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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Quote:
this got me wondering if the sound of Baron Scarpia's name is just coincidence or if there's more of a connection
I'm not sure either, but the similarity would be obvious to an Italian. (Perhaps, something along the lines of calling a cop a flatfoot or a detective a gumshoe in English.) Italian scarpa comes from a Germanic word skarpa meaning 'shoe'; cf. OHG scharpe. There is a synonym in Italian, scarpa 'embankment' from *skrapa 'pier, support'.
And since the House of Savoy and its pretender to the Italian throne is lately in the news, I've remembered a Genoese proverb that says that "Any Piedmontese with one shoe calls himself a count." I'll try to find the original wording.
[Found it, and it's less scurrilous than my half-remembered one.]
In Piemonte, a chi ha due scarpe in ti pê ghe dixan conte. (In Piemonte, chi ha due scarpe nei piedi gli dicono conte. / In Piedmont, whoever has two shoes on his feet, calls himself count.)
[In Ennio Celant, 1990, Proverbi liguri: curiosità, origini, storia, p. 111.]
mmm, lovely - thanks for digging that out. Yes, I strongly suspect that connection of sound & associative meaning now.
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Entire Thread
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shoes & common sense.
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ironyfree
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06/26/06 07:26 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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of troy
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06/26/06 09:41 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Jackie
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06/27/06 01:26 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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of troy
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06/27/06 01:34 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Jackie
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06/27/06 01:40 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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of troy
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06/27/06 01:51 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Aramis
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06/27/06 01:57 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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of troy
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06/27/06 03:37 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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RobT105
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06/27/06 06:40 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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of troy
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06/27/06 07:54 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Bingley
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06/28/06 02:16 AM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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consuelo
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06/28/06 11:17 AM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Aramis
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06/28/06 03:13 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Aramis
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06/28/06 03:03 PM
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fractals
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of troy
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06/28/06 03:28 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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davinci
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06/28/06 08:56 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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of troy
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06/28/06 09:05 PM
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Re: cook sure
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zmjezhd
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06/28/06 09:28 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Aramis
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06/29/06 06:24 PM
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the almond bread clique
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Alex Williams
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07/02/06 01:03 PM
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Re: shoes & common sense, and socks
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Aramis
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06/27/06 01:34 PM
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Re: viva zapata
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zmjezhd
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06/28/06 01:26 PM
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a foot fetish of words!
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of troy
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06/28/06 02:28 PM
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Re: a foot fetish of words!
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zmjezhd
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06/28/06 02:57 PM
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Re: viva zapata
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Aramis
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Re: bracketing etyma
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zmjezhd
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Re: sock it to me
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maverick
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zmjezhd
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Re: shoe fits
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maverick
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07/05/06 10:37 AM
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Re: shoes & common sense.
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Aramis
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06/27/06 01:41 PM
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