Fudge and flapdoodle!

By Simon

Flapdoodle Dinghy

Another interesting word I came across this week is flapdoodle /flæpˈduːd(ə)l/, which the OED defines as ‘the stuff they feed fools on’, which comes from the following quote:

‘The gentleman has eaten no small quantity of flapdoodle in his lifetime.’ ‘What’s that, O’Brien?’ replied I… ‘Why, Peter,’ rejoined he, ‘it’s the stuff they feed fools on.’

Another example of use of this word is the exclamation ‘Fudge and flapdoodle!’, which I think sounds wonderfully silly, and is possible alternative to stronger exclamations.

Flapdoodle is also ‘nonsense, bosh and humbug; a trifling thing or gewgaw’, and has been used as a verb meaning ‘to talk nonsense’.

The etymology given in the OED is that it is ‘an arbitrary formation’, similar to fadoodle (something foolish or ridiculous; nonsense).

There is also a tiny, folding sailing dinghy called the flapdoodle dinghy (pictured top right).

Do you know any similarly silly words with a similar meaning?

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
se marrer (bien) to have a good laugh cael hen hwyl / cael hwyl a hanner
se marrer comme un bossu to laugh out loud chwerthin lond bol/yn foliog/yn braf dic’hargadennoù
on s’est bien marrés we had a good laugh mi gawson ni hen hwyl
en avoir marre de to be tired of / fed up with wedi hen flino bout skuizh -faezh
j’en ai marre I’m fed up dw i wedi hen flino Me ‘zo skuizh
c’est marre ! that’s it! enough already! dyna ddigon! trawalc’h !
la malaria; le paludisme malaria malariam; y crydm malaria; kleñved ar paludoù
chalereux warm (greeting; applause; person) brwd; twym; twymgalon; cynnes taer; tomm; hegarat
charrier qn to have sb on; to be kidding twyllo ober an hegig g’ ub; monet (mont) er maez eus ar park
railler; taquiner to make fun of sb gwneud hwyl/sbort am ben rhywun; chwerthin am ben rhywun godisal; nodal; tatinat; ober an hegig; risignat
le bouc billygoat bwch gafr bo(u)c’h
le chien de soleil; l’œil de bouc sun dog hwyl ffug; ci hwyl (?)

Sun dogs, billygoat’s eyes and halos

By Simon

A photo of a sun dogs or parhelion by the sun - from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fargo_Sundogs_2_18_09.jpg

The other day I discovered the wonderful word sun dog, which refers to coloured patches of light that appear beside the sun at certain times, particularly when the sun is low in the sky. The scientific name for this phenomenon is a parhelion, from the παρήλιον (parēlion – beside the sun); from παρά (para – beside), and ἥλιος (helios – sun) [source].

In French sun dogs are known as parhélie, faux soleil (“fake sun”), soleil double (“double sun”), œil de bouc (“billygoat’s eye) or chien du soleil (“sun dog). In other languages their names are mainly based on the Greek, or some variation on fake sun.

There are also such things as moon dogs, mock moons or paraselenes, which are patches of light that appear beside the moon, though they are rarer than sun dogs, difficult to see, and only appear when the moon is very bright and full or nearly full. [source].

The friend who told me about sun dogs was using it to describe a halo around the moon or lunar halo, which, like sun and moon dogs, is a result of the refraction of light through ice crystal in cirrostratus clouds high in the upper troposphere [source]. On the night when we were talking about sun dogs the moon was only half full, so I don’t think there were any moon dogs about, but there definitely was a halo around the moon.

Snails and corner shops

By Simon

I have been learning Dutch for just over a week now and am enjoying it and finding it interesting. I can guess the meanings of many of the words I encounter as they are similar to German and/or English, but some are completely different. For example, I just learnt that shop is (de) winkel /ˈʋɪŋkəl/, and that shopping is (het) winkelen, which have no similarities to shop or shopping in English, or to their equivalents in German – Geschäft/Laden and einkaufen.

According to Wiktionary, winkel meant corner in Middle Dutch and Old Dutch, and comes from the Proto-Germanic word *winkilaz (corner, nook), from the Proto-Indo-European *weng- (to bend, bow, arch, curve) [source].

Winkel is apparently cognate with German Winkel (corner), and the Old English wincel (nook, corner), which is found in the word periwinkle (a type of sea snail). The use of winkel for shop is apparently derived from the meaning “corner in which merchandise is stalled”.

Related words include:

  • ijzerwinkel, ijzerwarenwinkel = hardware store (“iron (wares) shop”)
  • platenwinkel = record shop/store
  • webwinkel = online shop/store
  • winkelen = to shop; to go shopping – also boodschappen; het boodschappen doen
  • winkelcentrum = shopping centre / mall
  • winkelwagen = shopping trolley / cart
  • winkeltas = shopping bag
  • winkelassistent = shop assistant, personal shopper, sales clerk
  • winkelier = shopkeeper, storekeeper, retailer

– winkelhaak = try square; carpenter’s square

Les mots de la semaine

By Simon
français English Cymraeg Brezhoneg
le tableau noir blackboard bwrdd du taolenn zu
le panneau d’affichage noticeboard hysbysfwrdd; arwyddfwrdd; bwrdd arwyddion planell afichañ
le marron (d’inde) conker / horse chestnut concyr; cneuen gobl(i)o; coblyn kistin
le marronier (d’inde) horse chestnut tree castanwydden y meirch; marchgastanwydden gwez kistin
la châtaigne (sweet) chestnut castan; cneuen gastan; pibgneuen kistin
la tombola raffle raffl; lotri c’hoari sac’h
le billet de tombola raffle ticket ticed/tocyn raffl/lotri bilhed c’hoari sac’h
S.O.S. Amitié The Samaritans Y Samariaid
être d’astreinte; être de garde; être en disponibilité; être de permanence to be on-call bod ar alw (?)
démodé old fashioned (things) hen ffasiwn; henaidd maez a c’hiz; giz kozh
vieux jeu old fashioned (people) hen ffasiwn; henaidd mod kozh
le faîte ridge trum; crib; cefn hedell

Quixotic

By Simon

The word quixotic (/kwɪkˈsɒtɪk/) has come up a number of times in books I’ve been reading recently, and though I sort know what it means, I wasn’t sure, so I thought I’d find out.

According to the QED, quixotic means:

– Of an action, attribute, idea, etc.: characteristic of or appropriate to Don Quixote; demonstrating or motivated by exaggerated notions of chivalry and romanticism; naively idealistic; unrealistic, impracticable; (also) unpredictable, capricious, whimsical.

– Of a person: resembling Don Quixote; visionary; enthusiastically chivalrous or romantic; naively idealistic; impractical, capricious.

It comes from Don Quixote (Don Quijote in Spanish), the hero of Cervantes’ story by the same name, which was published in 1605 and 1615. The word quijote comes from name of a piece of armour, the quixote or cuisse, which protects the thighs.

Is this word used in other languages?

If not, are there any words with a similar meaning?

Nederlands

By Simon

I’ve decided to learn Dutch this month and want to see how much I can learn in a month. I haven’t learnt any Dutch before, but can understand it a bit as I speak English and German. I’m using online resources, including courses on Babbel and any others I can find. I will also be listening to Dutch radio and maybe watching some Dutch TV, and maybe learning some Dutch songs. A friend is also learning Dutch this month, so I thought I’d give it a try, and we have a Dutch friend we can practise with.

Any suggestions of online Dutch resources would be appreciated.

As flat as …

By Simon

This week in the French conversation group one of the things that came up was the expression “as flat as a pancake” or the slightly ruder version, “as flat as a witch’s tit”. This was being used to describe the flatness of beer. The only equivalent we could find in French was “completement plat” (completely flat), though I’ve since found a couple of others: “plat comme une limande” (‘flat like a dab*’) [source], and “plat comme une lamelle” (‘flat like a sliver/thin slice’) [source].

Other variations of the English phrases I’ve found include “as flat as a board”, “as flat as an ironing board” and “as flat as a trencher”.

What other flat things might appear in this expression?

Are there interesting equivalents of this phrase in other languages?

*Dab = a species of small flat-fish, Pleuronectes limanda, similar to a flounder [source]