Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#70576 05/19/02 06:00 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline OP
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
My grandmother owned a pair made of ebony, that were shaped much like scallop shells. I was surprised to find the etymology is from "chestnut" which comes from genus "castanea". I could never imagine my definitely proper grandmother dancing seductively.

castanets .pl.
5Fr castagnette (sing.) < Sp castaOeta, dim. of castaOa < L castanea, CHESTNUT: so named from the shape6 a pair of small, hollowed pieces of hard wood, ivory, etc., held in the hand by a connecting cord and clicked together with the fingers to beat time to music, esp. in Spanish dances



#70577 05/19/02 06:17 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Requires a lot of manual dexterity to play a pair of castanets.

The ones we have at school for small children to use are made of hardwood of exceptional quality, and they're on a stick. All you have to do is turn the stick back and forth in your hand, and the castanets attached at either end will beat about and click like the dickens. Music teachers have been known to go insane when out-of-control children run around the music room clicking catanets.

The chestnut connection is interesting. I don't think they look like chestnuts personally.

How do you spell canasta? Wonder what the derivation of that word is?

Canasta and castanets should go into a song together.


#70578 05/20/02 09:55 AM
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Canasta means basket. Much more than that yo no sé That's Spanish for I don't know. My dictionary gives no etimology for this word.



Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 442 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5