Madrasah (15th century); Frenchification (1802)

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MADRASAH

MEMOIRS OF A JANISSARY
by Konstantin Mihailovic (b. ca. 1435)
translated by Benjamin Stolz
published under the auspices of the Joint Committee on Eastern EUrope,
American Council of Learned Societies
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
1975

Pg. 69:  Their temple is called a _metrese_, like our monastery.

Pg. 215 Note:  Konstantin's "The order which they call Dervishes" shows that
he did not grasp the generic meaning of the word; and "_medrese_" denotes an
Islamic religious school, not necessarily monastic.

(The revised OED has 1616 for "madrasah"--ed.)

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FRENCHIFICATION

EXTRACTS OF THE JOURNALS AND CORRESPONDENCE OF MISS (MARY--ed.) BERRY
FROM THE YEAR 1783 to 1852
edited by Lady Theresa Lewis
in three volumes
London: Longmans, Green, and Co.
1865

Pg. 39 (1783):  ...the higher they jump the more _bravos_ or _bravas_ they
receive from the delighted pit.
(OED has 1761, then 1817 for "bravo"--ed.)

Pg. 132 (1784): Immediately below the summit we stopped at a chalet, a number
of wooden huts near together, resembling both outside and inside the views
and descriptions of houses in the South Sea Islands.
(See past "chalet" posts--ed.)

Pg. 236 (1790):  I asked in vain for (Pg. 237--ed.) her name; she was La
Prima Donna, and nobody knew more of her.
(OED has 1782, then 1812 for "prima donna"--ed.)

VOLUME TWO
Pg. 146 (1802):  ...I believe the expenses are defrayed by a club of men.  We
were told here we should see _les nouveau riches_,
(OED has 1813 for "nouveau riche"--ed.)

Pg. 190 (1802):  A _debutante_ (Mdlle. le Court) performed Amenaide very
badly indeed.
(OED has 1801 for "debutante"--ed.)

Pg. 252 (1803):  Chambery seemed neither the better nor the worse for its
"_Frenchification_."
(OED has 1834 for "Frenchification"--ed.)

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CHOEREK

A JOURNEY TO ARZRUM
by Alexander Pushkin
translated by Birgitta Ingemanson
Ardis, Ann Arbor (MI)
1974

   This journey was made in 1829.  The translation was made about 1940,

Pg. 40:  The dark-eyed boys sing, jump about and somersault; the women dance
the _lezginka_.

Pg. 51:  Halfway, in an Armenian village, built in the mountains on the bank
of a little river, instead of dinner I ate the cursed Armenian bread,
_churek_, which is baked in the shape of a flat cake, half mixrdd with Ashes,
and for which the Turkish prisoner in the Darial Pass longed so.

Pg. 103 Notes):  _Lezginka_--"A courtshiip dance of the Caucasus mountains in
which the woman moves with graceful (Pg. 104--ed.)  ease while the man dances
wildly about her. (Eebster).

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FIRST CLASS

MISS JEMIMA'S SWISS JOURNAL
by Jemima Morrell
Routledge/Thoemmes Press, London
1998, reprinted from 1961 edition

Pg. 5:  The members of the Junior United Alpine Club, remembering the German
proverb that "None but Englishmen and madmen travel first class", were all
second-class passengers...

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SERVIAN PROVERBS

SERVIA OF THE SERVIANS
by Chedo Mijatovisch
London: Sir Isaac Pitnam & Sons
1915

Pg. 146:
   CHAPTER VIII
   SELECTION FROM THE SERVIAN PEOPLE'S PROVERBS

1.  If you wish to know what a man is, place him in authority.
5.  Better ever than never.
6.  Better something than nothing.

(100 Proverbs are here, for Fred Shapiro-types--ed.)

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   NETS in four.  Jack Nicholson gets sent off to a mental institution.