Malls are so-called because we get mauled there. Some time ago we heard a stand-up comic quip that Are certain features required in order for the place to be called a My question is 'What makes a place a mall rather than a park or shoppingĬenter. Mall is used to denote shopping centers and grassy park-like areas where people gatherĪnd walk around. While the word was originally imitative of birds, when we say that a magpie isĬhattering today, we mean that he is making sounds like a human.ĭutch has similar words in koeteren "jabber" and It originally referred to the rapid twittering of birds, including sparrows and swallows, but over time it came to refer more to those birds whose vocalizations sound human-like, such as magpies. It was not until about a century later that it acquired the sense of "talk in a light or informal manner". Idly" and arose as an abbreviation of chatter. L being inserted erroneously around 1525, apparently in imitation of wouldĬhat first appears in the written record in the mid-15th century with the meaning "to talk Not" we hear you say.) Actually, the original form was cude, the It is a so-called "defective" verbĪnd has no true infinitive form. "to know" and, even further afield, to the jñ- in SanskritĬuriosity in this group is the verb can, as in "I can tie Greek word gnosis, "knowledge", the Russian zn- of znat It corresponds to the c-n in canny and cunning and to AnotherĪs in "D'ye ken John Peel in his coat so gay?" and Not the modern abbreviation ofĬonfidence trick, this con means "to study" andĭerives from Old English cunnian "to know". Shakespeare gives an excellent example of its useĬunning man did calculate my birth, and told me that by water I Here, cunning means simply "knowing", just Witch but more often was referred to as a cunning man or a cunning
Powers" so, in a sense, it meant the same as uncanny.Īlso, someone possessed of uncanny powers was seldom called a wizard or a Was "supernaturally wise" or "endowed with magical
In the 18th century, one of the meanings of canny "beautiful" with many more nuances in between but originally it Northumberland it can mean anything from "clever" to These days, is seldom heard outside of northern Britain. Of uncanny, this is the negative form of canny, a word which, "uncanny", mostly by remote Shakespearean influence. Was not until the early 19th century that weird came to mean "having the power to control the fate of men". Byġ400 it had taken the form which we recognize today and was being used as anĪdjective, but it still retained the sense of "fate", for it meant ItĬomes from Old English wyrd, from Proto-Germanic *wurdis, theĮtymological sense of which was "that which comes about". Piper's Weird" translates to "The Fate of the Piper". (Well, it certainly is the case with some of our piping
On theįace of it one might assume this to be synonymous with "Theīagpipe-player Is A Little Strange" but this turns out not to be theĬase. We came across a tune called "The Piper's Weird". It was while perusing a book of pipe tunes recently that (Great Highland Bagpipes)] but the polite, sweet-toned Northumbrian Instruments of torture [hey, watch it! says Melanie, who likes the GHBs
THE WEIRD SISTERS BAGPIPE PLAYER PLUS
Previews of the Latest Edition, plus notification of We graciously permit challenges to our profound erudition. And grumbles from whining pedants Barb Dwyer and Malcolm Tent.
0 kommentar(er)
