Sugar Loaf Mountain

Near Abergavenny in South Wales there is a mountain called the Sugar Loaf (illustrated above).  It is widely believed that it got its name because it looks like a pile of sugar.

However, before the twentieth century, refined sugar was sold in a heaped concial shape called a sugarloaf.  Many mountains around the world now bear this name, due to their similarity with this moulded shape of sugar.  Probably one of the most famous is the Sugar Loaf mountain in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, an imposing landmark and popular tourist attraction. (see right)  Since 1912, tourists can ride a cable car to the top, as seen in the James Bond film Moonraker.

The mountain in Rio de Janeiro has had several names, depneding on who was in control of the territory at the time.  Oringally, it was called Pau-nh-Acqua, then the French colonists name it Pot de Beurre, the Portunguese invaders, Pao de Assucar (Bread of Sugar), the French re-invaders Pot de Sucre.  By the seventeenth century, it became Pao de Acucar when the Portuguese returned and thus it has stayed.  The Sugar Loaf mountain is named because sugar cane was a primary export of the region.

It is interesting to compare the two mountains.  Neither resemble the other, yet both are called the Sugar Loaf.  I wonder how many others have the same name, and whether they are similar to the conical shape, like in Rio de Janeiro, or more hke the pile of sugar shaped mountain in Abergavenny.  This latter is now owned by the National Trust, and rising to 596m (1955ft) above sea level, is a favourite destination for walkers.

Sources:
Facts and History of Sugar Loaf, Pao de Acucar (not known) [online], Copacabana.info.  Available from: http://www.copacabana.info/history-of-sugar-loaf.html (Accessed 23rd May 2011).
Rapado, Keith (2002, rev. 2009) The Sugar Loaf, [online], Brecon Beacons National Park.  Available from: http://www.brecon-beacons.com/The-Sugar-Loaf.htm (Accessed 23rd May 2011).
Images:
Pao de Acucar or Sugar Loaf (2009) [online], http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.travelstripe.com/images/rio-de-janeiro-sugar-loaf1.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.travelstripe.com/sugar-loaf-rio-de-janeiro/&usg=__NPlZOKLzwyXssDCR3GFfKyVBAKY=&h=2304&w=3072&sz=3138&hl=en&start=14&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=rkkTVCko86FmlM:&tbnh=113&tbnw=150&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dsugarloaf%2Brio%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1003%26bih%3D619%26gbv%3D2%26tbm%3Disch&ei=NrzaTbGsCNKBhQe0l9XMBg (Accessed 23rd May 2011).
The Sugar Loaf Mountain (no date) Philip Veale, [online], http://www3.clikpic.com/philipveale/images/Mis009.jpg (Accessed 23rd May 2011).



Juliana 

Animal adjectives

One of my regular library borrowers is a learned lady in her senior years.  She frequently challenges me with new words, quotes and snippets of poetry, sending me on quests to discover new treasures of literature and linguistics.  Her latest query was to look up the word musine.  This word means relating to the genus or to the subfamily of Muridae that includes it.  Musine is interchangeable with murine.  Both words are formed from the Latin for mouse mus or mur, and the Latin suffix -inus.  The latter has become -ine, via the French feminine form of -in, and is a suffix that forms adjectives from nouns, and means 'of, like, like that of, characteristic of, and having the nature of being'.

This discovery led me to realise that there are many other adjectives that come from the Latin words for various animals.  Many of which are used today to descibe someone's character or physical traits.  Here's a list of all the ones we could find.  See how many you recognise:-

1. Aquiline - of or like an eagle, curved, hooked like an eagle's beak, 1646, from the Latin aquila.
2. Avine - an archaic variation of avian; of, relating to, or characteristic of birds, from the Latin avis.
3. Bovine - of an ox or cow, 1817, from the French bovin(e) (1352), and from the Latin bovis.
4. Canine - of or like a dog, 1607, from the Latin canis.
5. Caprine - like a goat, or suggestive of a goat, from the Latin caper.
6. Elephantine - of or like an elephant, 1631, from the Latin elephantus.
7. Equine - of or like a horse, 1788, from the Latin equus.
8. Feline - of or like a cat, 1681, from the Latin felis.
9. Leonine - of or like a lion, c.1375 (found in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales), from the Old French leonin(e), and from the Latin leo.
10. Lupine - wolflike, fierce, 1660, from the Early French lupin(e), and the Latin lupus.
11. Ovine - of, being, or relating to sheep, from the Latin ovis.
12. Porcine - of pigs or hogs, before 1425, from the Old French porcin(e), and the Latin porcus.
13. Serpentine - of or like a serpent or snake, c.1408, from the Old French serpentin(e), and from the Latin serpens.
14. Ursine - of or relating to bears, bearlike, c.1550, from the Latin ursus.
15. Vulpine - of or like a fox, 1628, from the Latin vulpis.

So, there's fifteen animal adjectives.  Let me know if you can think of any more.

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988)
Websters Third New International Dictionary, unabridged (1993)


Juliana

Grinch/Grincheur



Have you heard of the Grinch, pictured on the left?  He's a character from the pen of Dr. Seuss, an American author with a wonderful way with words.  Note the alliteration in the last sentence?  Dr. Seuss' work has many such examples of this wordplay, along with rhythm and rhyme.  The Grinch first appears in his 1957 story How the Grinch Stole Christmas, recently turned into a film with Jim Carrey in 2000.  The Grinch, whose heart is "two sizes too small" tries to spoil Christmas for the residents of Whoville by stealing their presents, food, decorations and trees.  But the people still find a way to celebrate on Christmas morning.

I've always wondered where Dr. Seuss (pictured right) came up with the name of his miserly and mean-spirited character, and now I may have the answer.  A grincheur is French slang for a young thief and a grinche is a thief, according to the Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant published in 1890.  So perhaps Dr. Seuss saw this word and was inspired to use this as the name of what is probably his most famous character.

Sources:
Barrere, Albert (2010) Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant, 1890, Kessinger Publishing.
Delahunty, Andrew (2005) The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press.
Images:
Theodor Seuss Geisel (1957) [online] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ted_Geisel_NYWTS_2_crop.jpg  (Accessed 4th June 2011).


Juliana

A wenglish Bond villain

Just a short entry this time...

Did anyone catch Ruth Jones' Easter Treat, broadcast on BBC2 during Easter 2011.  Ever wondered what a wenglish Bond villain would sound like?  Well, wonder no more.  Take a look at this clip on youtube - Michael Sheen does Blofeld with a Wenglish twist - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jvqal3Ul-zc


Juliana

Rood

I know this is a four letter word, but it's not a rude one!

A rood is the name given to the cross on which Christ died.  It is also used for any images of this (painting, sculpture, etc.) found in churches.  The word was used from before 1121, but spelt rode, which later became rood by the end of the fouteenth century.  It comes from the Old English rod, used before 830, which meant a cross, a pole, or a measure of land.

The rood is now used to mean a depiction of Christ on the cross, attended by the Virgin Mary and Saint John the Apostle, and it usually carved from wood.  Sometimes this was suspended from the ceiling, but most surviving examples are placed above a rood screen, which divided the Medieval Catholic church into two - one area for the congregation, and the other, behind the screen, was where the altar was placed, where only the priests were allowed.  One splendidly and intricately carved rood screen survives in the eleventh century church of Partrishow (aka Patrishow or Patricio) near Abergavenny in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales (see left).

Another more accessible example, is found in St. Teilo's Church in St. Fagan's National History Museum, near Cardiff (depicted right).  Dating from the twelfth century, this church (originally from Pontarddulais, near Swansea) has been recreated in the time of 1520, with marcellously bright murals and carvings.  This church, with its wonderful rood screen, gives you a chance to experience a Medieval church in all its glory.  I recommend a visit.

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers.
Curl, James Stevens (1999) A Dictionary of Architecture, Oxford University Press.
Images:
Decoration - The Rood Screen (2009?) [online], http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/1207/ (Accessed 17 February 2011).
The Rood Screen at Partrishow/Patricio (2000) [online], http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1212550 (Accessed 17 February 2011).





Juliana

Neck

This word has Anglo-Saxon origins.  It is found in Alfred's translation of St. Gregory's Pastoral Care from about 899, where it is spelt hnecca.  So the word is even older than the 9th century.  In 1225 it became nekke and, in a document of about 1250, it appears as necke, from whence it evolved to the spelling we know today.

It has also become a slang word.  To neck means to engage in sexual foreplay, but it has very different meanings on each side of the Atlantic.  From the dialect of North England c.1825 it means to court, ie. put one's arm around someone's neck.  But from the 1920s in America, to neck means to pursue sexual pleasure that stops short of intercourse.  This word is usually used by teenagers, with the milder British meaning having been superseded by the American one.

As you know (if you read my earlier blogs), I like to discover unusual names, and one of my work colleagues has the wonderful surname of Neck.  This has an obvious origin.  It is a purely descriptive surname that highlights an unusual physical feature.  In 1275 in Norfolk, there was a Symon Chortneke (aka short neck), and in Cambridgeshire, there were a Henry Nekke in 1279 and a Richard Necke in 1327.  Needless to say, my colleague's neck is quite pleasant and normal...

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988) Chambers, Edinburgh.
Green, Jonathan (2000) Cassell's Dictionary of Slang, Cassell & Co., London.
Reaney, P.H. (1997)  A Dictionary of English Surnames, rev. 3rd ed., Oxford University Press, Oxford.


Juliana

Twerp

In an episode of the TV series Psych (He Dead, season 4, episode 2) Detective Lassiter says "You were acting like an obnoxious little twerp", to which Shawn Spencer replies, "It's nice to hear the word twerp has survived the millennium".

My sentiments exactly.  This lovely little word doesn't seem to be used much anymore.

This slang word does not have a long history.  It's not known where it came from, but started to appear about 1925.  Twerp means a stupid, undesirable or inferior person.  That seems a little harsh.  Whenever I have heard the word used, it is used more affectionately.  In the TV series mentioned above, Shawn is often an idiot, but not stupid, undesirable or inferior.  This is just one example of how the meaning and usage of a word can change over time.  And also how some words may have a long history and others come and go within a century.  Twerp is being lost, and it's not even a century old.  How sad.

Sources:
Chambers Dictionary of Etymology (1988), Chambers.


Juliana