Some of the most interesting, unusual words describe everyday things. Who
would have thought that this fleshy, spongy, white thing inside an orange
had a word for itself... and that it would share it with astronomers? Or
that it would have the same ancestor as the words for an egg part, a photo
book, or smearing of a canvas? What all these words have in common is
whiteness or albus, Latin for white. Albumen is egg white, an album is
a book with (usually) white pages, and when we daub a sheet of paper, we
de-albus it. Ah, the joy of words! Let's look at a few other words for
odds and ends during this week.

Anu, you are so !
Thanks for a new word for the fruit-rind lining--I've only ever heard it called the pith.

And, with perversity, record albums are black.

Thanks for the added tidbit about the nutritional value of such albedo. Hmmm. Do I dare eat it, from now on, together with the rest of the fruit to get the much needed natural vit C? Maybe it has been packaged already somewhere as an easier pill to swallow.

chronist

Other "alb" words: albino, and an Italian lighting company called alb, and the priest's white garment. Surprisingly, also "elf" and "oaf."

Etymology below stolen from dictionary.com:

1. a.elf, from Old English ælf, elf;
b.oaf, from Old Norse alfr, elf;
c.Oberon, from Old French Auberon, from a source akin to Old High German Alberich. a, b, and c all possibly from Germanic *albiz, *albaz, if meaning “white ghostly apparitions.”
2.elfin, from Old English -elfen, elf, possibly from Germanic *albinj.
3.abele, alb, albedo, albescent, albino, albite, album, albumen, aubade, auburn; daub, from Latin albus, white.

Alas, my searched has yielded more questions than answers:
Such as, where does this leave Albany and Albania? And why is "auburn" derived from a word meaning white?

> And why is "auburn" derived from a word meaning white?

see 'bluey' discussion.

I don't know about auburn and "bluey"-- if you lighten (whiten or bleach) very dark brown (black hair-- or other organic material) you get auburn-- a white-ish shade of brown--

Hair color (and natural wood) often "redden" as you lighten them. Auburn is more common than a true red--and you could get auburn just from the effects of sun bleaching on dark hair.

and just in case you didn't know "red heads are naturally superior"-- (thus speaks the mother of a red headed child.-- I am a blond- at one point, early in my life, it was naturally so --my parents and siblings are all very dark-- from dark brown to blackish brown hair-- my ex too had dark hair-- but once or twice--in each generation there is a red head--my daugher is the only one in her generation (actually, she is the only living red head in the family).

Then there's Albion, the white island.

Bingley

Do I dare eat it
It tastes fine, excepting the fact that it leaves a burning taste in your mouth.

jimthedog

A.Word.A.Day--chaplet
1. A wreath or garland worn on the head.


"What was on Hannibal's mind as he drove his elephants over the Alps? Looking good, apparently, because on Hannibal's head was a wig, which he wore into battle to cover his lack of locks. Julius Caesar used his chaplet for the same purpose, the comb-over having not yet been discovered." Jack Reed, Men Want to Look Good, Too, St. Petersburg Times (Florida), Jan 28, 2001.

Vanity, thy name is not woman!


chronist

One word for "odds and ends" left over after a meal is "orts". I used to get a laugh out of a radio advertisement on a Boston station in the thirties inviting people to come to "Ort's Grille and have a wonderful time."

The word "albedo" was mentioned, but only briefly. I was surprised to learn that it refers to the white part of an orange peel, and in another site learn that it contains more vitamin C than all the juice. This was the more interesting because in a PM from Wow, she mentioned that the officers in the British navy had marmalade, which without their knowing it protected them from scurvy. They thought their superior hygiene was what kept them from dying of scurvy as so many seamen did towards the end of Anson's long exploration voyage.

Well this is an "ends", possibly not quite that odd, and probably in the wrong category (like anyone really cares Hi, AnnaS)

Has anyone heard the term "the spider" for describing the last shot in a liquor bottle?BeingCJ- You don't count in this one Until about a year ago the only other word for this I had heard was "the worm", a reference to a specific tequilla which artfully has a worm inside.

Well this is an "ends", possibly not quite that odd, and probably in the wrong category (like anyone really cares
Hi, AnnaS

what, me care? )