A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg
kabuki (kah-BOO-kee,
KAH-boo-kee) noun
1. A form of Japanese
drama that includes highly stylized movements, dances, singing, and miming, and
all parts are played by males.
2. Done for the show only; make-believe.
2. Done for the show only; make-believe.
From Japanese kabuki, from ka (song) + bu (dance) + ki
(skill). Apparently this is a
reinterpreted form of the verb kabuku (to lean, deviate, or act
dissolutely). Kabuki is the popular form
of the older Noh, the classical drama of Japan. Earliest documented use: 1899
honcho (HAWN-choh) noun:
One who is in charge of a situation; leader; boss.
verb tr.: To organize, manage, or lead a project, event, etc. From Japanese hancho, from han (squad) + cho (chief). Earliest documented use: 1947.
verb tr.: To organize, manage, or lead a project, event, etc. From Japanese hancho, from han (squad) + cho (chief). Earliest documented use: 1947.
skosh (skoash) noun small amount; a little bit.
From Japanese sukoshi (a
little). Earliest documented use: 1955.
tycoon (ty-KOON) noun
A wealthy and powerful
person, especially in business or politics.
From Japanese taikun
(great lord or prince), from Chinese ta (great) + kiun (prince). Earliest documented use: 1857. The
word was used as a title for the shogun of Japan. Abraham Lincoln's aides used the word as an
affectionate nickname for him. Later the
word came to be applied to powerful people in business.
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From: Kisimoto
Kiyoyuki Subject: kabuki
Interestingly enough,
Kabuki was invented, performed, spread by a woman named Izumo no Okuni, later
and soon enough for political reasons/ends women were prohibited to be Kabuki
performers.
From: Steve
Swift
Subject: skosh
The word skosh reminded me
of the story about the Scottish former Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern
who was holding a tea party for some lawyers at which he served toast and a
tiny pot of honey. One of lawyers looked
at it and said, "I see Your Lordship keeps a bee."
From: Gilda
Blackmore Subject: words from Japanese
What a great week! I thought honcho was of Mexican origin, skosh
was some arcane British offshoot, and tycoon must have come from India! Knowledge sure came with this series of words.
Thank you so much.
Election Cake:
history and recipes
In early America, the
electoral process brought communities together in festivity and revelry. Families traveled from the far reaches of
their region to town centers where they enjoyed a holiday – visiting neighbors
homes, dancing at balls, drinking, carousing and mustering for the local militia.
Indeed, for a time before America
revolted and became a nation in her own right, these celebratory spiced cakes
that we know (or used to know) as election cakes were called muster cakes. After the revolution, mustering for the
occupying forces no longer proved a necessity, but festivities still surrounded
the electoral process and these spiced and fruit-studded cakes were renamed for
the annual elections. Election cakes
commissioned by local government could often command several hundred dollars by
today’s standards, as they were massive – intended to feed an entire community
of voters. By the middle of the 19th
century, states and municipalities no longer commissioned the cakes and what
was first a symbol of conviviality and festivity began to take on an ulterior
motive: slices of election cake were provided as an incentive to vote a
straight ticket or for a particular candidate.
Sept. 9, 2013 Coming
to a vault near you: America's first
book When it travels, which is
rarely, the "Bay Psalm Book" has an entourage, including private
security men. It's how superstars roll,
as well as American history artifacts potentially worth as much as a winning
lottery ticket. Also like a superstar,
the "Bay Psalm Book" has become known by a sort of pseudonym. It's real name, the one on the title page
rather than the one historians and book collectors use, is "The Whole
Booke of Psalmes Faithfully Translated into English Metre." On the road the "Bay Psalm Book"
lives sort of like a vampire. It's not
allowed to see daylight, and its primary resting place is inside a specially
built box that fits exactly into a compartment hollowed out of the gray foam
that fills the rest of a hard-sided briefcase.
When Redden is on an airplane with the book — as he was Monday morning,
shepherding it from New York to Chicago, for a stop at the Newberry Library —
he does not finish with Sky Mall and then get a notion to kill the rest of the
flight by thumbing through the "Bay Psalm Book." Among other reasons for not doing this, he
would not want to leave one of 11 known copies of the first book printed and
written in the land that would become the United States in the seat-back pocket
in front of him. That would be a $15
million mistake, or maybe even a $30 million mistake, taking the low and high
ends of the Sotheby's estimate for what the 1640, first-edition psalter will
bring at auction next month. But even as
it is being coddled, this book is, have no doubt, a hard-working book. Like an author or musician, it is on tour,
helping to boost its renown and, its owner and Sotheby's hope, its sale price
when it goes on the auction block Nov. 26 in in New York. "It's kind of a dream to sell a 'Bay
Psalm Book' if you're in my world," Redden said. "This is truly the Gutenburg Bible of
America. I sometimes call it the most
famous book in America that nobody knows about." (A few people have known about it. Will
Harriss won a best first mystery novel prize for 1983's "The Bay Psalm
Book Murder," involving the authenticity of a newly discovered copy of the
book.) Although the "Bay Psalm
Book" paid a sort of trial visit to Philadelphia earlier this year, the
Newberry is its first stop on the official tour. It'll be on public display there, free, from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday. Then it
goes to St. Louis and, before November, a list of cities that is still being
developed but likely will include Dallas, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles,
Cleveland and, back to its longtime home, Boston. Stephen Daye printed and bound the psalter in
his shop in Cambridge, in the Massachussetts Bay Colony. The 1,700 copies made meant roughly one for
every Puritan family to use in church to sing the psalms, a practice in which
the Puritans deeply believed. Steve
Johnson http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-0910-first-american-book-newberry-20130909,0,6576502.column
Kumquats are great, just as they are - peel
and all. The peel is actually a bit
sweeter than the pulp, so eating them whole (spit out the seeds if you want,
but they're edible too) gives them a balanced flavor. Kumquats - halved or chopped - add a tangy
sweetness to fruit salads. They are
extra delicious with kiwis (also a winter fruit).
The sour tang of kumquats works great with many of the greens available
in winter – especially endive and spinach.
Halve, chop, or thinly slice the kumquats before adding them to the
salad. Molly Watson
.September 11 is the 254th day of the year (255th in leap years)
in the Gregorian calendar. There are 111 days remaining
until the end of the year. Events:
1609 – Henry Hudson discovers Manhattan
Island and the indigenous people living there.
1777 – American
Revolution: Battle of Brandywine – The British celebrate a
major victory in Chester County, Pennsylvania.
1814 – War of
1812: The climax of the Battle of Plattsburgh, a major United States
victory in the war.
2001 – Two hijacked
aircraft crash into the World Trade Center in New York City, while a
third smashes into The Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a fourth into a field
near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, in a series of coordinated suicide attacks by
members of Al Qaeda.
Altogether, 2,996 people are killed.
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