51吃瓜 of the Day
More about macushla
Macushla is a phonetic English spelling of the Erse (Irish Gaelic) mo chuisle, literally 鈥渕y pulse,鈥� or translated more romantically, 鈥渕y heartbeat, my sweetheart, darling.鈥� The mo-, ma– in macushla, mo chuisle means 鈥渕y鈥�; cushla, chuisle 鈥減ulse, heartbeat, vein,鈥� comes from an earlier Erse cuisle, of uncertain etymology, but most likely a borrowing of Latin pulsus 鈥渟triking, beating, pulse.鈥� Cuisle appears in another Irish idiom: a chuisle 鈥渕y dear, darling,鈥� in full, a chuisle mo chro铆, literally, 鈥減ulse of my heart.鈥� (The phrase Mother Machree 鈥淢other dear鈥� entered English in the first half of the 19th century.) The a is the Gaelic vocative particle, a particle used in direct address, and equivalent to English exclamation O. 颁丑谤辞铆 鈥渉eart鈥� comes from Old Irish crid-, which closely resembles Welsh craidd, Latin cord-, Greek kard-, and Hittite karts, all meaning 鈥渉eart.鈥� Macushla entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is macushla used?
Come, macushla, come, as in ancient times / Rings aloud the underland with faery chimes.
To hear teenagers quietly speaking Irish. To read Maurice O’Sullivan’s Twenty Years A-Growing. To find out that the endearment “macushla” comes from the Irish word for pulse. These are the things that would encourage a person to look more closely at the Irish language.
macushla
haimish
adjective
homey; cozy and unpretentious.
More about haimish
The Yiddish adjective haimish (also spelled heimish) means 鈥渃ozy, comfortable, unpretentious,鈥� pretty much the same as English homey. Heimish comes from the Middle High German adjective heimisch (German heimisch), a compound of the Middle High German noun heim 鈥渉ome,鈥� from Proto-Germanic haimaz, the same source as Old English 丑腻尘 (English home). The adjective suffix –ish comes from Proto-Germanic –iska-, source of English –ish. The Proto-Germanic suffix is related to the Greek suffix –iskos, used to form diminutive nouns such as 苍别补苍铆蝉办辞蝉 鈥測outh,鈥� a diminutive of 苍别补苍铆补蝉 鈥測oung man.鈥� Heimish entered English in the mid-1950s.
how is haimish used?
Here, the antique and modern furniture you see spotlighted in pricey Manhattan store windows doesn’t look special; it just looks right, and comfortable — not to mention somehow new when combined this way. Call it haimish modern.
It鈥檚 irresistibly haimish, with exposed-brick walls and, behind the oak-and-tile bar, an eighteenth-century map of Rome. Everybody knows everybody, by sight or by name鈥攄iners, waiters, staff.
haimish
lickety-split
adverb
at great speed; rapidly.
More about lickety-split
The adverb lickety-split, 鈥渁t great speed; rapidly,鈥� was originally and remains mostly a colloquialism. The origin of lickety is fanciful鈥攁n extension of lick 鈥渢o move quickly, run at full speed.鈥� And split means 鈥渇raction,鈥� as in split second. Lickety-split entered English in the first half of the 19th century.
how is lickety-split used?
Well, pretty soon, after we had got down to level country and were making the speedometer earn its board, I happened to look around and, good night, there was an automobile coming along lickety-split, about a quarter of a mile behind us.
You will pay very little, and your coffee, pancakes or waffles will arrive lickety-split on your red-checked tablecloth. At the next table may be a tug crew, a film company or even the First Lady.
lickety-split