"That's a great deal to make one word mean," Alice said in a thoughtful tone. "When I make a word do a lot of work like that," said Humpty Dumpty, "I always pay it extra."

Sunday 1 February 2009

Curlicue

If ever a word was self-explanatory it is curlicue - a lovely word.


A curlicue, or alternatively curlycue, in the visual arts, is a fancy twist, or curl, composed usually from a series of concentric circles. It is a recurring motif in architecture (as decoration to the lintel/architrave above a door), in calligraphy and in general scrollwork.

"...the dust had probably seeped in to lie in the dulling mahogany curlicues of the Chippendale chairs.." Mollie Panter-Downes

No comments:

Post a Comment