A.Word.A.Day		About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us

Home Today's Word Yesterday's Word Archives FAQ

Discuss Email this Feedback RSS/XML Permalink A.Word.A.Day--shebeen On June 16, James Joyce aficionados the world over celebrate Bloomsday. The day is named after advertising salesman Leopold Bloom, protagonist of Joyce's novel Ulysses. The entirety of this book recounts an ordinary day, June 16, 1904, as various characters go about their ways in Dublin, Ireland. If those 700+ pages are too much, here's an illustrated and irreverent summary of the book. To mark Bloomsday this week we'll examine five words borrowed from the Irish language. shebeen (shuh-BEEN) noun An unlicensed drinking establishment. [From Irish síbín, diminutive of séibe (mug/mugful). The word is popular in the south of Africa and in Scotland and Ireland.] Today's word in Visual Thesaurus. -Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org) "The controversial drinking den has been raided four times since it opened two months ago. But shebeen operator Francis Kelly, 33, says it's a 'private club' for his pals -- and insists he doesn't sell any booze." Owen Conlon; Shebeen and Gone; The Sun (UK); May 9, 2008. X-Bonus I have a great deal of company in my house; especially in the morning, when nobody calls. -Henry David Thoreau, naturalist and author (1817-1862)

Subscribe: Sign up to receive A.Word.A.Day in your mailbox every day. "The most welcomed, most enduring piece of daily mass e-mail in cyberspace." Sponsored by: Give the Gift of Words Share the magic of words. Send a gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day. Anu on Words: Writer Magazine SF Gate SF Gate Globe & Mail Interact: Bulletin board Wordsmith Talk Moderated Chat Wordsmith Chat Readers' Voice AWADmail