sir' continued Mr. Weller,...."

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Gamboge \Gam*boge"\, n.
A concrete juice, or gum resin, produced by several species
of trees in Siam, Ceylon, and Malabar. It is brought in
masses, or cylindrical rolls, from Cambodia, or Cambogia, --
whence its name. The best kind is of a dense, compact
texture, and of a beatiful reddish yellow. Taking internally,
it is a strong and harsh cathartic and emetic. [Written also
camboge.]




#114674 01/26/04 08:55 PM
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It would be fascinating to see those rolls of tree gum. I would love to see a color photograph of such rolls.

Do you think the gamboge came from some connection between 'gam-' and gum?


#114675 01/27/04 11:53 PM
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Obscure fact: Le Cambodge is the only country name in French that ends with an "e" and is masculine.

"Gum" is "gomme" in French and "gummi" in Latin, from Greek "kommi".

Cambodge/Cambodia are versions of the indigenous name "Kampuchea", the meaning and origin of which I don't know.


#114676 01/28/04 02:25 AM
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This is just a little riff on what might have been, but wasn't:

Let's say Cambodia did derive from a word that meant 'land of the gum trees,' then we could modernize the name and call it Gumbodia.

But thanks, hibernicus, for the more correct explanation.
And I enjoyed reading and thinking about your obscure fact. It has been very, very long since I studied French; I have forgotten most of what I'd once learned. But, based on what you have written, L'Angleterre and L'Allemagne (not sure of spellings) would both be feminine, yes?


#114677 01/28/04 02:44 AM
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I remembered "gummi" meaning rubber in German. I searched for "Gummischlauch" and here's what I got:
ENGLISH GERMAN
Direct Matches
rubber hose [tech.] der Gummischlauch




#114678 01/28/04 03:18 AM
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So Gummi Bears are just Rubber Bears, yes?

Bon soir, wwh!


#114679 01/28/04 03:28 AM
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I like the ribbed gummis.


#114680 01/28/04 03:31 AM
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I think they call them Gummi Worms.

You are soooooooo bad, Dr. Bill!!


#114681 01/29/04 12:17 AM
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I like the ribbed gummis.

Any particular flavour?


(You are talking about Gummi Bears, right?)


#114682 01/29/04 12:33 AM
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L'Angleterre and L'Allemagne (not sure of spellings) would both be feminine, yes?

They would indeed! And both correctly spelled to boot. But watch out for "Canada" - it ends in "a" but it's masculine: "le Canada", "au Canada".


#114683 01/29/04 12:39 AM
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I believe he's talking about prophylactics.

Real gummibears, OTOH, are made by Haribo in Bonn. The company name stands for Hans Richter Bonn. They have a jingle, which is I guess a kind of Ohrwurm: "Haribo macht Kinder froh, / Und auch die Eltern ebenso." (Haribo makes children happy, / And likewise also parents.) At Karneval time, when the floats are passing by in the parades, kids and adults alike cry out for Kamelle and Gummibärchen. University students have been known to protest: "Freiheit für die Gummibärchen! Weg mit der Plastiktüte!" (Freedom for the gummi bears! Down with the plastic bag!) Ah, Karnevalzeit ...


#114684 01/29/04 12:45 AM
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Gummi also means 'eraser' in German. It also is slang term, as is the English 'rubber', for condom. You used to hear about gum arabic, but I guess it's gone out of style. Both the English and the German words are from the French, thence from Latin and finally from Greek.


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"Haribo macht Kinder froh, / Und auch die Eltern ebenso."

It's "Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsene ebenso". And yes, the fact that it's firmly lodged in my memory does say something about the power of a catchy slogan.


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>Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsene ebenso, . . . catcy slogan.


Whereas the only German phrase that really stuck with me like that was a line from a Morgenstern poem "ein lattenzaun, mit zwischenraum, hindurchzuschaun." I liked the poem, but that little phrase struck me as utterly cute. Plus the last line reminds me of an Emo Philipps song called "most states".




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So much for the power of advertizing. But why are baby lice called nits?


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Anglo-Saxon hnitu.

Where did that come from?


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I allus liked "Den Pflaumenbaum glaubt man ihm kaum." I can hear it in the German version of My Fair Lady.


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OE hnitu came from the PIE root *knid, *k'nid, *sknid 'louse, egg of the louse, nit'. So, it's safe to say that the Proto-Indo-Europeans knew about lice, nits, and the louse reproductive cycle. I see the word survives in Armenian anic, Albanian thëni, Greek konis (konidos), Middle Irish sned, Welsh nedd pl., Breton nez.


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ah, the vermicious knid...




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#114692 01/29/04 02:09 PM
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"We are the knights who say nit."


#114693 01/29/04 02:26 PM
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And everybody had them. I remember reading a quote in a
history book about Julian the Apostate, in Constantinople's
highest level of personal hygiene, having them skipping around in his beard.


#114694 01/29/04 02:38 PM
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And weren't those fancy powdered wigs of yore to cover up the shaved heads? One of the few 'cures' for lice. There were also pubic wigs (at least in restoration times) called merkins. Ah, the good old days.


#114695 01/29/04 03:43 PM
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And an alternative to gummirings, there is Prince Albert piercing, male infibulation of the frenulum. I have seen a
picture of an African native with chicken feathers through the frenulum, said to enhance sensation. Weird.
http://www.piercingpleasure.com/piercing_history.htm


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"Haribo macht Kinder froh, / Und auch die Eltern ebenso."-jheem

It's "Haribo macht Kinder froh, und Erwachsene ebenso". -hibernitcuss

There's some pickin' and grinnin' goin' on here, y'all


#114697 01/31/04 04:45 PM
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formerly known as etaoin...
#114698 01/31/04 05:16 PM
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And at the bottom of the page, the Oath of Strasbourg is mentioned. One of the first texts in a kind of Romance language.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_Strasbourg


#114699 02/04/04 01:48 AM
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There were also pubic wigs (at least in restoration times) called merkins.

OMG! He said the word! Dr Bill will explode!

Run away! Run away!








#114700 02/04/04 01:31 PM
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Run away! Run away!


To the concert hall?


#114701 02/04/04 03:03 PM
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Dear Sparteye: the only thing I got perturbed about was
ignorant use of "merkin" as sly anti-American allusion.
Anyone interested in that can look it up in Quinion.


#114702 02/05/04 11:41 AM
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> sly anti-American

nah, we only tease those we love, Bill :)


#114703 02/05/04 02:01 PM
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Dear Mav: the stinkiest part of the "merkin" business is that it was started by American journalists to mock those
Americans who were even quietly patriotic.


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