LL-L "Seasons" 2005.10.31 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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   L O W L A N D S - L * 31 October 2005 * Volume 01
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From: Global Moose Translations <globalmoose at t-online.de>
Subject: LL-L "Seasons" 2005.10.30 (07) [E]

Heather wrote:
> thin strands of cobweb = gossamer < = Goose Summer =>  Michaelmas   when
> the goose was traditionally eaten. So obviously this flush of spiders is a
> well known and recognised feature of this time of year.
>
> Are there any other words derived from this phenomenon?

In German, this is called "Altweibersommer" (old wives' summer). The usual
interpretation is that all those thin little threads - which baby spiders
use to travel on the wind - look like old women's hair when they glisten in
the sun. I read somewhere recently, though, that "Weiber" is rather supposed
to refer to weavers ("Weber").

By the way, in Lower Saxony (and elsewhere in Germany, I believe), the goose
was traditionally eaten on St. Martin's day (Martini; "Martinsgans"), rather
than Michealmas.

Gabriele Kahn

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

Hey again, Heather!

As for "gossamer," I kind of like Dutch _herfstdraad_ ("autumn 
wire/thread/filaments").  Swedish has _sommartråd_ ("summer filaments"). 
Isn't _Sommerfäden_ a German word for it also?

Polish, too, has "old women's summer": _babie lato_, same in Czech _babí 
léto_, Sorbian: _babylěćo_. A weird word in Russian: осенняя паутинка 
_ossennjaja pautika_ "autumn nude" ...

Oh, and Chinese 蛛丝 ("spider silk")!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron 

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