The Wonders of Wordology # 1

Have you ever had one of those moments--perhaps while in college full-time--when some of what you're learning in one class overlaps into another class? A semi-recent example I can remember from my own life was the breathing/warm-up exercise which I learned in acting class which was also used--in a slightly altered form--in my voice and diction class. Sometimes--more rarely--something in history would show up in a literature class IF we happened to be studying things in the same era. The same thing is happening in my "real" life right now. Here are some things I have learned:

A) Lavandino means "sink" in Italian. I had heard--on airplanes--of restrooms being called "lavatories", so I didn't really think twice about it. But, when I began reading about lavender in my garden book "The Bountiful Container"( Stuckey and McGee, 2003),(thanks Vicky!) I was amazed at the intriguing tidbits I learned.

"The herb we call lavender is not named for the color, even though most of its flowers

are lavender-hued. Rather, it is the other way around: the color is named for the

plant.

The genus name, Lavandula, is derived from the Latin verb lavare, meaning

"to wash." Through many centuries, starting with the ancient Greeks and Romans,

homemakers have included lavender in the rinse water to impart a clean fragrance

to the household linens; they didn't know it, but they were also disinfecting.

Lavender was used in medieval times to clean the air in musty sick-rooms, and

was one of the most popular "strewing herbs" (scattered over the floor and allowed

to dry, for an air freshener).

Initially, it was the clean fragrance that appealed, and there was also a general

sense that the presence of lavender in a sickroom was healthful. Until the

beginning of the twentieth century, lavender was even used to dress battlefield

wounds.

Now, modern science has verified that the herb does indeed have antiseptic

properties, and so those long-ago homemakers had the right instinct.

B) During Eight Grade, I was in choir. And I have been singing often for the last 18 1/2 years since I became a Christian. The term "sotto voce" was taught--and done--plenty of times throughout the years. It means "a dramatic lowering of the voice." It isn't quite as quiet as pianissimo, but still--pretty quiet. It was, therefore, supremely easy for me to learn the Italian word for "under" which is "sotto." Strangely, though I learned them at the same time, I have a harder time remembering the word for "on" and "in." I think "in" is "negli" but I"m not sure. I'll have to re-do that section, I believe!

I'm sure there will be many more interesting "word" lessons in the upcoming months since I'm learning a lot of new things lately. Hope they help broaden your world--or at least not make you fall asleep whilst reading my blogs! ;-P

love ya,

Lolly Fabulous :)