AWADmail Issue 70
                           March 3, 2002

        A Weekly Compendium of Feedback on the Words in A.Word.A.Day
          and Other Interesting Tidbits about Words and Languages

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From: Wordsmith Sponsor (sponsor@wordsmith.org)
Subject: Sponsor of this AWADmail issue: Maui Oma

Cafe, caffe, kahawa, kohii, kove, coffi, kaffe, kope, kavo, kahvi, koffie,
kafe, kaffee - Regardless of your linguistic preferences, coffee is a
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http://www.hawaiicoffee.net.

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From: Anu Garg (anu@wordsmith.org)
Subject: On the horizon...

It was on March 14, eight years ago, that A.Word.A.Day sent its first word.
While we observe our octennial next week, it's time for new initiatives.
We're considering launching an ad-free, paid subscription service, in
addition to continuing the existing free service. Details to follow.

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From: Mike Pope (mpope@microsoft.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--impresario
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/impresario.html

The word of the day reminded me of this quote. It's from Rossini, the Italian
composer and apparently a famous procrastinator, reminiscing in a letter on
"the best time to compose an overture":

Wait until the evening before opening night. Nothing primes inspiration more
than necessity, whether it be the presence of a copyist waiting for your work
or the prodding of an impresario tearing his hair. In my time, all the
impresarios in Italy were bald at thirty.

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From: Janelle Forgette (janfor@nelsononline.com)
Subject: Impresario

In my Italian Language class, we learned about the customs surrounding
funerals, and that the person or company that arranges them is called an
"impresario". I thought it almost amusing at the time, since we associate
that title with the world of entertainment, and I hadn't thought of funerals
in that light.

Thanks to your definition, it now makes complete sense to me, and explains
why the English name for the person who arranges funerals is "undertaker".
That title though is probably being taken over by "funeral director" - less
gloomy sounding, I suppose. But if we're headed in that direction, why not
go all the way to "impresario" and really brighten things up?

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From: Kenneth L. Davis (kennethld@mindspring.com)
Subject: Re: buskin
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/buskin.html

After too many years, the penny drops: the name of my high school drama club
was "Sock & Buskin". I knew it referred to footwear, but the history was
never fully explained. Many thanks.

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From: Cheryl La Montagne (clamontagne@eu.wcom.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--odeum
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/words/odeum.html

On a recent broadcast of LBC (London) they were having a discussion about
why cinemas were called Odeon in the UK and one explanation given was that
it was an acronym for Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation. Oscar Deutsch
founded the Odeon chain.

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From: Jeb B. Raitt (raittjb@ssg.navy.mil)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--odeum

You wrote:
> Now you know why so many cinema halls are named Odeon.

Including Nickelodeon, was once the name of many theaters, then a music
machine.

And I can see why the theaters use the Greek rather than the Latin form.
"Odeum" is much too much like "odium".

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From: Roy C Kepferle (rckepf@fuse.net)
Subject: Odeum

Odeum struck a chord in my memory of words to songs:

"Put another nickel in,
In the nickelodeon.
All I want is loving you,
And music, music, music."

Eight or ten from our Colorado high school class of '44 held afternoon
impromptu dance sessions at our local cafe to the music of the day from
the jukebox (nickelodeon) in the corner. The cost per play then was five
cents, equal to the cost of a Coca-Cola.

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From: Eric Shackle (eshackle@ozemail.com.au)
Subject: spaghetti western
Refer: http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives/0102

Many have watched spaghetti westerns, but few have heard of spaghetti
bridges. They're described, with Amazing Grace and Five Lords A-Flipping, in
the March issue of my free e-book http://www.bdb.co.za/shackle/ebook.htm


............................................................................
There are some that only employ words for the purpose of disguising their
thoughts. -Voltaire, philosopher (1694-1778)

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