LL-L "Etymology" 2005.07.08 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 08.JUL.2005 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.07.07 (03) [E]

Hi all,

Ben, a ladybird is a kind of round and red little bug looking like a
button and it has spots.
I love them in my garden (especially on the lemons and oranges) because
they destroy aphids.

>What is a ladybird anyway? Is it just a female bird?
>Ben

Regards,
Elsie Zinsser

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From: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.07.07 (03) [E]

Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET
>* also used to denote a ribbon tied as a large bow worn on the head by
young girls,<

A bow tie made out of non-black material is also known as a Butterfly bow
i.e. if a long piece of chiffon is tied round the neck in a bow.

Heather

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From: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.07.07 (03) [E]

Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET
>botter-likker (<Botterlicker> "butter licker")*
bodder-likker (<Bodderlicker> "butter licker")*
vlidderling (<Flidderling> reference to "flutter")
vleerling (<Fleerling> reference to "flutter")
uyle-puyle (<Ülepüle> reference to _uul_ 'owl'?)**<

re the last example: the Welsh is Pilu-Palu

???? Any connection I wonder?

Heather

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Elsie (above):

> Ben, a ladybird is a kind of round and red little bug looking
> like a button and it has spots.

Another English name is "lady beetle."  There is also "lady cow" and "Our
Lady's cow" (cf. Low Saxon _sünnen-kou_).  This, in conjunction with, for
instance, German _Marienkäfer_ ("Mary's beetle") points to the Madonna. 
Allegedly, this is a continuation from pre-Christian associations with the
goddess Freya, hence Norse _Freyuhæna_ ("Freya's hen").

Reference to "cow" is also found in Scots, either precontemporary or
dialectical:

   Dowdy-cow, dowdy-cow, ride away hame!
   Thy house is burnt, and thy bairns are tean.
   And if thou means to save thy bairns
   Take thy wings and flee away!

Apparently, _reid sodger_ ("red soldier") is the most common name in
today's Scots.

Other names in English dialects: "golden knob," "golden bug" (Suffolk),
"Bishop-Barnaby" (Barney, Burney), "barnabee," "burnabee,"
"bishop-that-burneth," and "May bug" or "May beetle."*

There are over 4,500 types of these _Coccinellidae_ ("little round
knobs").  The wings of most of them are spotted with red or orange the
most common background color, though some have brown or black as
background colors.

* Reference to * above: As opposed to the other "May bug," also known as
"June bug" or "June beetle" (_Melolontha melolontha_, _Scarabaeidae_, Low
Saxon _May-kever_, Dutch _meikever_, German _Maikäfer_) which also seems
to be connected with disasters, with the Thirty Year War with Sweden in a
German nursery rhyme:

   Maikäfer, flieg!
   Dein Vater ist im Krieg,
   Deine Mutter ist im Pommernland,
   Pommernland ist abgebrannt.
   Maikäfer, flieg!

My translation:

   Fly, June bug, fly!
   Your father's in the war,
   Your mother's in Pomerania,
   Pomerania is all burnt down.
   Fly, June bug, fly!

Elsie (above):

> I love them in my garden (especially on the lemons
> and oranges) because they destroy aphids.

I suspect that that's why they are considered lucky.  They keep plants
healthy.  I've been told that, weirdly, they actually conduct something
like animal husbandry with aphids, keeping them to occasionally suck plant
juices out of them, before they kill them.  Or was that a different bug?

Heather (above):

> > uyle-puyle (<Ülepüle> reference to _uul_ 'owl'?)**<
>
> re the last example: the Welsh is Pilu-Palu
>
> ???? Any connection I wonder?

I kind of doubt it, but it isn't impossible.

I suspect _pilupalu_ (the usual spelling) is a "play" version of _pilai_
'moth', 'butterfly'.

Talking about Welsh, here's meteorological devination:

   Fuwch fach gota – glaw neu hindda?
   Os daw glaw, cwympa o'm llaw;
   Os daw haul, hedfana!

My translation:

   Ladybird--rain or shine?
   If it is rain, drop from my hand!
   If it is sunshine, go flying!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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