Wordsmith Talk |
About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us | |||
Register Log In Wordsmith.org Forums General Topics Weekly Themes shoes & common sense.
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
this got me wondering if the sound of Baron Scarpia's name is just coincidence or if there's more of a connection
I'm not sure either, but the similarity would be obvious to an Italian. (Perhaps, something along the lines of calling a cop a flatfoot or a detective a gumshoe in English.) Italian scarpa comes from a Germanic word skarpa meaning 'shoe'; cf. OHG scharpe. There is a synonym in Italian, scarpa 'embankment' from *skrapa 'pier, support'.
And since the House of Savoy and its pretender to the Italian throne is lately in the news, I've remembered a Genoese proverb that says that "Any Piedmontese with one shoe calls himself a count." I'll try to find the original wording.
[Found it, and it's less scurrilous than my half-remembered one.]
In Piemonte, a chi ha due scarpe in ti pê ghe dixan conte. (In Piemonte, chi ha due scarpe nei piedi gli dicono conte. / In Piedmont, whoever has two shoes on his feet, calls himself count.)
[In Ennio Celant, 1990, Proverbi liguri: curiosità, origini, storia, p. 111.]
Last edited by zmjezhd; 06/28/06 04:23 PM.
Moderated by Jackie
Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics Forums16Topics13,913Posts229,437Members9,182 Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members Ineffable, ddrinnan, TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV
9,182 Registered Users
Who's Online Now 1 members (wofahulicodoc), 580 guests, and 2 robots. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days) A C Bowden 13
Top Posters wwh 13,858Faldage 13,803Jackie 11,613wofahulicodoc 10,603tsuwm 10,542LukeJavan8 9,922Buffalo Shrdlu 7,210AnnaStrophic 6,511Wordwind 6,296of troy 5,400
Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith.org