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Well, here we are at the beginning of a new millennium and we hope you all had a jolly hogmanay. Not sure what hogmanay means? It's the Scottish word for New Year's Eve. One might expect that such an odd and peculiarly Scottish word might have its origin in Scots Gaelic, that odd and peculiarly Scottish language but, in fact, the word comes from Old French. And the custom is not even particularly Scottish, either. The Old French word was aguillanneuf which meant both "the last day of the year" and the gift which was customarily given on this day. On New Year's Eve, medieval French children would go about their towns demanding a new year’s gift with the shout of aguillanneuf. A very similar practice is also recorded in Scotland:
- Scotch Presbyterian Eloquence [1693] Many French words entered Scots English in the Middle Ages when Scotland and France were allied against England ("the auld alliance"). Several of these words are still current in Scotland such as cibol "spring onion", from the French ci-boule which means "bulb-less". It would be natural to assume, therefore, that hogmanay came via the same route but, if so, how does one explain the existence of hogmanay celebrations in Yorkshire, England?
- The Table-Book, Hone [1827] The word survives in modern French dialects as aiguilan, guilané, and guilanneau. In Normandy it is hoguignettes or hoguinané and in Guernsey it is hoginono. The literal meaning of aguillanneuf is a matter for some debate. One 17th century writer stated explained it as
- Cotgrave [1611] While picturesque, the Druidic origin is now thought to be a romantic fantasy with no basis in fact. What is certain is that people in France, Scotland, parts of England and even Spain solicited alms on New Year's Eve with a cry resembling hogmanay. The modern English equivalent to this, though without the cry, is probably the Christmas box - an annual tip given to tradesmen, the garbage collectors and the mailman some time around the end of the year. The "box" of Christmas box takes us back to the days when an apprentice would receive room and board from his master but would be expected to find his own clothes and such. Thus, on the day after Christmas, when their masters' customers were likely to be at home and in a good mood, apprentices would take up large boxes and call on them, asking for handouts. This is also why, in Britain, the day after Christmas is known as Boxing-day. The rest of the world knows this
day as St. Stephen's Day if they have a name for it at all. This is the
day when King Wenceslaus "looked out" and was famously
charitable. It is also when young boys in Ireland, the Isle of Man and
parts of Wales catch a wren (who is "king of all birds"... it's a
long story) and parade it with great pomp and ceremony, asking for money
(anyone sensing a theme here?). Commonly Traditionally, Christmas was celebrated for twelve days beginning on Christmas Eve and ending on Twelfth Day. "Twelfth Day!" we hear you cry, "What about Twelfth Night?" Well, before we had clocks to tell us when midnight was, it was the custom to count days from sunset to sunset, beginning with the eve. So, Twelfth Night, a time of great merry-making and pranks, was celebrated on the day before Twelfth Day. In a part of Wales called Nantgarw (yes, that is the correct spelling) people dance We have a nagging feeling that some of you want to know the names of the other parts to Danws Flodau Nantgarw. They are Glanbargoed and Llwyrtgoed. There, satisfied? |
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From Ann Fitzgerald:
Certainly. The Jewish enclave
in Venice was indeed founded on the site of a medieval foundry in 1516, but it
is by no means certain that ghetto comes from the Italian word for
foundry, which is getto (gato It might be surprising that the term ghetto blaster first appeared in print in 1982 as the name of a backing band: The Ghetto Blasters. |
From Karen:
This word comes to us from Old English and has had the same form since that time, with some variations in spelling here and there (the earliest recorded example of the word has it as wintra). There are cognates in the Germanic languages: Old Frisian and Dutch winter, Old High German wintar, Old Norse vetr, and Gothic wintrus. It is thought that these all derive from a nasalized form of the Indo-European root *wed- "to be wet", a reference to the winter rain and snow so common to northwestern Europe. This would make winter related to wet, water, and even otter. |
From Cecilia:
Wuss is indeed synonymous with wimp. It is a shortened form of wussy, which is thought to come from pussy-wussy, making it, basically, a synonym for pussy, a slang word meaning "a feeble man" or even "a homosexual". Webster's Unabridged Dictionary dates wuss to 1980-85, but wussy is, of course, older. The OED, however, doesn't even contain wuss, wussy, or even pussy-wussy. If you are curious about where pussy in this sense comes from, see our page on sexual slang, a page that is not for the weak of heart! |
From L. Howe:
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From Russell Wright:
The ultimate source of English gymnast is Greek gumnos "naked". Athletes of ancient Greece were usually naked when they trained. That is how gumnazein came to mean "train, practice". From that verb, the nouns gumnasion and gumnast were formed. Latin adopted the former as gymnasium and it meant "school". English, however, adopted it with its "train" meaning. Gumnast became gymnast in English, via French gymnaste, taking a more specific meaning: "train, practice by doing exercises". It entered English in the late 16th century, as did gymnasium. Gymnasts is clearly the plural form, as the Grammar Lady suggests. The eccentric French composer Eric Satie wrote a very beautiful piece for piano called Trois Gymopedie which, taken literally, means "Three Naked-feet". Odd sense of humor, that fellow. |
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From Isaac Mozeson:
We were unable to find the source of the incorrect etymology of codswollop that we mistakenly attributed to Professor Mozeson. As is always our practice when errors are discovered, we will correct the issue in which the above extract appears. We regret and apologize for this error. |
From Jasjit Grewal:
Thanks for mentioning that, Jasjit. Though it sounds almost plausible as you have explained it, there are some problems with this explanation.
It may come as a surprise to you but we are quite fond of paan - there are four in our fridge, right now. |
From Todd Foster:
Yes, but you can also look at it this way: we have "this month" and "next month". We only talk about "this month" while we are within that month. "Next month" is the month that is approaching. From Andrew Conomy:
From Gnatalia:
From Dr. Moffatt:
We suggest that the quickest and easiest solution is to say "this weekend" when you mean the approaching OR current weekend, and "next weekend" when you mean the weekend after the current or approaching weekend. However, it will be difficult to enforce consistency, so you're probably going to have to clarify by saying things like "this coming weekend" or "the weekend of the 27th". There's no easy answer to this one! Would that the venerable Fowler had addressed this question. |
From Betsy:
And it's already considered old news. Talk about a fast-paced age! |
From Drakestone:
Yes, we didn't spell that out very clearly in our discussion of pot-luck. Thanks for elucidating! |
From Todd Foster:
Thanks for the kind words, Todd. Regarding Curmudgeons' Corner, the contents of that particular column are supposed to be pedantically picky (hence the title) and not terribly profound. Every so often the column gets a bit too serious for its own good and we have to knock it down a few notches. Regarding an explanation of the phrase vent my spleen, it's a simple explanation and would be too short for "Words to the Wise". In medieval times, the spleen was thought to be the source of a hot temper, and so by venting the spleen one would be letting loose one's anger. As far as both of us venting one spleen, the word has been used metaphorically since the 19th century and is a synonym for "anger". It has been accepted usage since then for more than one person to share "a spleen". Also, it just sounded snappier than saying "where we each vent our respective spleens". |
From Cecile Buhl:
You're thinking of potlatch. Good suggestion! However, potlatch entered English in the mid-19th century (from the Nootka Indian potlatsh "a gift"), while pot-luck first appeared in the 16th century. Besides, no one brought gifts to the potlatch ceremony - guests were given gifts by the host. It was a way of acquiring status by showing how much wealth one could afford to lose. |
Laughing Stock |
The Millennium Bug Well, here we are in the new millennium and not an apocalypse in sight. We must admit we are very disappointed. Here's a little reminder of those days when some people feared that to many zeroes in the date would stop computers in their tracks. |
Allegedly taken from a memo received at a Fortune 500 company -oOo- Subject: Easy method of solving Y2K issue
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Last Updated 06/23/02 04:05 PM