My sister called me last year, all excited to tell me about these books I *must* read. Turned out she meant HHGTG. I was like, "wow, Deb, if I'd thought you'd like it I'd have rec'd it to you 15 years ago." Who knew?
Kristin,
Shakespeare After All
is not super-dry. Her voice is academic, but not "I must publish" academic, more chatting-after-the-show academic. It helps that she only spends a few pages on each play so you can read it in small, digestible chunks. I've actually been reading it between 1:30 and 3:30 am, since I'm not sleeping anymore, and it doesn't put me to sleep even at that time.
Thing is, I keep wishing for Internet at home because I keep wanting to check some of her assertions: do "travel" and "travail" really have the same root? Do "merchant" and "merchandise" come from the same root as Mercury, the god of commerce?
Or maybe I just need a direct link to Erin's brain.
Fred, I forgot there is a cop, yes. And a rodeo.
My bad.
I got a one-volume HHGTtG a few years ago, but have yet to reread it. It'll be a nice surprise when I do, since about all I still remember is the bits about flying, and the restaurant with the cows who want to be eaten.
HHGTtG never did anything for me.
since about all I still remember is the bits about flying
Heh. The key to flying is throwing yourself at the ground, and missing.
I'm rereading HHGTTG too (got the one-volume collection for Christmas, yay!)--it's my bedtime easy-reading book. Still makes me giggle.
Me neither brenda. *sits in corner with brenda*
Or maybe I just need a direct link to Erin's brain.
try www.talksoutofherass.com
I know travel and travail are from the same root. Lemme cite....yeah, [Middle English travelen, alteration of travailen, to toil, from Old French travailler. See travail.]
And on the Merc stuff, I'm not sure if it comes into the Latin from the Hebrew. "Mercare" means to trade, but I looked up the Mercury ref, and apparently it may stem from Hebew first. EDIT: Oops, "mercari"
The Hebrew word so rendered is from a root meaning "to travel about," "to migrate," and hence "a traveller." In the East, in ancient times, merchants travelled about with their merchandise from place to place (Gen. 37:25; Job 6:18), and carried on their trade mainly by bartering (Gen. 37:28; 39:1). After the Hebrews became settled in Palestine they began to engage in commercial pursuits, which gradually expanded (49:13; Deut. 33:18; Judg. 5:17), till in the time of Solomon they are found in the chief marts of the world (1 Kings 9:26; 10:11, 26, 28; 22:48; 2 Chr. 1:16; 9:10, 21). After Solomon's time their trade with foreign nations began to decline. After the Exile it again expanded into wider foreign relations, because now the Jews were scattered in many kands.
Um. And...
MERCHANDISE transitive verb (1350-1400): derived from the Late Middle English verb ‘marchaundisen,’ which is from the noun ‘marchaundise.’
MERCHANDISE noun (1250-1300): derives from Middle English ‘marchaundise,’ the act of trading, which came from the Old French ‘marcheandise,’ from ‘marcheant,’ merchant.
MERCHANT noun (~1200): derives from Middle English ‘marchaunt,’ ‘marchaund,’ marchant,’ which are from Old French ‘marcheant,’ trader, which derive from ‘Vulgar Latin ‘mercatant’ (stem of ‘mercatans’), past particple of ‘mercatare,’ from Latin ‘mercatus,’ (source of English ‘market’), past participle of ‘mercari,’ (to trade, deal in commodities, from ‘merc-,’ ‘merx,’ ware, goods for sale. Other English descendants of the Latin ‘merx’ are ‘commerce’ and ‘mercury.’ (The Roman god Mercury got his name from his original role as patron of trade and tradesman. In case you were wondering – and I was – the inspiration for the medieval application of the term to the fluid metal was its use as a planet-name (free to wander around vs. a ‘fixed’ star), which dates from the classical Latin period).
(Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, Ayto’s Dictionary of Word Origins, OED)
FYI, using "to merchandise" as a verb was first recorded in 1932.
I've never read HHGttG. Mayhap I should pick it up.
Thanks for the loan of brainspace, Erin! I'm actually really happy that "travel" and "travail" are from the same source, since in practice they are so closely related.
And that does clarify the Mercury-merchant thing...I assumed the word "merchant" was later than ancient Rome, but with its roots being earlier, and in fact Hebrew, it's cool to see how the god of commerce got his name from an existing word.
Which actually makes me wonder whether the Romans were aware that their gods were constructs, or did they say "He really exists, but since we aren't given to know gods' names, we made them up" ?
