LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 22.OCT.1999 (04) [E]

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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Etymology

I'm glad that someone mentioned "dusk" as a good English word for
"gloaming". I would take "twilight" to mean the same thing, even though
"logically" it can refer to the period around dawn. The concept is surely
more "useful" in Scotland than in England because nightfall gets slower as
you move further from the equator.

An article in TIME magazine a couple of years ago might amuse Ron. The
writer said that one of the attractions of Seattle was the extended
possibility for outdoor sports because it stayed light till 11 p.m. in
summer. I'm sure the long evenings are quite surprising for visitors from
New York or California but that's a bit of an exaggeration. (The latitude of
Seattle is south of mainland Britain.)

In "The Importance of Being Earnest" Lady Bracknell takes her leave after
afternoon tea with "Good morning, Mr Worthing". In a recent production which
I saw the director decided this was a mistake and substituted "afternoon". I
read somewhere that at least in the early part of the 19th century "morning"
was used for the whole period before the evening meal, so perhaps Wilde was
trying to suggest that Lady B is old and old-fashioned. (Actually, of
course, she is probably no older than 45.)

It is curious that designations of times of day have varied so much. "Night"
used to mean the 24-hour day (Sw. "dygn"), whence E. "fortnight",
"sennight". In German "Nacht" sometimes had the meaning of "eve", as in
"Fastnacht".

Incidentally, in East Anglia "New Year's Eve" is called "Old Year's Night",
in Scotland "Hogmanay". Are there any other terms for this?

De Vries says that "ochtend ... staat ablautend naast `nacht'". I haven't
tried to work out what that implies.

John Feather johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Etymology

> An article in TIME magazine a couple of years ago might amuse Ron. The
> writer said that one of the attractions of Seattle was the extended
> possibility for outdoor sports because it stayed light till 11 p.m. in
> summer. I'm sure the long evenings are quite surprising for visitors from
> New York or California but that's a bit of an exaggeration. (The latitude of

> Seattle is south of mainland Britain.)

Yes, John, that's quite a joke.  There are all kinds of myths and half-truths
about the Seattle area among people in other parts of the United States,
especially in the East.  At least until recently, before Seattle became oh so
fashionable and thoroughly cool, people would feel sorry for you for having to
live in such a cold, snowy, northern climate (bearing in mind that it is
considered a gateway to Alaska, which, however, is quite a long way north).
Western Washington, i.e., the Western Lowlands, has a maritime climate with
very little snow and even less ice.  (Ponds and even puddles get a thin sheet
of ice once in a blue moon.)  Another myth is that it rains a lot here.  In
actual fact, our area has relatively low annual rainfall.  The difference is
that it rains a little a lot, i.e., we get a lot of drizzle, hardly ever any
downpour, and this drizzly climate can sustain our native rain forest.  It's
like being on the west coasts of the British Isles and *our* Lowlands, just a
few degrees warmer in general.

However, I'm not supposed to disspell these myths because we don't want more
people moving here.  So don't tell I told!  Well, I say, "Too late!"  The
place is bursting at the seams now and is taking the fast route to hell in a
hand basket.  Uh-oh!  Now the proud "Washington natives" (with bumper stickers
to proclaim this -- big bleating deal!) will come after me ...

Considering Washington State's reputation of this being a cold, snowy, rainy
and forbidding place, it's quite ironic that Southwestern British Columbia,
our neighbor just to the north of the international border (Vancouver being 90
minutes' drive from Seattle, just a couple degrees or so cooler), is a Mecca
among Canadians, the "warm" spot to move to, the Canadian combined version of
Florida and California -- so now Vancouver and Victoria are bursting at the
seams ... Everything is relative, isn't it?

Thanks for sharing.

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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