LL-L: "Creatures & plants" LOWLANDS-L, 06.MAY.2000 (04) [Ap/E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Thomas [t.mcrae at uq.net.au]
Subject: LL-L: "Historical phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 05.MAY.2000 (06) [E]

John Feather wrote....
>> Think for example of the English name _dandelion_ from Old French
>> _dent-de-lion_ (< Latin _dens leonis_ 'lion's tooth')
Quite true but it gets even more interesting, in Scotland the plants are
known as "Pee the beds" imagine our surprise and hilarity  at school when a

native French teacher  told us about their foods and mentioned a salad
ingredient they called "Les pis en lits'. In later years I enjoyed salads
based on this weed in Italy and here in Australia it sometimes turns up in
salad leaf mixes. I love the stuffand no it doesn't hve any adverse
effects.
Regards
Tom
Tom Mc Rae
Brisbane Australia
"Oh wid some power the Giftie gie us
Tae see oorselves as ithers see us"
Robert Burns--

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From: Richard L Turner [fr.andreas at juno.com]
Subject: LL-L: "Creatures & plants" (was "Historical phonology")
LOWLANDS-L, 05.MAY.2000 (08) [E]

Hey Ar!

Dandelines is cawed Pissabeds some hyer, too, but mostly by mean-mouthed
fowk. They air a parful diuretic, an wuid make a stature pass a stone. Th
reason yir mam tolt ye not te handle em, Ron, I reckon, was fer ye te not
put em in yir mouth athout warshin em. Hain't no tellin what all sort o
critturs had bin on em, nor were still yet.

Take ye a root o Dandeline and roast hit in th oven till hits guid an
dryed out. Then, grind him up in a coffee mill er a food processer,
whatere ye got. Take an make a decoction outten hit by bylin hit in
warter, and drank hit down. Hit's Dandeline Coffee, an gin ye got what
hit cures, hit'll cure what ails ye.

A writ at hit'd make a stature pass a stone, but a drap o turpentine'll
make a tomcat pass a motorcycle.

Yorn,
+Fr Andreas Richard Turner.

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Creatures & plants" (was "Historical phonology")

From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk]
Subject: "Creatures & plants"

> From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
> Subject: Creatures & plants
>
> Considering John's comment:
>
> > Euphemism? In Scots this is known as Pish-the-Bed - with
> similar forms in > colloquial English - because of its diuretic
> properties.
>
> ... I wonder if there is any connection at all.  Might dogs involved in
> Scotland too?

With us, it wasn't either a matter of dogs or diuretic properties - adults
told us that simply _picking_ the flower was enough to cause you to wet the

bed that night. Moreover, if you were spotted picking a dandelion, all the
other children would run around shouting that you were going to wet the bed

tonight - so we avoided picking them in order to avoid this public
humiliation!

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
http://www.fleimin.demon.co.uk

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

Americans, of course, call spring onions "scallions". In England they are
nowadays often called "salad onions". This may be one of the pernicious
side-effects of supermarket labelling. The William pear is now often called

"Williams pear" on supermarket notices and shelf labels and "Willam(s)
B.C."
on labels on the fruit themselves. "B.C." is short for "Bon Chrétien", and
alternative name for the variety which may be the one used in South Africa,

since a lot of these fruit come from there.

John Feather
johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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