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#198491 03/24/11 03:27 PM
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One of my close friends when I was a teenager was a gentleman who repaired jewelry and watches. His father had been a jeweler and was a lapidary.

He told me that when he was in the first grade, there was a test that contained the following question:

How many legs does a lapidary have?

He was the only kid in his class who did not answer "four."

Bill Palmer #198513 03/26/11 07:15 AM
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First thought: Ha!
Second thought: Grade one!!! Standards were high - or the teacher had a twisted sense of humor.

Zed #198514 03/26/11 01:51 PM
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One step from lapidary father to mother-of-pearl and the word is a little bit odd. I looked at the online etymology:
mother of pearl

1510, translating M.L. mater perlarum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother
a thick substance concreting in liquors; the lees or scum concreted" [Johnson], which is from the root of mud.

I really don't know how to read this line.

(it ís the shiny surface of the inside of oysters and shells, isn't it?)

BranShea #198516 03/26/11 03:04 PM
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I stand to be corrected and have not looked it up before
posting like I suppose I should, but I thought that was
nacre.


----please, draw me a sheep----
BranShea #198517 03/26/11 03:30 PM
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mother-of-pearl
The pearly internal layer of certain mollusk shells, used to make decorative objects. Also called nacre. - AHD4

tsuwm #198518 03/26/11 07:25 PM
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Yes, I looked up that word too, before I went to the etymology, but what puzzles me in the word is why mom in involved in this.

BranShea #198519 03/26/11 11:29 PM
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Originally Posted By: BranShea
One step from lapidary father to mother-of-pearl and the word is a little bit odd. I looked at the online etymology:
mother of pearl

1510, translating M.L. mater perlarum, with the first element perhaps connected in popular imagination with obsolete mother
a thick substance concreting in liquors; the lees or scum concreted" [Johnson], which is from the root of mud.

I really don't know how to read this line.

(it ís the shiny surface of the inside of oysters and shells, isn't it?)



One possibility is that the Middle Latin mater in the mater perlarum is a corruption of Latin materia and it got folk-etymlogized to meaning mother. The nacre was assumed, just by its appearance, to be related to pearls, hence 'material of pearls'.

Faldage #198520 03/27/11 01:04 AM
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In NZ the Paua shell is used for Jewellery. It is very beautiful and full of iridescent green, blue, orange, silver, purple and sometimes pink colours. The Paua has edible 'meat' which you might know by the name Abalone. The outer shell is plain ugly, underneath is the 'foot' (flesh) and you see this Haliotis iris. Lapidary workers will grind back the outer crust and the whole shell can be used for making things Jewelry Box

The interior shell of the Paua is also referred to as NACRE. And they also can produce a natural pearl.











LukeJavan8 #198522 03/27/11 01:47 AM
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Originally Posted By: LukeJavan8
I stand to be corrected and have not looked it up before
posting like I suppose I should, but I thought that was
nacre.



I'm glad at least I was on the right track.


----please, draw me a sheep----
Candy #198524 03/27/11 02:50 AM
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Good grief--I first read that as Halitosis iris. Phew!

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