Rotary

 

If you mention rotary in the UK people might think of the Rotary Club or a rotary engine or, if you are of a certain age, the old dial on a telephone. But in New England, apparently, a rotary is a traffic circle or what we in the UK call a roundabout.
 

Abigail

 
As a Proper Noun Abigail is a female name occurring in Biblical narratives from the Books of Samuel, and reflected in the Books of Chronicles.

As a Common Noun it was commonly used as a name for a lady's waiting maid in Vioctorian times.
 

Marquetry and Parquetry

 
Marquetry is a form of decorative veneering in which exotic and contrasting woods were cut and fitted together like a jigsaw to form intricate patterns which were then applied as panels of veneer. There were basically two types: arabesque or seaweed marquetry using box or holly with walnut, and floral marquetry using fruitwoods, burr-walnut, ivory, ebony, etc.

Lots of people know the term marquetry but mistakenly use it for geomteric inlays. These are actually parquetry which was most prevalent in late 17th century and early 18th century walnut veneered furniture.
 

Indian summer

 
Unlike here, where our November is simply grey and wet at the moment, Deedee in Massachusetts has been experiencing an Indian summer. That got her to wondering where the phrase came from and I have taken the liberty of quoting her here:-

"I did a little research and found that its true origins may be lost in time. But there are some things we do know. In most parts of the northern hemisphere, there is a name for the warm weather that follows the hard frost. In Bulgaria, for example, it is known as the “Gypsy summer” or sometimes, “Gypsy Christmas” presumably because it makes outdoor living more bearable for those wandering folk. In Germany it’s known as the “Web summer”, because a certain type of spider weaves webs on the grass and Hungarians know it as the “Crone’s summer”, which refers to the medieval association with Halloween and witchcraft.

The oldest written reference to the term Indian summer was apparently in a letter written by a Frenchman, St. John de Crevecouer, in 1778. He describes, “…an interval of calm and warmth which is called the Indian Summer; its characteristics are a tranquil atmosphere and general smokiness”, referring to the common occurrence of haze in the warm meadows. But where do Indians fit it to the picture? Although no one seems to know for certain, it is suspected that many native peoples here in the United States had a habit of setting fire to the grasslands during this time of year. The smoke mingled with the haze, allowing them to be better able to sneak up on their prey when hunting. Other sources contend that northern tribes saw the warmth of the dry winds as a gift from the gods of the southwest desert; a reprisal of summer, just before the winter.”

Thank you Deedee – that was fascinating.

I also learned from my old diary researches that in former times in England it was called 'Saint Martin's Summer', referring to St Martin’s Day, November 11th, when it was supposed to end. In British English "St. Martin's Summer" was the most widely used term until the American phrase Indian Summer became better known in the 20th century.

 

Ratafia

 
Ratafia is a sweet liqueur made from wine and brandy flavoured with plum or peach or apricot kernels and bitter almonds. In the Nineteenth Century it was considered an appropriate drink for young girls while the grown-ups drank brandy or wine.
 

Lea

 
A lea is a pasture; a field covered with grass or herbage and suitable for grazing by livestock.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o’er the lea,
(Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard by Thomas Gray)

Lea is also a unit of length of thread or yarn. And LEA is an abbreviation for lower extremity amputation or amputee.
 

When pigs fly

When pigs fly or Pigs will fly are phrases to indicate something is unlikely ever to happen.

"Pigs will fly before Craig will award a ten on Strictly!"

Scholium

 
A scholium is a marginal note written by a scholiast (a commentator on ancient or classical literature) ; a note added to a text as an explanation, criticism or commentary; a note added to a proof as amplification.
 

Tilde (and friends)

When writing something on my Rambles blog I used the word tilde and it occurred to me that not everyone might know what a tilde was. So I thought I would define it here.

A tilde (pronounced Till-dee) is a diacritical mark (~) placed over the letter n in Spanish to indicate a palatal nasal sound or over a vowel in Portuguese to indicate nasalization. It is also used over the latter A in some languages. It is also sometimes known as a ‘swung dash’.

Once I had written that definition I thought – I wonder if everyone knows what a diacritic is. So I thought I’d add that definition:- A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign) is an ancillary glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph.

So what is a glyph, I hear someone ask? A glyph is a fancy word for a shape. It is a component that makes up a typeface. For example, the dot on the letter "i" is a glyph, as is the vertical line, as are the serifs. (Serifs are little hooks on the ends of the font. The serifs usually help make the font more readable. .... )

Another definition said the tilde (~) is a grapheme with several uses.

In typography, a grapheme is the fundamental unit in written language. Graphemes include alphabetic letters, Chinese characters, numerical digits, punctuation marks, and all the individual symbols of any of the world's writing systems.

The tilde was originally written over some letters as a mark of abbreviation. It is used in dictionaries to indicate the omission of the entry word.   Apparently it is also used in online chat situations to denote sarcasm.

In summary, the tilde is the sorta squiggly dash character on a keyboard.

As Happy as Larry

As happy as Larry simply means very happy.

It is originally an Australian expression but has certainly been commonly used in the UK throughout my lifetime.

Its origins are alleged to lie with a noted boxer called Larry Foley (1847-1917). Foley was a successful pugilist who never lost a fight. He retired at 32 and collected a purse of £1,000 for his final fight. So, we can expect that he was known to be happy with his lot in the 1870s - just when the phrase is first cited.

The earliest printed reference currently known is from the New Zealand writer G. L. Meredith, dating from around 1875:

"We would be as happy as Larry if it were not for the rats".

Alternatively, the word may actually relate to a larrikin, an Australian term for a particular type of ruffian who flourished in the 1880s and who were disposed to larking about. Larrikins had their own style of dress recognisable by its excessive neatness and severe colours.