Seldom-Used Words

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Tio, poor old Dollard. The men with the most bravery were often engaged in activities that crossed legal lines. Jean Lafitte certainly helped out Andrew Jackson during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and everyone knew he and his brother were pirates. I wish the righteous of today understood that life was very difficult with a different set of rules back then. No one hangs horse thieves any more and everyone has forgotten what those day were really like. Deadwood should be required viewing. LOL

patent flour - noun a high-grade wheat flour consisting solely of endosperm
 
PASTICHE

1: a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work; also : such stylistic imitation

2a : a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works : potpourri b : hodgepodge
 
PASTICHE

1: a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work; also : such stylistic imitation

2a : a musical, literary, or artistic composition made up of selections from different works : potpourri b : hodgepodge

jeanne_d_artois and I do pastiche. Jeanne did Shakespeare. I did Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Kipling's Just So Stories.
 
In my research today into usury and slavery of medieval times, I found an interesting bit of information I want to share from Wiki;

"Lombard banking refers to the historical use of the term 'Lombard' for a mount of piety style of pawn shop in the Middle Ages, a type of banking that originated with the prosperous northern Italian region of Lombardy. The term was sometimes used in a derogatory sense and some were accused of usury.

A Christian prohibition on profit from money 'without working' made banking sinful. Though Pope Leo the Great forbade charging interest on loans by canon law, it was not forbidden to take collateral on loans. Pawn shops thus operate on the basis of a contract that fixes in advance the 'fine' for not respecting the nominal term of the 'interest free' loan, or alternatively, may structure a sale-repurchase by the 'borrower' where the interest is implicit in the repurchase price. Similar conventions exist in modern Islamic banking. Various ways around the prohibition were devised, so that the lowly pawnshop contractors could bundle their risk and investment for larger undertakings.

Christianity and Judaism generally ban usury, but allow usury towards heretics. Thus Christians could lend to Jews and vice versa. The only real necessity for a young man who desired a future in the financial world of the Middle Ages was the ability to read and write; the methods used for bookkeeping were carefully kept within families and slowly spread along trade routes. Therefore, this knowledge was available most readily to Jesuits and Jews, who consequently played a major role in European finance. Generally the Jesuits took the role of go-between with heads of state, while the Jews manned the low-end pawnshops. This explains the disproportionately large share of Jews in the goldsmith trade and early diamond market (diamonds being a lightweight alternative to gold).

It comes as no surprise that the pawn shops of Rome were the most prosperous of all, especially in the 15th century under Popes Pius IV and Sixtus V. This Italian 'Lombard' pawn shop method became famous. The use of the term 'Lombard' for pawn shop grew slowly from city to city, and became prevalent in Cahors, southern France, from where the Christian Cahorsins moved as far North as London and Amsterdam in the 13th century; at the latter, they were called Cahorsijnen, Cawarsini or Coarsini.

In France the Lombards became synonymous with the Cahorsins. Most European cities still have a street named Lombard Street after the pawn shop that once resided there."

The one in San Francisco is famous for its steepness. The movie "What's Up, Doc?" has a great chase scene in a VW bug that races down Lombard Street and ends by landing in the Bay.
 
A little bit more from Wiki;

A mount of piety was an institutional pawnbroker run as a charity in Europe from the later Middle Ages times to the 20th century, more often referred to in English by the relevant local term, such as monte di pietà (Italian), mont de piété (French), or monte de piedad (Spanish). Similar institutions were established in the colonies of Catholic countries; the Mexican Nacional Monte de Piedad is still in operation.

This fifteenth-century institution originated in Italy and was developed in cities as a reform against money lending, an early form of organized charity. The public office was organized and operated by the Catholic Churches and offered financial loans at a moderate interest to those in need. The organizing principle, based on the benefit of the borrower and not the profit of the lender, was viewed as a lesser evil than money lending. The organization of the Monte di Pietà depended on acquiring a monte, a collection of funds from voluntary donations by financially privileged people who had no intentions of regaining their money. The people in need would then be able to come to the Monte di Pietà and give an item of value in exchange for a monetary loan. The term of the loan would last the course of a year and would only be worth about two-thirds of the borrower’s item value. A pre-determined interest rate would be applied to the loan and these profits were used to pay the expenses of operating the Monte di Pietà.
 
Okay, enough about usury, I will resume the backward Ps, with a word in honor of Holy Week.

paten - noun 1. a plate of precious metal for the eucharistic bread 2. PLATE 3. a thin metal disk or something resembling one
 
Many English names are derived from patronymics e.g. Simpson.

In Welsh, I think the version is a prefix Ap - Ap-Thomas (son of Thomas) etc.

Ap is the patronymic prefix in Wales, as I discussed with JBJ once. One of his ancestor's was called Rhys Ap Something, I can't find the thread any more! but it translated as 'Bitch', or 'Whore'. We talked about it very gravely and both of us laughed up our sleeves.

I wish he would start his gardening thread again, then I could go there for advice. I'm still in a quandary about my roses. I think I might leave the climber (Gloire de Hollande), which I ought to have done last autumn :eek:, and trim back the Wedgwood rose as it's encroaching on the neighbour's skyline. I'll wait a bit to do the piglet's Natalie Nipples (only pink rose which would live happily in a pot, we pretend it's just called Natalie) and the Fella's Molyneux (LOL, HP).

I really enjoyed hearing Ravel's Pavane for a Dead Princess too, it was echoing in my head as I set off to teach on Saturday - a journey on which I ended up treading gingerly through six inches of snow on the station platforms. I could have done with those fuchsia pink chopines! especially as it was only raining lightly at my house when I set off, so I decided not to take my bright pink wellies. That was an error in judgement.

Phthisical - consumptive, wasting away. My favourite butcher has a phthisical beauty, a sort of pale slender whiteness perhaps the result of his heart condition. I sometimes wonder if his heart condition is why he seems never to have had a girlfriend. Never mind how I know he never has! LOL. He gives me free sausages sometimes ;).
 
Okay, enough about usury, I will resume the backward Ps, with a word in honor of Holy Week.

paten - noun 1. a plate of precious metal for the eucharistic bread 2. PLATE 3. a thin metal disk or something resembling one

This is a paten:

paten.jpg


Many Church of England churches used to have a small collection of historic patens, given by wealthy parishoners.

But most have now been collected into Cathedral Treasuries for secure storage and display because they were easily stolen from open churches.

Guildford Cathedral Treasury:

8102399820_3b01c7c56d_z.jpg


If I remember correctly, Ely And Chichester cathedrals have magnificent collections of patens in gold, silver, and silver gilt.

Another one:

SionPaten.jpg
 
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Og, I was secretly hoping you would post pictures of patens. The ones you posted are very lovely, as most things for the eucharist are, no matter which denomination of Christianity.

Naoko, just for the record, the name of Ravel's piece is really Pavane pour une infante défunte. I am sure whatever you do with your roses, they will be spectacular this year. And the word you posted is a real tongue twister, but a goody in print.

patelliform - adj resembling a limpet or limpet shell; esp: disk-shaped with a narrow rim
 
Og, I was secretly hoping you would post pictures of patens. The ones you posted are very lovely, as most things for the eucharist are, no matter which denomination of Christianity.

Naoko, just for the record, the name of Ravel's piece is really Pavane pour une infante défunte. I am sure whatever you do with your roses, they will be spectacular this year. And the word you posted is a real tongue twister, but a goody in print.

patelliform - adj resembling a limpet or limpet shell; esp: disk-shaped with a narrow rim

Well, I hope the roses will be OK. The weather is so wild just now! although at least with the wind my clothes did dry today. We probably have room for just one more rose in the garden. I might have mentioned before that I am determined this must be the hilariously named Cuisse de nymphe emue - that crinkly pinkish white rose which looks just like the thigh of a nymph in the throes of emotion, painted by Fragonard or Boucher.

The 'infante' is an Infanta, isn't she? rather than an infant. I love Ravel, I remember once listening to the second movement of his piano concerto - the very slow one, sitting in a room in Cambridge with long glass windows down which the big drops of summer rain were trickling against a backdrop of greenery in a garden outside. I always remember the rain and the greenery, although I've forgotten whose room it was.

:rose:
 
Naoko, that is a very lovely rose, of which you speak, and the perfect addition to your garden. Yes, une infante is the female version of the child first in line to the French throne, I believe without checking my facts. What a lovely memory featuring Maurice Ravel and rain. My favorite by him is a ballet, Daphnis et Chloé.

patch(3) - noun FOOL, DOLT
 
Naoko, that is a very lovely rose, of which you speak, and the perfect addition to your garden. Yes, une infante is the female version of the child first in line to the French throne, I believe without checking my facts. What a lovely memory featuring Maurice Ravel and rain. My favorite by him is a ballet, Daphnis et Chloé.

patch(3) - noun FOOL, DOLT

I must listen to that one. I do love the ballet.

I edited JackLuis's story for him recently, that was set to Bolero. That was fun.

I know, it is a beautiful rose - and the French name makes it irresistible. In England it's called Maiden's Blush, which is nice too, but the French name is so evocative of those lush 18th century painters.
 
Carlus, and Dauphin is another thing altogether. Love those French!

From Wiki;

The Dauphin of France (French: Dauphin de France, IPA: —strictly, The Dauphin of Viennois (Dauphin de Viennois)—was the title given to the heir apparent to the throne of France from 1350 to 1791, and from 1824 to 1830. The word is French for dolphin, as a reference to the depiction of the marine mammal they bore on their coat of arms.

Guy VIII, Count of Vienne, had a dolphin on his coat of arms and had been nicknamed le Dauphin. The title of Dauphin de Viennois descended in his family, the Princes of Ivetot, until 1349, when Humbert I sold his seigneurie, called the Dauphiné, to King Philippe VI on condition that the heir of France assume the title of le Dauphin. The wife of the Dauphin was known as la Dauphine.

The first French prince called le Dauphin was Charles V. The title was roughly equivalent to the English title Prince of Wales, the Portuguese title Duke of Braganza, or the Spanish title Prince of Asturias.
 
We have the Prince of Wales who is English.

The Welsh were promised a prince who would not be an English-speaker and so they gave up their rebelliousness, but they were a bit miffed when they were offered a baby prince who couldn't speak at all. Anyway, we still have him although those of us who know, know that Tom Jones is the Real Prince of Wales. To be fair to Prince William (whom one supposes will eventually get to be Prince of Wales), he has served on Anglesey in the air sea rescue for quite a while now, and they're very fond of him and Kate there. I wonder if they changed the constitution to make the next baby Princess of Wales if it comes to it, as well as next in line for the throne? That'll be an interesting postcolonial kerfuffle if they forgot, snigger.

Pleasaunce - bit of the garden which is purely for aesthetic enjoyment, not for growing food or any utilitarian purpose.

I have one flowerbed which is our pleasaunce, LOL. The lawn is for piglet exercising and there is a big square bed at the bottom of the garden with the best light where we grow vegetables with the Piglet.
 
Naoko, I thought there was a title, like Prince of Wales, for a Princess, who is first in line to the throne, but is not Princess of Wales, for that is reserved for the wife of the Prince of Wales, of course. I would take the time to research it, but I will be gone all day on my bi-monthly grocery shopping spree.

Several years ago, my youngest son, now 22, found what he thought was treasure near our house in a hill of dirt. It turned out to be a seated bronze Buddha, which we placed it on a tree stump under an oak tree in our front yard and forgot about for several years. When the children, 4 of them, got older, I found my green thumb and bought some tulips. I stuck them in the ground near Buddha and forgot about them, too. In the Spring, when the tulips made their grand entrance into the world, I was so stunned by their beauty, I created a garden around them and Buddha that is certainly like a pleasuance, except that strawberries grow under another oak tree nearby. But these twice-blooming strawberries take so little effort, besides watering, to bring forth the most delicious red treats, this food must be thought of as heaven-sent instead of something one toils over, and therefore perfect for what we call The Buddha Garden. When this years bulbs bloom, I will take pictures and post them for you to see.

pastorium - noun a Protestant parsonage
 
Naoko, I thought there was a title, like Prince of Wales, for a Princess, who is first in line to the throne, but is not Princess of Wales, for that is reserved for the wife of the Prince of Wales, of course. I would take the time to research it, but I will be gone all day on my bi-monthly grocery shopping spree.

Several years ago, my youngest son, now 22, found what he thought was treasure near our house in a hill of dirt. It turned out to be a seated bronze Buddha, which we placed it on a tree stump under an oak tree in our front yard and forgot about for several years. When the children, 4 of them, got older, I found my green thumb and bought some tulips. I stuck them in the ground near Buddha and forgot about them, too. In the Spring, when the tulips made their grand entrance into the world, I was so stunned by their beauty, I created a garden around them and Buddha that is certainly like a pleasuance, except that strawberries grow under another oak tree nearby. But these twice-blooming strawberries take so little effort, besides watering, to bring forth the most delicious red treats, this food must be thought of as heaven-sent instead of something one toils over, and therefore perfect for what we call The Buddha Garden. When this years bulbs bloom, I will take pictures and post them for you to see.

pastorium - noun a Protestant parsonage

From our back deck the other day. Finding enlightenment isn't all roses, tulips, and strawberries...
 

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Pleasaunce - bit of the garden which is purely for aesthetic enjoyment, not for growing food or any utilitarian purpose.

I have one flowerbed which is our pleasaunce, LOL. The lawn is for piglet exercising and there is a big square bed at the bottom of the garden with the best light where we grow vegetables with the Piglet.

Kenilworth Castle used to have a Pleasaunce, reached by boat from the Castle. Here

The earthworks for the Pleasaunce are still visible, although the Mere and buildings have long gone. Some of the Pleasaunce buildings were re-erected within Kenilworth Castle.

A couple of years ago we walked around the earthworks of Kenilworth's Pleasaunce, among the curious cows. A couple of visiting American tourists, having walked from the Castle on a signposted footpath, declined to enter the Pleasaunce. They said they were deterred by the cows. I think the real reason was the deep mud. :D
 
Very funny, Carlus, but my Buddha looked like that in December.

Very beautiful, Og, how I would love to go there, too, but it might not have been only the mud that put those people off, but the mud mixed with cow manure, which would make most stay away. Is there a dry season in a marsh? LOL

past master - noun 1. one who has held the office of worshipful master in a lodge of Freemasons or of master in some other society 2. one who is expert: ADEPT - past mistress
 
I skipped over this one earlier today due to time constraints;

pastoral(2) - noun 1. a letter of a pastor to his charge: as a. a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese b. a letter of the house of bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church to be read in each parish 2.a. a literary work dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life b. pastoral poetry or drama c. a rural picture or scene d. PASTORALE 3. CROSIER
 
I skipped over this one earlier today due to time constraints;

pastoral(2) - noun 1. a letter of a pastor to his charge: as a. a letter addressed by a bishop to his diocese b. a letter of the house of bishops of the Protestant Episcopal Church to be read in each parish 2.a. a literary work dealing with shepherds or rural life in a usually artificial manner and typically drawing a contrast between the innocence and serenity of the simple life and the misery and corruption of city and especially court life b. pastoral poetry or drama c. a rural picture or scene d. PASTORALE 3. CROSIER

And the name given to a real masterpiece of music (Beethoven; 6th Symphony)
 
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