51吃瓜 of the Day
dolmen
noun
a structure usually regarded as a tomb, consisting of two or more large, upright stones set with a space between and capped by a horizontal stone.
More about dolmen
Dolmen 鈥渁 structure consisting of upright stones capped by a horizontal stone鈥� is possibly a borrowing from Cornish, the Celtic language once spoken in Cornwall, a region of southwest England. Beyond this point, the history of dolmen becomes muddled; the word could be a corruption of 迟辞濒尘锚苍, as used in William Borlase鈥檚 1754 collection of essays Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall, in which Borlase implies that the word derives from a local name, m锚n an tol or maen tol 鈥渢he holed stone,鈥� corresponding to Cornish toll 鈥渉ole鈥� and men 鈥渟迟辞苍别.鈥澛� Dolmen was first recorded in English in the late 1850s.
how is dolmen used?
When I get up close to a dolmen, I often have a bit of a sit-down inside and commune with my ancestors, keeping an ear out. It was on a rainy day 鈥� in County Donegal鈥攚hen the Irish air was soft with mist and the green hills were dotted with lambs鈥攖hat the portal tomb in a nearby pasture called to me.
I found the dolmen before I knew it: a curiosity in the center of a field, strewn about with small stones like a gaggle of offspring. It was a knock-kneed little tomb, its two supports leaning together but the flat capstone still firmly in place, level as a tabletop. All three megaliths were fuzzy with golden lichen, and radiated the morning’s sun.
dolmen
scrimp
verb (used without object)
to be sparing or frugal; economize.
More about scrimp
Scrimp 鈥渢o be sparing or frugal鈥� is likely a borrowing from a Scandinavian language such as Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish, all of which descend from Old Norse. Both English and Old Norse are Germanic languages, but despite their close relationship, they diverged about 2,000 years ago, and this time apart resulted in many sound changes. Two common changes were the shifts from k to ch and from sk to sh, which happened in English but not in Scandinavian languages. This means that, when the Vikings invaded Great Britain and many Old Norse words entered English, English terms had to compete with their Norse cognates, resulting in church and kirk, shirt and skirt, and sharp and scrape. Though it entered English centuries after the Viking invasion, the Scandinavian word scrimp was originally a cognate of the English word shrimp; both derived from a Germanic verb meaning 鈥渢o contract, shrink,鈥� and while shrimp continued to refer to physical size, scrimp shifted to refer to money. Scrimp was first recorded in English in the early 1700s.
how is scrimp used?
The bride should be caught up in a delightful whirl. A marriage should be royal and magical. 鈥� Dwell on Olympus for that one day at least. Be gods. Ah! 鈥� Don鈥檛 stint on nuptials, don鈥檛 clip their splendour, don鈥檛 scrimp on the day that you shine. A wedding isn鈥檛 housekeeping. Oh, if I had a free hand, it would be glorious! Violins would be heard playing among the trees.
Though Thanksgiving falls on the more relaxed end of the sartorial spectrum in terms of American holidays, it鈥檚 no excuse to scrimp on style completely. Chic, timeless, and surprisingly versatile, an elevated slipper shoe is a simple yet effective way to keep your look from veering in too casual a direction.
scrimp
More about aureate
Aureate 鈥済olden or gilded鈥� comes from Latin aureus 鈥済olden,鈥� from aurum 鈥済old.鈥� The further etymology of aurum is uncertain, but there are two competing theories鈥攐ne with a phonological similarity that lacks a semantic resemblance and the other with a semantic similarity that lacks a phonological resemblance. Aurum may be connected to 补耻谤艒谤补 鈥渄awn,鈥� from a Proto-Indo-European root, 补耻蝉艒蝉-, of the same meaning, from the root aus- 鈥渢o shine鈥�; the definition would have shifted from 鈥渟hining thing鈥� to 鈥済old.鈥� If this theory were true, aurum would be related to Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn known for her rosy-tipped fingers, as well as to east and Easter, originally a Germanic goddess of springtime. An alternative theory connects aurum to aes 鈥渂rass, bronze, copper,鈥� from the Proto-Indo-European root ayos- 鈥渕etal,鈥� which is also the source of English ore. Aureate was first recorded in English in the early 1400s.
how is aureate used?
Still now, on those hot summer days when the sun lacquers Manhattan storefronts into something aureate and amber-rich, when the air is impenetrable, blistered, and rank, and when brick tenements on Ludlow evoke whatever decade speaks to your nostalgia, my brother鈥檚 copy of Paul鈥檚 Boutique comes to mind.
Though Frost maintained that 鈥渘othing gold can stay,鈥� some goodness remains, the play concludes. But the poet may have been right after all; whatever small measure of aureate glimmer and substance here is, ultimately, fleeting.
aureate