C'est Quétaine!

It seems that I am a terrible blogger, and only able to put one post up every few months. I'll never get any more readers that way. Ah well.

Anyway, this is a post about the distinctly Québequois word "quétaine" (also spelt "kétaine"). It's an odd sort of word, one that is not immediately translatable into English. It shares a lot of parallels with the BrE "twee", tho it doesn't quite mean the same thing.

"Quétaine" was apparently first attested in the hamlet of Saint-Hyacinthe in the forties. It was used to describe the jarring mishmash of clothing that was worn by the poor who dressed themselves out of the church poor-boxes. This post attributes it to the poor people who were "quêtant" from house to house (cognate for English "questing") i.e. begging. A (to me) slightly more dubious etymology is cited on the French Wikipedia page; that it referred to the surname of a local family - the Keatons or "Quétonnes".

At any rate, the meaning of the word has shifted over the years. It now means something like kitchy or tacky, cheesy, or countrified, or "chavvy", or even "twee". And is used throughout Québec, not only in St-Hyacinthe.

I do find it interesting that a word like "quétaine", which originally referred to the dress of beggars, has managed to intersect with a word like "twee", which also holds connotations of "overly prim and proper". But both could readily be used to describe the verses in some hallmark cards.

I should note that the research for this post was nothing but the most rudimentary Google search, so I've probably missed something important.

Image credit to Benoit.Paillé

Grotty to the max, dude!

I just discovered (whilst trying to figure out how to spell 'mould') that grotty and grody are considered to be variant spellings of the same word! I would personally disagree. I can see how they could have begun as such, I feel that by now the connotations of each have diverged sufficiently to make them two separate words. In other news, my (mediocre) ability to spell seems to have left me this evening, I keep on having to go back to correct silly typos. Thank goodness I live in the era that developed the backspace key.

I leave you with a picture of a Grody catfish, which I stole from Shannon's blog (hi Shannon!)

Cow Powers

This is a cheat, as it's not something I wrote myself: from the "Funny requests from patrons" thread on Library Thing -

I was working the desk one day when a little boy (not more than 3, if that) approached my co-worker and asked for pictures of "cow powers." Attempts to pry further information from him came to naught...as did catalog and google searches and a desperate "Do you have any idea what he's looking for?" to his mother. Trying to think like a toddler, my co-worker asked "Had he seen cow-powers on TV? Were they a cartoon?" "I want cow powers" was the only reply. Hoping she was on the right track and knowing my love of all-things-animated, she turned to me and asked did I know about the Cow Powers? Didn't ring a bell...but something clicked in my brain and I turned to the little boy and asked "Are you looking for books about caterpillars?" Apparently I'd correctly translated the Toddlerese for he gave the two of us a big grin and announced "Cow powers are BUGS!" So hand in hand we wandered over to the 595.789s where we found lots of "cow powers."

I'm just astonished that the mother didn't know what the kid was talking about

kyriarchy

I just learnt a great new word, and I wanted to share it:

kyriarchy (N)

kyriarchy - a neologism coined by Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza and derived from the Greek words for "lord" or "master" (kyrios) and "to rule or dominate" (archein) which seeks to redefine the analytic category of patriarchy in terms of multiplicative intersecting structures of domination...Kyriarchy is best theorized as a complex pyramidal system of intersecting multiplicative social structures of superordination and subordination, of ruling and oppression.

This is presented in contrast to the commonly used (and derided) term 'patriarchy' to describe the privileged and dominant class. In the same glossary, 'patriarchy' is defined as:

patriarchy - Literally means the rule of the father and is generally understood within feminist discourses in a dualistic sense as asserting the domination of all men over all women in equal terms. The theoretical adequacy of patriarchy has been challenged because, for instance, black men to not have control over white wo/men and some women (slave/mistresses) have power over subaltern women and men (slaves).

- Glossary, Wisdom Ways, Orbis Books New York 2001

Essentially, this is a word which is is far more useful than 'patriarchy' when discussing equality in this world where a complex hierarchical system of one's race, sex, sexual/gender orientation, faith (or lack thereof), cultural background, able-bodiedness, and social and/or educational class (amongst a myriad of other factors) interact to determine one's level of privilege and/or oppression.

To discuss the 'kyriarchy' is to discuss the institutionalised system which oppresses some whilst affording others a greater level of power and privilege. I would encourage anyone (who hasn't already) to read this article, as it was one of the many things which have caused me to recently re-examine my own experience of privilege.

I was prompted to write this after reading this post, along with many others, and was sparked by a comment on this site.

toss

Implications

The word 'toss', as morpheme, word, or part of a phrase, is highly
associated with the act of moving something with moderate energy
upwards, and then releasing it; or otherwise allowing it to continue
on its natural trajectory. Most related metaphorical idioms reflect this.

Main Definitions

to toss (V) - to throw gently/lightly

to toss (V) - to discard, to put (carelessly) aside or to (carelessly) place

to toss (V) - to mix or aerate (fluff) f by moving items upwards and
letting them fall

a toss (N) - 1. The act of throwing a coin up and catching it to
determine a decision based on which side of the coin lands face up.
2. A projected outcome which could end in one of two equally
possible results. (see 1) 3. (esp. in sports), the act of lightly throwing a ball or similar object (usually upward) to determine the direction of play

Expressions

to toss a salad (VP) - to mix the different ingredients of a salad (usually
including dressing) by bringing ingredients from the bottom of the
bowl to the top, usually by raising ingredients above the bowl and
letting them fall back down. A 'tossed salad' is (usually) a green
salad which has already been mixed, probably including the
dressing. (N.B. - on the internet, this expression may be used in
relation to pornographic images, so be careful!

to toss and turn (VP) - to move restlessly whilst trying to fall asleep

to toss a coin (VP) - to make a decision by throwing a coin into the air and catching it, basing the decision on which side of the coin lands face up (see 'flip a coin', 'heads or tails')

toss-up (N) - a situation where the outcome could just as easily be on one side or the other.

to toss (one's) cookies (VP) - to vomit (it is possible to 'toss' other foodstuffs)

tosser (N) (slang, pejorative, mainly UK) - a very unpleasant person, someone you dislike/disagree with/are angry with for some reason. Lit.: s/o who masturbates. Not always a *severe* insult, frequently used in an affectionate, teasing way.

Examples -

"At first we were going to try a social networking model, but we tossed that idea once we got into the development phase."

"If you're looking for the remote, I think I tossed it beside the couch earlier."

"That new ride at LaRonde totally made me want to toss my cookies!"

"Sorry, I don't have that edition of the paper anymore - yesterday was recycling day, and I tossed it."

-"Do you want to eat at Belle Pro or Subway?"
-"I dunno, let's toss it [a coin]."

"....then Fernandez tossed the ball to Gruber to win the game!"

"I tossed* my pillows and duvet before I went to bed so I wouldn't be tossing and turning all night."

*(also: 'fluff (up)')

"Alex was supposed to go to the movie with me but he bailed out* at the
last minute. He's such a tosser!"

*('bail out' can mean many things; in this case it means 'to renege on
an engagement (probably social) that the agent had previously
committed to.')

-"Which would you prefer - a strawberry smoothie or a mango one?"
-"They're both so delicious I can't decide! - it's a toss-up"

---

So what do you think? Have I missed anything?

Farewell to the language of Bo

The BBC reports that the last speaker of Bo has died, taking her language to the grave with her. We can be thankful that Boa Sr was working with linguists in the last years of her life, so corpora of data on this Andaman tongue exist. In memoriam:

On the Coast of Coromandel
Where the early pumpkins blow,
In the middle of the woods
Lived the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.
Two old chairs, and half a candle,--
One old jug without a handle,--
These were all his worldly goods:
In the middle of the woods,
These were all the worldly goods,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò,
Of the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.