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estimation of Dave Wilton is not very high.
How does he compare with Cecil?
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Dear Faldage: It is true that Brewer has a lot of garbage along with the good stuff.
He spent so many pages on ancient romances nobody reads any more, I can't see
how he managed to miss commenting on Edward Lear.
Dave Wilton just disappointed me but not having enough good stuff. I love the Bayeux
tapestry, but that's about all. Cecil Adams like Word-Detective is more smart-aleck
than informative. I do like www.takeourword.com - that's where I'm going now.
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Just out of curiosity, Brewer does not seem to make any connection between rem acu tetigisti and rimshot. Did I just not look far enough or is this your assumption, Dr. Bill?
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If I remember correctly Brewer said "acu rem" meant you had hit the bullseye. I'll
go look again.
It took me a while, but here it is, from Brewer:
Rem Acu You have hit the mark; you have hit the nail on the head. Rem acu tetigisti (Plautus). A phrase in archery, meaning,
You have hit the white, or the bull's-eye.
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No connection with rimshot, then.
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Dear Faldage: I never listen to games, doubled in spades to basketball games, but had
assumed "Rimshot" was manic-mouthed sportcaster word for a basket with ball never
even touching the rim. "Rem acu" seems quite similar to me, in my benghted cultural isolation.
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Dear Faldage: I never listen to games, doubled in spades to basketball games, but had
assumed "Rimshot" was manic-mouthed sportcaster word for a basket with ball never
even touching the rim. "Rem acu" seems quite similar to me, in my benghted cultural isolation.
Edit: I searched, and can't believe what I got:
Rimshot [Pasties And A G-string ] When the drummer strikes the rim of a drum with a
drumstick, producing a loud, abrupt sound. It's often used to accentuate the weak beats offbeat
(The Folk File, Bill Markwick )
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Shoddy properly means the flue and fluff thrown off from cloth in the process of weaving. This flue, being mixed with new wool,
is woven into a cloth called shoddy- i.e. cloth made of the flue “shod” or thrown off. Shoddy is also made of old garments torn
up and re-spun. The term is used for any loose, sleazy cloth, and metaphorically for literature of an inferior character compiled
from other works. (Shed, provincial pret. “shod;” shoot, obsolete pret. shotten.)
Shoddy characters. Persons of tarnished reputation, like cloth made of shoddy or refuse wool.
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Mentioned three times, but never defined. From Brewer:
Silhouette (3 syl.). A black profile, so called from Etienne de Silhouette, Contrôleur des Finances, 1757,
who made great savings in the public expenditure of France. Some say the black portraits were called
Silhouettes in ridicule; others assert that Silhouette devised this way of taking likenesses to save expense.
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Often used in AWADtalk, but I don't remember seeing its etymology. From Brewer:
Silly is the German selig (blessed), whence the infant Jesus is termed “the harmless silly babe,” and
sheep are called “silly,” meaning harmless or innocent. As the “holy” are easily taken in by wordly
ounning, the word came to signify “gullible,” “foolish,” (See Simplicity .)
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