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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
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And considered a weed by so many.
A girl I once knew as a child, used to hold the
flower under everyone's chin and if a yellow
glow appeared (which it always did) she would
say "Oh, you like butter too". Interesting folk-ism
from somewhere.
yup, did that! You guys are using the wrong flower! What a hoot! You are supposed to do this with a buttercup which makes sense. The dandelion version doesn't jive... :0) 
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Joined: Oct 2006
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
Joined: Oct 2006
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welcome, Nereida!
my computer dictionary (which I believe is M-W) says this:
ORIGIN late Middle English : from French dent-de-lion, translation of medieval Latin dens leonis ‘lion's tooth' (because of the jagged shape of the leaves). And those leaves make a WONDERFUL salad!! I (fondly) recall my father making "Dandelion Salad". I would help him gather leaves from our 'farm' (aka my front yard).
"I am certain there is too much certainty in the world" -Michael Crichton
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
The bleeched young rosettes of the leaves are a springtime (bitter) delicacy. The leaves are bleeched by covering them with a layer of earth when they have the right size. Because of the resemblance of this little heap of earth to a molehill we call it 'molsla' (molesalad). Not to be confused with the Mexican mole salad.
Hi, Parkin T, it never harms to double up information for a good imprint on the memory. It ís a good salad indeed.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
And considered a weed by so many.
A girl I once knew as a child, used to hold the
flower under everyone's chin and if a yellow
glow appeared (which it always did) she would
say "Oh, you like butter too". Interesting folk-ism
from somewhere.
yup, did that! You guys are using the wrong flower! What a hoot! You are supposed to do this with a buttercup which makes sense. The dandelion version doesn't jive... :0) well, maybe, but it's been 40-some years, and I still get yellow under my chin.
formerly known as etaoin...
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stranger
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OP
stranger
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I would like to use the term " folklore" rather than trivia.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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You are supposed to do this with a buttercup which makes sense.Was google-booking about and came across this: When children find a flower of the celandine or buttercup, they pluck it, hold it under the smooth, fair chin of their comrades, to see "if they like butter." The liking is proportional to the brightness of the yellow reflection on the skin. [...] Children will not gather or smell at the beautiful yellow flower of the dandelion, "piss-a-bed" or "pissimire" they call it, because they believe unpleasant results, as recorded in the former name, will ensue. The leaves of the plant grow close to the ground, but the flower stalk grows erect, though hollow and easily broken. As a conceited person walks with head erect, it is said "He walks as brant (upright) as a pissimire." Children, however, delight to pluck the flower stalks, when the flu fly ball of downy seeds is quite ripe. They call them "clocks," and puff at them, scattering the winged seeds broadcast. The number of puffs required to dislodge the whole, denotes the time of day, and the little rogues regulate the length and strength of the puffs, on purpose to bring matters right, believing it best to prophesy only when you know. " Dandelion, with globe of down, The school-boy's clock in every town, Which the truant puffs amain, To conjure lost hours back again." [In John Nicholson (1890) Folk Lore of East Yorkshire ( link) [Addendum: I finally got a chance to look up pissabed in the OED1. Interestingly, there is one citation in 1640, John Parkinson's Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Palnts: "Pisseabed ... is also Crowfoote". Crowfoot is another common name for (wait for it) buttercup.]
Last edited by zmjezhd; 04/16/09 12:32 AM.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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I did some digging in an old thread where we had the yellow spring flowers.
03/29/07
olly
As a youngster we would hold a buttercup under our chins. If the reflection was yellow, you were healthy. If it were bright yellow, you were very healthy. It was only later in life that I associated the tone of skin with the brightness of reflection, darker seemed brighter.
tsuwm 03/31/07
in the U.S., there is a more pedestrian childhood custom..
Like the buttercup a dandelion in bloom held under the chin tells whether you like butter if there is a yellow reflection.
-joe (and a bouquet of dandelions, for mom) friday
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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[Addendum: I finally got a chance to look up pissabed in the OED1. Interestingly, there is one citation in 1640, John Parkinson's Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Palnts: "Pisseabed ... is also Crowfoote". Crowfoot is another common name for (wait for it) buttercup.] " "Pisseabed" word remains alive in Dutch, but not meaning a flower. Pissebed = woodlouse, the little usefull creepers that help turn the green wastes to compost.
Last edited by BranShea; 04/16/09 10:52 AM.
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member
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member
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welcome, Nereida!
my computer dictionary (which I believe is M-W) says this:
ORIGIN late Middle English : from French dent-de-lion, translation of medieval Latin dens leonis ‘lion's tooth' (because of the jagged shape of the leaves). And those leaves make a WONDERFUL salad!! I (fondly) recall my father making "Dandelion Salad". I would help him gather leaves from our 'farm' (aka my front yard). Dandelion greens made frequent Spring & Summer appearances on our World War Two dinner table. My paternal grandmother who reared my sister & me was a frugal Swiss-German who knew the value of yard greens. Dandelion was only one of several natural greens that graced the table of my youth. We never thought to eat them fresh; there were always served blanched (I think that's the correct term). Lamb's Quarter & Plantain were also candidates for the table. With a dash of cider vinegar, they were quite satisfactory.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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OED has 1597 for the earliest citation of pissabed for dandelion. Dandelion itself is dated back to 1513, not that much earlier.
As a side note, I have seen dandelion seeds for sale in those little seed packets that are ubiquitous in the spring planting season.
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