Wordsmith.org
Posted By: wwh Finisterre - 02/09/04 02:43 PM
Do you know where it is? It's the point furthest west
of Europe. Surfing there is exceptionally good.
LandsEnd in French. Or End of the World?

Posted By: jheem Re: Finisterre - 02/09/04 03:14 PM
There's in Bretagne, and there's a Land's End in Cornwall also. The part opposite the Scilly Islands. There's good surfing there, too.

Posted By: hibernicus Re: Finisterre - 02/09/04 06:09 PM
There's also one in Galicia, NW Spain (Finisterra). But none of these is the westernmost point in mainland Europe, which is in Portugal.

Names shared by pairs of places facing each other across the English Channel:
Mont St Michel - St Michael's Mount
Cornouaille - Cornwall
Bretagne - Britain

Posted By: wwh Re: Scillies - 02/09/04 06:50 PM
Jheem's mention of Scillies, reminded me of naval disaster there when Sir Cloudsley Shovel lost 4 ships and all hands
for lack of an accurate chronometer to know his longitude.

I have always wondered how he got his name, and etymology
thereof.

shovel
SYLLABICATION: shov·el
PRONUNCIATION: shvl
NOUN: 1. A tool with a handle and a broad scoop or blade for digging and moving material, such as dirt or snow. 2. A large mechanical device or vehicle for heavy digging or excavation. 3. The amount that a shovel can hold; a shovelful: One shovel of dirt.
VERB: Inflected forms: shov·eled also shov·elled, shov·el·ing, shov·el·ling, shov·els, shov·els

TRANSITIVE VERB: 1. To move or remove with a shovel. 2. To make with a shovel: shoveled a path through the snow. 3. To convey or throw in a rough or hasty way, as if with a shovel: He shoveled the food into his mouth. 4. To clear or excavate with or as if with a shovel: shoveling off the driveway after the snowstorm; shovels out the hall closet once a year.
INTRANSITIVE VERB: To dig or work with a shovel.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English, from Old English scofl.

and "scofl" reminded me of "scuffle = a type of hoe"
SYLLABICATION: scuf·fle
PRONUNCIATION: skfl
NOUN: A hoe that is manipulated by pushing or pulling. Also called Dutch hoe, scuffle hoe.
ETYMOLOGY: Dutch schoffel, hoe for weeding, from Middle Dutch, hoe, shovel.

And "scuffle" to move feet noisily, and a brief episode of fisticuffs are obvious developments.

Can anyone take it further?

A URL with more information about the Scillies and
Sir Cloudsley Shovel: Scroll down 1/2 way:
http://www.dcs.warwick.ac.uk/bshm/zingaz/S.html#salt

Posted By: Zed Re: Scillies - 02/10/04 12:58 AM
After a long speech in the British Parliment about the political future of the Virgin Islands someone asked the Right Honourable Member where exactly the Virgin Islands were. His reply was that he didn't know but that they must be " a goodly distance from the Isle of Man."
Posted By: wwh Re: Scillies - 02/10/04 01:26 AM
When Little Audrey heard of the Virgin Islands, she laughed, and laughed, and laughed.
She knew the U.S. Marines had been there.

Posted By: jheem Re: Scillies - 02/10/04 03:34 AM
I knew a old Irish woman (from Inishbofin but long resident in Sonoma County) whose maiden name was Scofield, but she pronounced it scuffle.

© Wordsmith.org