Went to Valparaíso today. The main thing in Valparaíso is the harbour, it was a commercial centre for the entire Pacific coast until the Panama canal was opened and is still very lively. There's only a small strip of lowland behind the waterfront, surrounded by hillside areas where it seems only to be a matter of time when the colourful houses and rusted shacks tumble down the slopes. Most of the hills are a rabbit's warren of steep footpaths, zigzag roads and blind alleys, linked by meandering roads and lots of fun fun fun ascensores, or funicular elevators. Which I enjoyed immensely, since I am far from being afraid of heights. The congested commercial area, which is pinched between the port and the hills, is full of hustle and bustle (and did you know that the English word bustle is derived from the Icelandic verb busla, or splash? Just one of the countless useless facts that take up the space on my hard disc which was reserved for logical thinking) and is crawling with fine-looking men in uniforms because the Chilean navy has a base in Valparaíso. All this plus sunshine contributed to make it an outstanding day.
Oh, and I saw The Shoes today! I hate shopping, especially when I need to, but now when I don't need anything and am not buying anything because it means carring it around I see shoes everywhere. Shoes that I like. That doesn't happen everyday I tell you. I tried them on and they look beautiful - but I'm not carrying unpractical shoes around with me, plus they would get ruined by being crammed in my rucksack. But oh, they are The Shoes! Hmmm. I haven't found The Man and argue that there is no such thing, I'll just have to convince myself that there's no such thing as The Shoes either. Anyway, this wonderful pair of shoes were left behind in a shop in Valparaíso and I'm not going there again until maybe next time I come to Chile. And in the afternoon I bought books for 4 times the price of the elysian shoes, so no more spending. But I figured that the books will always live with me, shoes get worned out but I won't forget a good book. But have you seen Manolo's shoe blog (http://manoloshoes.blogspot.com/)? Now that's a serious shoe addict!
4 comments:
I'll conceed that Bearek is an Icelandic word, possibly Hekla, or the word for a small rock in a bay. I had never heard about "bustle" so i looked at Dictionary.com, and here are the results:
[Cf. OE. buskle, perh. fr. AS. bysig busy, bysg-ian to busy + the verbal termination -le; or Icel. bustla to splash, bustle.] To move noisily; to be rudely active; to move in a way to cause agitation or disturbance; as, to bustle through a crowd.
[Possibly variant of obsolete buskle, frequentative of busk, to prepare oneself, from Old Norse bask, reflexive of ba, to prepare. See bheu- in Indo-European Roots.]
Icelandic is listed, but so it French and Old Norse. SO it is anyone's guess, but i like the idea of Busy=Splash.
My new favourite English words at the moment are Akimbo or Kimbo. Its origin is unknown! It's a shame i can't use it in conversation more often.
\A*kim"bo\, a. [Etymology unknown. Cf. Kimbo.] With a crook or bend; with the hand on the hip and elbow turned outward.
I assume that the last comment was posted by you Brian. Yes, hekla is an icelandic word, meaning a shoulder cover, similar to a poncho but shorter and open at the front (you won't find it at dictionary.com, you can try etymology pages). Hekla the icelandic mountain is shaped like shoulders, there's also a mountain in Scotland named Hecla (with a c) which got it's name because of the same reason. Hekla, berserc, skerry, geyser, what else... And busy catches the meaning of bustle much better than busla, I have to admit. But the beauty of etymology is hidden in all the possibilities and the questions without answers, or with multiple answers. And yes, it's difficult to cram the word akimbo into sentences in daily conversations!
That was me(brian) who added the Akimbo comment, i don't have an account so i posted anonymously, i just forgot to put my name at the bottom of the post.
I did find this too (half we already knew):
English has gained a number of words from Icelandic, including geyser, berserk, gush, cunning, eddy, and saga.
It looks Anglo Saxon or icelandic.
\Cun"ning\, n. [AS. cunnung trial, or Icel. kunnandi knowledge. See Cunning, a.] 1. Knowledge; art; skill; dexterity. [Archaic]
(i think the ? should be icelandic chars)
\Ed"dy\, n.; pl. Eddies. [Prob. fr. Icel. i?a; cf. Icel. pref. i?- back, AS. ed-, OS. idug-, OHG. ita-; Goth. id-.] 1. A current of air or water running back, or in a direction contrary to the main current.
\Gush\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Gushed; p. pr. & vb. n. Gushing.] [OE. guschen, cf. Icel. gusa and gjsa, also D. gucsen; perh. akin to AS. ge['o]tan to pour, G. giessen, Goth. giutan, E. gut. Cf. Found to cast.] 1. To issue with violence and rapidity, as a fluid; to rush forth as a fluid from confinement; to flow copiously.
I didn't know about gush or eddy (from iða, the missing letter is, I reckon, ð. For another word with unknown roots look up log at etymonline.com, liggja is the icelandic word for lie, but not good enough for etymologists.
Next time you go to Scotland you can try to listen for some of the numerous words that are similar in Icelandic and Scots English; brae=brekka, bairn=barn, kirk=kirkja, kist=kista, greet=gráta, it goes on and on.
And this is a great website; scots-online.org. There you can find amongst other things 'Scots texts for thaim that's efter lairnin Scots or for thaim that haes it an is efter enjoyin hit' (Scots texts for those who are interested in learning Scots or for those who already speak it and wish to enjoy it). Enjoy!
Post a Comment