Tuesday, October 7, 2014
October 7, 2014
October 7, 2014
To my readers: I will be traveling and will be away from my computer and access to this blog for the next six days. I can't wait to return! Monday night.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
October 5, 2014 Sunday "verboten" "verdant" "verdigris"
October 5, 2014 Sunday
blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com
email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com
You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com
literally means forbidden
Rauchen Verboten is a German sign meaning "no smoking"
Interesting (at least to me since I have not formally studied German) is that it is pronounced in German "fer boh' ten" with the first consonant pronounced with a 'f' sound. (You can google a German dictionary on line for this.)
verdant: [Old French vert green]
green in tint; also, unripe in experience or judgement
verdigris: [Old French, literally vert de gris green of Greece]
I pronounce this with out the final 's' sound, as in French, but it can be pronounced \ver dih grees\ a beautiful greenish-blue pigment on copper, brass or bronze
My Freshman year at Princeton, I had arrive a week early and moved into beautiful Cuyler Hall - ivy (of course) creeping up the stately, ancient stone walls overlooking a walled in grass and slate courtyard. As the exuberant students moved in, the upperclassmen started to play frisbee football on the courtyard. One of the Freshman, a diminutive and quiet student, was asked to play. He eagerly and naively jumped into the came, a big smile on his face, went out for a pass, was stripped of the frisbee, pummeled to the ground as the upperclassmen took the frisbee and scored a touch down.
I watched all this with amused amazement from my second story window. My roommate, Corky, and I laughed at this brutal initiation of a Freshman.
He was verdant.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
October 4, 2014 Saturday "vastitude" "veranda"
October 4, 2014 Saturday
blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com
email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com
You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com
vastitude:
immensity, vastness
Besides rhyming with dude, one of the funnier words in the dictionary...
veranda: [Hindu, varanda]
I only include this word because of its Hindu etymology. How many words of ours are from Hindu? I do find etymologies from different, sometimes obscure cultures very interesting. I have make a list in the index of these different sources of words.
immensity, vastness
Besides rhyming with dude, one of the funnier words in the dictionary...
veranda: [Hindu, varanda]
I only include this word because of its Hindu etymology. How many words of ours are from Hindu? I do find etymologies from different, sometimes obscure cultures very interesting. I have make a list in the index of these different sources of words.
Friday, October 3, 2014
October 3, 2014 Friday "Venetian blinds" "vanilla"
October 3, 2014 Friday
blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com
email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com
You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com
vanilla: [Latin, vagina sheath; in Spanish, a diminutive of vaina sheath]
If you look at a picture of the vanilla plant, you see large pods or 'sheaths' that house the vanilla bean.
I have come across other words in botany that use the term 'vagina' to refer to a sheath, which seemed surprising until I saw this etymology.
venetian blinds:
I am not sure if anyone has seen venetian blinds in Venice, Italy, but the thought is intriguing. I am looking at some right now as I write this.
The French call venetian blinds "les Persienes" (the Persians). Evidently, the idea for this kind of blind was brought to Venice (an important trading center) from Persia. Freed Venetian slaves then brought the idea to Paris, hence "les Persienes." The blinds made their introduction to the USA in the 1700's, and are depicted in a painting in 1787 about the Constitutional Convention ("The Visit of Paul Jones to the Constitutional Convention" by J. L. Gerome Ferris).
Thursday, October 2, 2014
October 2, 2014 Thursday "Veda" "Vedic"
October 2, 2014 Thursday
blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com
email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com
You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com
the earliest Hindu writings, comprising four canonical collections of prayers and hymns.
Vedic: referring to the Vedas or the Hindu culture (1,500 to 500 B.C.)
It is humbling to think of the Vedas dating from 1,500 to 500 B.C. With all my reading and interests, I know almost nothing about the Vedas, let alone the Upanishads (which I think are part of the Vedas) and the more recent Bagavad Gita, that was Ghandi's inspiration. Each culture has such a long, intricate history of philosophical and spiritual ideas and principles. What culture am I turning over to my family and children? What ideals and spiritual beliefs? Mine are rooted in Catholicism and that seems to anchor a deep reality for me. It forms my 'Weltenschauung' so to speak, but doesn't preclude my interest and admiration for hinduism, Buddhism, zen, yoga, Judaism, etc. A wonderful, mysterious journey. In literature, the works of Jhumpa Lahiri manifest this longing and search for cultural identity, i.e. The Namesake, and the exquisite short story The Third and Final Continent.
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
October 1, 2014 Wednesday "vapid"
October 1, 2014 Wednesday
blog address: Readingthedictionarybackwards.blogspot.com
email: ishmaelish36@blogspot.com
You can find my other blog of pediatric anecdotes, poetry, artwork and literature at ishmaelish36.blogspot.com
flat, uninteresting; lacking liveliness
…as in a vapid conversations, many of which I have had and contributed to.
My grandfather, Luigi Feole, from Naples, used to make decidedly unvapid wine in his basement…crushing the grapes, storing it in aromatic, moist ancient wooden wine barrels in his basement, the pungent grape aroma mixing with the wonderful smell of mold and dirt. Amazingly, I never took a single drink during my years at Princeton but, ironically, kept a huge gallon jug of Grampa's wine in a wooden box that served as a seat under the Gothic windows of my dorm room in Cuyler Hall. I think it was a reminder of my roots and an inspiration, a sense of gratitude for the privilege of being there. I was keeping it for a memento and, several months later, I thought I would just taste it. It had turned to vinegar…and I had waited to long and had missed this opportunity. A lesson in chemistry and in life for this rookie.
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