|
|
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5
stranger
|
OP
stranger
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5 |
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."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 2,154 |
First thought: Ha!
Second thought: Grade one!!! Standards were high - or the teacher had a twisted sense of humor.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
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?)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3 |
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----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
mother-of-pearl
The pearly internal layer of certain mollusk shells, used to make decorative objects. Also called nacre. - AHD4
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
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.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
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'.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,706
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,706 |
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.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 9,944 Likes: 3 |
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----
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Good grief--I first read that as Halitosis iris. Phew!
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,915
Posts229,845
Members9,197
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
611
guests, and
3
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
