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smack in the middle of this tome I'm reading, I find the following:
..the downstream tip of the Ile de la Cite, spang in the center of the Pont-Neuf.
both spang and smack would seem to mean precisely or directly in these contexts; although I suppose smack-dab would suggest more-precisely. :)
I've often heard smack used in this sense, spang springs entire new upon me.
spang in the center of ~ 2 gh
spang in the middle of ~ 71 gh
smack in the middle of ~ 136,000 gh
smack-dab in the middle of ~ 86,500 gh
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In reply to:
both spang and smack would seem to mean precisely or directly in these contexts; although I suppose smack-dab would suggest more-precisely. :)
I've often heard smack used in this sense, spang springs entire new upon me.
Perhaps it's a contraction of "smack-bang", which is rather common up here. I haven't checked its gh score, but my gut says that smack-bang would be slightly more common up here than smack-dab, although only just.
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What's the author's nationality, tsuwm?
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spang in the center of the Pont-Neuf
Any chance it's a typo, tsuwm? The meaning would be the same if the author intended "sprang".
re "spang springs entire new upon me": Could be it sprang entire new on the author himself.
Upon further investigation, it is more likely that "spang", which is defined in Merriam-Webster thus "Etymology: Scots spang to leap, cast, bang", evolved into "sprang", for they both mean pretty much the same thing, especially in the context in which you encountered the word, tsuwm.
Typos sping eternal. [They are not just a phenomenon of our own time. It reminds me of the aphorism: "Antiquity cannot privilege an error, nor novelty prejudice a truth."]
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the quote is from Neal Stephenson's (born in Maryland, lives in Seattle) Quicksilver. I didn't key the entire text as I'm keying mostly with one hand, but in the total context and spirit of the narrative, smack-dab in the middle fits best. his website: http://www.nealstephenson.com/he has some things to say about politics and religion, trolls and introverts, and other stuff (he's exclusively a Mac user, ASp); here is what he says about Fame: It helps to put this in perspective by likening me to the mayor of Des Moines, Iowa. It's true of both the mayor of Des Moines and of me that, out of the world's population of some six billion people, there are a few hundred thousand who consider us important, and who recognize us by name. In the case of the mayor of Des Moines, that is simply the population of the Des Moines metropolitan area. In my case, it is the approximate number of people who are avid readers of my books. In addition, there might be as many as a million or two who would find my name vaguely familiar if they saw it; the same is probably true of the mayor of Des Moines.
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Thanks for passing that along, tsuwm.
Neal Stephenson is admirably modest, perhaps more modest than the Mayor of Des Moines, but, all things considered, he could have done himself even greater honor by honoring himself even less.
Those "few hundred thousand ... avid readers" of his may one day be gone, all gone, and few may search for "Quicksilver", if that is the judgment of history.
Neal Stephenson will be long dead, and you and I as well, before he knows the judgment of history. Good enough reason for him, and anyone enjoying the warm glow of approbation today, to be modest, I'd say.
Obviously we need something to sustain us, and drive us, which is larger than approbation. What drove Van Gogh who sold hardly a painting in his day? Could he possibly have known that one day one of his paintings would sell for more money than any painting in history?
How foolish it is, on the evidence of history, to judge our worth, assuming we strive with honor, on the favor or disfavor we harvest in our life-time.
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How foolish it is, on the evidence of history, to judge our worth, assuming we strive with honor, on the favor or disfavor we harvest in our life-time.
This is, in most cases, ALL that politicians do.
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Completely new on me too, tsuwm - I shall watch this space with interest. My updownside frerend's suggestion of a contraction had me halfway convinced, but then I got to wondering "why not <<smang>>?"
Oh, but you say it's Scottish in origin, not English ~ ah well, the barbarian hordes, doncha know?
aaaaargh, get faldage off me!
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In reply to:
My updownside frerend's suggestion of a contraction had me halfway convinced, but then I got to wondering "why not <<smang>>?"
Yep, when my other synapse fired, I thought exactly the same thing. 
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other synapse - whu yu kidding, duude?!
But then I got to thinking mm, contraction of just the /s/ onto 'bang' is possible and the difference in sound (between the voiced and unvoiced bilabial plosives) is minimal. I guess we'd need to find some example of the fusion/confusion to prove it either way. Tell us more if you find anything, tsuwm?
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updownside frerend's suggestion of a contraction
There's a part of speech called a frerend
And another one known as a gerund
We need them I guess
But I have to confess
They give me a headache Excedrind. :)
When I go to a concert to hear
Music which pleases my ear
I do not count clefs
Or the work I just left
I just listen all rapt in the "here".
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There's a part of speech called a frerend
But a frerend needs support in a sentence, which is why we have Frerend jocks.
TEd
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Frerend jocks
dormez vu, dormez vu?
formerly known as etaoin...
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a frerend needs support in a sentence
A frerend needs support in a sentence
Like a friend in need of repentance.
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Wow. Webster's 1828 Dictionary gives: SPANG, n. A spangle or shining ornament; a thin piece of shining metal; something brilliant used as an ornament.
2. An y little thing sparkling and brilliant like pieces of metal; as crystals of ice. For the rich spangles that adorn the sky.
Webster Dictionary, 1913, gives:
Spang (Page: 1377)
Spang (?), v. t. To spangle. [Obs.]
Spang (Page: 1377)
Spang, v. i. To spring; to bound; to leap. [Scot.]
But when they spang o'er reason's fence, We smart for't at our own expense. Ramsay.
Spang (Page: 1377)
Spang, n. A bound or spring. [Scot.] Sir W. Scott.
Spang (Page: 1377)
Spang, n. [AS. spange a clasp or fastening; akin to D. spang, G. spange, OHG. spanga, Icel. spöng a spangle.] A spangle or shining ornament. [Obs.]
With glittering spangs that did like stars appear. Spenser.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (interesting, to be able to follow one source down through time!) has:
Main Entry: spang
Pronunciation: 'spa[ng]
Function: adverb
Etymology: Scots spang to leap, cast, bang
1 : to a complete degree
2 : in an exact or direct manner : SQUARELY
Wordsmyth:
Part of Speech adverb
Pronunciation spaeng
Definition 1. (informal) quickly, squarely, or precisely.
Example He walked spang into the wet cement.
Ultralingua gives what is to me both a better yet controversial explanation:
spang v. < spá[ng] > : 1. To leap. jerk, bang (dialectal); "Bullets spanged into the trees"; SYN: bang. [ETYM: Scot.] I can certainly see where bullets, or 'most anything that ends in s can morph from -s banged into spanged, but what does bang have to do with leap or jerk? That is, a gun will leap and jerk in your hand when you fire it, but in the normal way I think of leap and jerk, I would never associate the word bang with them.
I had been planning to say (before I got all sidetracked) that I've heard this word all my life; dunno if it's Southern, Appalachian, or just old-fashioned; for some reason I am mentally associating it with Mark Twain.
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I've heard it before as well. If it is Scots for bang that works for me since I am more likely to say bang in the middle than smack in the middle. An arrow also tends to go "spang" when it hits the target. (I was going to say hits the bullseye but I never got to hear that due to my aim, or lack thereof)
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Ten Cadillacs
A diamond mill
Ten suits of clothes
To dress to kill
A ten room house
Some Bar B Q
And fifty chicks not over twenty-two
Then throw me
(Smack dab in the middle)
Oh, I wanna be
(Smack dab in the middle)
Ahhhhh, now boys you can see why I wanna be smack dab in the middle now
So I can rock and roll to satisfy my soul
~ Ray Charles
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I ate a bowl of chili And I felt OK At least until I passed This fine Cafe I saw a guy eatin' A great big steak While a waitress stood by feedin' him Ice cream and cake It should've been me With that real fine chick It should've been me With that real fine chick You know, it should've been me Eatin' ice, cream and cake ~ Ray CharlesLittle relevance but Father Steve's post jarred me earworm to this similiar mid-fifties "talking blues" tune by the late great Elder Ray, and I just couldn't resist.  But for continuity and decorum here is another verse of "Smack Dab in the Middle" as recorded by its composer at about the same time (1955) SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE (Charles E. Calhoun) CHARLIE CALHOUN (M-G-M 11989, 1955) One hundred beds with chorus girls A street that's paved with natural pearls A wagon load of bonds and stocks Then open up the door at Fort Knox Then throw me (Smack dab in the middle) I wanna be (Smack dab in the middle) Ahhhhh, now listen boys throw me Smack dab in the middle right now So Ray * can rock and roll to satisfy his soul. * Written by Calhoun for Ray Charles. (?)
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I've never heard 'spang' used before. After reading over all these posts, however, I realized how much tension of sorts we can find in words that contain the letters 'ang,' whether spang, clang, bang, gang, hang... Tension, even in anguish. Coincidental or not, there's a lot of energy in 'ang.'
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formerly known as etaoin...
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Angst --wow; and, angry. And maybe angular; that is, I don't think I've read an angular person being described as jolly--in my experience, it equates with being, well, tense and uptight.
Angel, however, is a different story.
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In reply to:
Angel, however, is a different story.
...which my kids so often misspell as 'angle.'
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