#73503
06/24/2002 4:35 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Boustrophedon A method of writing or printing, alternately from right to left and left to right, like the
path of oxen in ploughing. (Greek, bous-strepho, ox-turning.)
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#73504
06/24/2002 6:52 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Brewer The Brewer of Ghent. James van Artevelde. (Fourteenth century.)
It may here be remarked that it is a great error to derive proper names of any antiquity from modern
words of a similar sound or spelling. As a rule, very few ancient names are the names of trades; and to
suppose that such words as Bacon, Hogg, and Pigg refer to swineherds, or Gaiter, Miller, Tanner, Ringer,
and Bottles to handicrafts, is a great mistake. A few examples of a more scientific derivation will suffice
for a hint:-
BREWER. This name, which exists in France as Bruhière and Brugière, is not derived from the Saxon
briwan (to brew), but the French bruyère (heath), and is about tantamount to the German “Plantagenet”
(broom-plant). (See Rymer's Fædera, William I.)
BACON is from the High German verb began (to fight), and means “the fighter.”
PIGG and BIGG are from the old High German pichan (to slash).
HOGG is the Anglo-Saxon hyge (scholar), from the verb hogan (to study). In some cases it may be from
the German hoch (high).
BOTTLE is the Anglo-Saxon Bod'-el (little envoy). Norse, bodi; Danish, bud.
GAITER is the Saxon Gaid-er (the darter). Celtic, gais, our goad.
MILLER is the old Norse, melia, our mill and maul, and means a “mauler” or “fighter.”
RINGER is the Anglo-Saxon hring gar (the mailed warrior)
SMITH is the man who smites.
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#73505
06/24/2002 7:27 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Britain By far the most probable derivation of this word is that given by Bochart, from the Phoenician
Baratanic (country of tin), contracted into B'ratan'. The Greek Cassiterides (tin islands) is a
translation of Baratanic, once applied to the whole known group, but now restricted to the Scilly Isles.
Aristotle, who lived some 350 years before the Christian era, calls the island Britannic, which is so
close to B'ratanic that the suggestion of Bochart can scarcely admit of a doubt. (De Mundo, sec. 3.)
Pliny says, “Opposite to Celtiberia are a number of islands which the Greeks called `Cassiterides' ”
(evidently he means the British group). Strabo says the Cassiterides are situated about the same
latitude as Britain.
Great Britain consists of “Britannia prima” (England), “Britannia secunda” (Wales), and “North
Britain” (Scotland), united under one sway.
Greater Britain. The whole British empire.
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#73506
06/24/2002 8:20 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Brother German A real brother. (Latin, germanus, of the same stock; germen, a bud or sprout.)
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#73507
06/24/2002 8:31 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Brunt To bear the brunt. To bear the stress, the heat, and collision. The same word as “burn.”
(Icelandic, bruni, burning heat, bren; Anglo-Saxon, brenning, burning.) The “brunt of a battle” is the
hottest part of the fight. (Compare “fire-brand.”)
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#73508
06/24/2002 8:50 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Budget The statement which the Chancellor of the Exchequer lays before the House of Commons every
session, respecting the national income and expenditure, taxes and salaries. The word is the old French
bougette, a bag, and the present use arose from the custom of bringing to the House the papers
pertaining to these matters in a leather bag, and laying them on the table. Hence, to open the budget or
bag, i.e. to take the papers from the bag and submit them to the Hou
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#73509
06/24/2002 8:54 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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Buffoon means one who puffs out his cheeks, and makes a ridiculous explosion by causing them
suddenly to collapse. This being a standing trick with clowns, caused the name to be applied to low
jesters. The Italian baffare is “to puff out the cheeks for the purpose of making an explosion;” our puff.
(Italian buffone, a buffoon; French bouffon.)
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#73510
06/24/2002 9:05 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Bobêche.
A clown in a small theatre in the Boulevart du Temple, Paris. (1815-1825.)
Galimafré.
A contemporary and rival of the former. (compare with "gallimaufy" below)
gallimaufry
n.,
pl. 3fries 5Fr galimafr=e, prob. < OFr galer (see GALLANT) + dial. (Picardy) mafrer, to eat much < MDu maffelen6
1 orig., a hash made of meat scraps
2 a hodgepodge; jumble
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#73511
06/24/2002 9:09 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Buggy A light vehicle without a hood, drawn by one horse. (Hindustani, baghi. )
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#73512
06/25/2002 2:22 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Here ya go, Bill.
It's still here.
It just moved off the screen is all.
k
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#73513
06/25/2002 3:26 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Thanks FF. But since I had posted to it last night, it did not seem possible
that it should have dropped to the bottom since there were so few posts
in that forum. I did not intend this to seem llike an ego trip, just hoping
to have something for newcomers to read, so they would not decide
the site was dead. Thanks again, Bill
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#73514
06/25/2002 3:51 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Just catching up a little here!
Abeyance really means something gaped after (French, bayer, to gape).
Interesting, wwh, that when a hound "bays" that is shown as originating with the French word "aboyer" - to bark at. I haven't followed the etymology further back, but I guess the two words are related.
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#73515
06/25/2002 4:03 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Caduceus (4 syl.). A white wand carried by Roman officers when they went to treat for peace. The
Egyptians adorned the rod with a male and female serpent twisted about it, and kissing each other. From
this use of the rod, it became the symbol of eloquence and also of office. In mythology, a caduceus with
wings is placed in the hands of Mercury, the herald of the gods; and the poets feign that he could
therewith give sleep to whomsoever he chose; wherefore Milton styles it “his opiate rod” in Paradise
Lost, xi. 133.
I have read that the US Army Medical Corps errs in using as its symbol a caduceus with two snakes.
The caduceus of Aesclapius the god of healing had only one snake, and is the symbol used by the
British military medical officers. I'm sure they prized the authenticity of their insignia, vs. poor
scholarship behind selection of the American one.
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#73516
06/25/2002 4:05 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
"auto da fé"
Dear wwh,
Still catching up!
Like you I had not seen a definition before, although familiar with it as the act of punishment/burning/torture. As I recall it is from the Portuguese rather than Spanish and means "act of the faith". Wasn't aware of the special day set aside for the purpose - wonder what the "punishers"
were doing in their spare time.
dxb
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#73517
06/25/2002 4:13 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Calamity The beating down of standing corn by wind or storm. The word is derived from the Latin
calamus (a stalk of corn). Hence, Cicero calls a storm Calamitosa tempestas (a corn-levelling tempest).
“Another ill accident is drought, and the spoiling of the corn; inasmuch as the word `calamity'
was first derived from calamus (stalk), when the corn could not get out of the ear.”- Bacon.
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#73518
06/25/2002 4:15 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Adroit properly means "to the right" (French, à droite).
Dear wwh,
Thinking over what you've written it occurred to me that we also use "dextrous" in the sense of adroit, from the Latin "dexter" = right, but I can't think of a derivative of "sinister" = left being used in the same way as "gauche".
dxb
Ooops - reading on in my catching up, I see that MG more or less raised this point already - sorry MG.
dxb
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#73519
06/25/2002 4:20 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Calceos mutavit He has changed his shoes, that is, has become a senator. Roman senators were
distinguished by their shoes, which were sandalled across the instep and up the ankles.
I am surprised that I don't know of any English words derived from "calceos". And I get the impression
that "sandalled" as used here refers to the crossing straps that held the foootware in place. I have
never seen this verb before.
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#73520
06/25/2002 4:25 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Dear dxb: Thanks for posting. I feel like a lone puppy baying at the moon.
Caledonia Scotland. A corruption of Celyddon, a Celtic word meaning “a dweller in woods and
forests.” The word Celt is itself a contraction of the same word (Celyd), and means the same thing.
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#73521
06/25/2002 4:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
“Onward Arthur paced, with hand
On Caliburn's resistless brand.”
Scott: Bridal of Triermain.
I remember reading that when Lancelot finally threw King Arthur's sword into
the lake, a hand rose out of the water, caught it, and "brandished" it,
then disappeard with it below the water.
I wonder if "brand" for sword is etymological source of "brandish".
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#73522
06/25/2002 4:36 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Bolero A Spanish dance
Also, if I remember my mother's wardrobe correctly, a ladies short jacket. But what the heck is the connection with the dance? Did the original inventor wear a bolero jacket? Or did they dance on the jacket, the way the Mexicans dance on their hats?
dxb
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#73523
06/25/2002 4:42 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
the older form was bodge
Dear wwh,
I believe bodgers were originally itinerant country folk who made crude furniture from sticks and branches that they found in the woods. It did not last as the pieces were not robust. Certainly I have heard my father use the term in what seemed that sense. I shall inquire further.
dxb
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#73524
06/25/2002 4:48 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear dxb: A girl in my grammar school was named Bodge. I doubt very much
if the family had any idea of the origin of the name.
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#73525
06/25/2002 4:54 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Boustrophedon
Dear wwh,
As a matter of interest, I have a letter written by a Victorian lady in the nineteenth century where she has written normally and then overwritten at, I think (I haven't looked at it for some years), a 45 degree slope, and then overwritten again on the opposite 45 degree slope. The handwriting is beautiful and the whole letter can still be read, albeit with some difficulty. This may have been done to save weight in the package or to save paper or just to show how clever she was - we shall never know, because she doesn't refer to it in the letter!
dxb
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#73526
06/25/2002 5:00 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
I feel like a lone puppy baying at the moon
Dear wwh,
Well, I find this thread fascinating. I came back from a business trip to Alexandria and Cairo at the end of last week and just got around to catching up. I must stop now and go home, I don't think I shall have time to log on there now! Do puppies bay?
dxb
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#73527
06/25/2002 5:06 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Cambrian Series (in geology). The earliest fossiliferous rocks in North Wales. So named by Professor
Sedgwick
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#73528
06/25/2002 5:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Canard A hoax. Cornelissen, to try the gullibility of the public, reported in the papers that he had twenty
ducks, one of which he cut up and threw to the nineteen, who devoured it greedily. He then cut up
another, then a third, and so on till nineteen were cut up; and as the nineteenth was gobbled up by the
surviving duck, it followed that this one duck actually ate nineteen ducks - a wonderful proof of duck
voracity. This tale had the run of all the papers, and gave a new word to the language. (French, cane, a
duck.) (Quetelet.)
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#73529
06/25/2002 6:01 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Canopy properly means a gnat curtain. Herodotus tells us (ii. 95) that the fishermen of the Nile used to
lift their nets on a pole, and form thereby a rude sort of tent under which they slept securely, as gnats will
not pass through the meshes of a net. Subsequently the tester of a bed was so called, and lastly the
canopy borne over kings. (Greek, kwuwy, a gnat; kwiwpeiou, a gnat-curtain; Latin, conopeum, a
gnatcurtain.)
The gnats and midges in New England can fly through quite fine mesh screening. In formation!
I hated the ones called "no-see-ums" that attacked me when I had my outboard motor in one
hand and my fishing gear in the other.
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#73530
06/25/2002 6:23 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Carat of Gold So called from the carat bean, or seed of the locust tree, formerly employed in weighing
gold and silver. Hence the expressions “22 carats fine,” “18 carats fine,” etc., meaning that out of 24
parts, 22 or 18 are gold, and the rest alloy.
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#73531
06/25/2002 6:48 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
I'll never catch up. I'll spend the rest of the week trying to figure out how one rings a bell backwards.
Now, were your reference, wwh, to a bell ringer's bell, then I suppose ringing a bell backwards could be causing the clanger to hit against the bell as you pulled it in toward your chest. Perhaps this is a special effect sometimes used.
But a bell in a belltower? Oh, dear. This makes no sense at all--and even it the bell ringer could somehow pull that great bell in a different direction, how would the sound be altered?
I guess could go google campanology techniques...
...but then there are all these words ringing up there in your thread!
[You and I know what's coming:]
Bell regards and Behemoth Ones, too,
WordWinger
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#73532
06/25/2002 7:36 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Caraway Latin, carum, from Caria in Asia Minor, whence the seeds were imported.
My father would not have bread with caraway seed in it in the house. I never quite
dared ask him if he had once taken a bite of it, and discovered that what looked
like caraway seeds were actually mouse droppings.
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#73533
06/25/2002 7:59 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Carminative A charm medicine. Magic and charms were at one time the chief “medicines,” and the fact
is perpetuated by the word carminative, among others. Carminatives are given to relieve flatulence. (Latin,
carmen, a charm.)
I was taught that carminatives were medicines that promoted belching, as the peppermint in
many antacids. My bottle of Tums doesn't have it listed, just says 'natural flavor'. I thought
that "carminative" meant they made you "sing". Joke on me.
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#73534
06/25/2002 8:06 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Cassiopeia [the lady in the chair ]. The chief stars of this constellation form the outline of a chair. The lady referred to is the
wife of Cepheus (2 syl.), King of Ethiopia. She boasted that the beauty of her daughter Andromeda surpassed that of the
sea-nymphs. The sea-nymphs complained to the sea god of this affront, and Andromeda, to appease their wrath, was chained
to a rock to be devoured by sea-monsters. Perseus (2 syl.) delivered her, and made her his wife. The vain mother was taken to
heaven out of the way, and placed among the stars.
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#73535
06/25/2002 8:16 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Cassiterides (5 syl.). The tin islands, generally supposed to be the Scilly Islands and Cornwall, but
probably the isles in Vigo Bay are meant. It is said that the Veneti procured tin from Cornwall, and carried
it to the Isles of Vigo Bay, but kept as a profound secret the place from which they obtained it. The
Phoenicians were the chief customers of the Veneti.
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#73536
06/25/2002 9:24 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,066 Likes: 2
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 11,066 Likes: 2 |
the US Army Medical Corps errs in using as its symbol a caduceus with two snakes. The caduceus of Aesclapius the god of healing had only one snake
In ancient times [my parasitology professor informed the class lo these many years ago] removing a long parasitic roundworm from under the skin was not simple. If you gave it a yank it would snap and re-grow; the only way to get the whole thing out was to apply a steady gradual pull. (As with Silly Putty.) So the practitioner had to attach one end to a stick, apply gentle tension, and gradually wind the worm around the stick as it slowly emerged. When the last length came out, you had a stick with one coil wrapped around it. Voila! the Caduceus, symbol of the healer.
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#73537
06/25/2002 9:51 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
re: The vain mother was taken to heaven out of the way, and placed among the stars.
and hangs upside down in the heavens.. chained to her chair.. as further punishment for her vanity!
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#73538
06/25/2002 10:00 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Kernel (Anglo-Saxon, cyrnel, a diminutive of corn; seed in general), whence acorn (the ác or oak corn).
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#73539
06/26/2002 12:53 AM
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
I feel like a lone puppy baying at the moon.
Don't worry, Unca Bill, you're not alone in here. It's just...the info is coming in so fast and furious, I for one am having trouble keeping up with it all, let alone commenting on it! - but I AM enjoying it.
Let us go in peace to love and serve the board.
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#73540
06/26/2002 3:58 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
Roman senators were distinguished by their shoes, which were sandalled across the instep and up the ankles.
The Emperor Caligula made his horse, Incitatus, a Roman Senator. I wonder what the horses shoes were like?
dxb
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#73541
06/26/2002 4:10 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
The tin islands, generally supposed to be the Scilly Islands
"Scilly" used here means sacred. The word silly, generally taken as similar in meaning to foolish, also means happy or lucky and a "silly" person (what the country folk once called "simple") was thought to be protected and thus in a sense sacred. The English county that I live in used to be known as silly Sussex because of its numerous churches.
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#73542
06/26/2002 4:25 PM
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
So, silly Sussex would be sacred Sussex? Amazing. I would never have gathered that! Thanks for the information.
And I guess a silly Scicillian there would have been considered to be a sacred Scicillian, yes?
Puts a completely new turn on the phrase "silly goose." Don't suppose geese were considered to be sacred way back then, were they?
Beatific regards,
WW
Sorry I don't know how to spell (yet) Scicillian. Don't know whether it has one or two "l's."
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