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Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread Widow's Peak #177814 06/27/2008 4:39 PM Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 3 sudz stranger sudz stranger Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 3 Etymology of today's entry gives no context to the phrase. Why isn't the railed platform called simply "wife's peak"? There needs to be some explan that so many fishermen died at sea that their women were left widows. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak sudz #177817 06/27/2008 4:57 PM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague ETYMOLOGY: In the 18th and 19th centuries sailors' wives used such platforms to look for signs of their husbands returning home. Hello and welcome since I happen to pass here. About the hazards of sailors; could it not be so that since you understand why it is called widow's rail without further context, everybody else does? (the devil's advocate ) Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak sudz #177824 06/27/2008 7:02 PM Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 876 western NY twosleepy old hand twosleepy old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 876 western NY  Originally Posted By: sudz Why isn't the railed platform called simply "wife's peak"? Firstly, the phrase is "widow's walk", an important correction because "widow's peak" is the term used for a V-shaped point formed by the hair near the top of the human forehead, from a superstition that it meant early widowhood (for a woman). It is a dominant genetic trait (I have one, 2 of my three boys have one, and interestingly, one that does not is a twin!).  Originally Posted By: sudz Etymology of today's entry gives no context to the phrase. There needs to be some explan that so many fishermen died at sea that their women were left widows. The quotation from the email is: ETYMOLOGY: In the 18th and 19th centuries sailors' wives used such platforms to look for signs of their husbands returning home. Since the phrase is "widow's walk", I think the implication is clear that many of them expected to become widows, hence the anxiety about their husbands' return and subsequent walking. ya scooped me, Bran! I guess I took too long composing... :0) Last edited by twosleepy; 06/27/2008 7:04 PM. Reason: scoopage... Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak BranShea #177839 06/28/2008 5:08 AM Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 155 morphememedley member morphememedley member Joined: Jan 2008 Posts: 155 I suspect there was a precise literal basis for widow's walk, in that some widows whose widowhood was not in doubt would look to sea in mourning or remembrance. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak morphememedley #177845 06/28/2008 9:13 AM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague Yes, well, it goes together. twosleepy , I think sudz is making a subtle wordplay here, as the widow's walk is mostly placed at the peak of the building. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak sudz #177848 06/28/2008 10:51 AM Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803 Faldage Carpal Tunnel Faldage Carpal Tunnel Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 13,803  Originally Posted By: sudz ... so many fishermen died at sea that their women were left widows. Certainly dying at sea was not an unlikely end to a sailor's life in those times, but it may have been just a metaphorical widowhood that the woman suffered, like the modern-day football widow only more so. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak sudz #177851 06/28/2008 3:34 PM Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania The Pook old hand The Pook old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania When learning ancient Greek many years ago I remember for some unknown reason having to translate from English into Greek stupid sentences about dead widows being thrown into the sea. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak The Pook #177858 06/29/2008 5:56 AM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague Ah! Real barbarians those Old Greeks. At least the widows were dead. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak BranShea #177905 07/02/2008 6:05 PM Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 9,971 Likes: 3 Land of the Flat Water LukeJavan8 Carpal Tunnel LukeJavan8 Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2008 Posts: 9,971 Likes: 3 Land of the Flat Water I had a widow's peak at the top of my forehead, but alas now my forehead reaches to the crown of my head!! ----please, draw me a sheep---- Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak LukeJavan8 #177910 07/03/2008 1:16 AM Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania The Pook old hand The Pook old hand Joined: Feb 2008 Posts: 1,067 Tasmania  Originally Posted By: LukeJavan8 I had a widow's peak at the top of my forehead, but alas now my forehead reaches to the crown of my head!! A dead widow's peak perhaps? "God only made a few perfect heads and put hair on the rest..." - Anon Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: Widow's Peak The Pook #177912 07/03/2008 9:37 AM Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague BranShea Carpal Tunnel BranShea Carpal Tunnel Joined: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,295 Netherlands, the Hague That's one I hadn't heard yet! When we say someone has 'a good head ' we mean he has a good brain. In that sense your saying could be associated with the also Anon. one -- 'on brains no hair will grow '. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. 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