Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Infant Joy and more

The Cape Cod Mystery, Phoebe Atwood Taylor, pg 101

I was inventing a new candy to be called Infant Joy after the child in the poem who had no name but was three days old...
The poem is by William Blake (1757-1827) and Taylor has it wrong - the child was 2 days old.
'I have no name;
I am but two days old.'
What shall I call thee?
'I happy am,
Joy is my name.'
Sweet joy befall thee!

Pretty joy!
Sweet joy, but two days old.
Sweet Joy I call thee:
Thou dost smile,
I sing the while;
Sweet joy befall thee!

"You hicks is muley."
Muley is of course to be mulish, stubborn. A mule, however, is generally not as stubborn as a donkey, but will not let itself be put in harms way by its rider (unlike a horse.)
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.[1] Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny (the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey). All male mules and most female mules are infertile.

The size of a mule and work to which it is put depends largely on the breeding of the mule's dam. Mules can be lightweight, medium weight, or even, when produced from draught horse mares, of moderately heavy weight.[2]

An aficionado of the mule claims that they are "more patient, sure-footed, hardy and long-lived than horses, and they are considered less obstinate, faster, and more intelligent than donkeys.


Hicks
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the term is a "by-form" of the personal name Richard (like Dick) and Hob (like Bob) for Robert. Although the English word "hick" is of recent vintage, distinctions between urban and rural dwellers are ancient.

According to a popular etymology derives from the nickname "Old Hickory" for Andrew Jackson, one of the first Presidents of the United States to come from rural hard-scrabble roots. This nickname suggested that Jackson was tough and enduring like an old Hickory tree. Jackson was particularly admired by the residents of remote and mountainous areas of the United States, people who would come to be known as "hicks."

Though not a term explicitly denoting lower class, some argue that the term degrades impoverished rural people and that "hicks" continue as one of the few groups that can be ridiculed and stereotyped with impunity. In "The Redneck Manifesto," Jim Goad argues that this stereotype has largely served to blind the general population to the economic exploitation of rural areas, specifically in Appalachia, the South, and parts of the Midwest.

"The little pitcher done went once too often to the well."
This proverb has been in use since the 14th century, in practically every country/language.
The pitcher doth not go so often to the well, but it comes home broken at last.
- Proverb
The pitcher goes often to the well and gets broken at last.
- Proverb, (French)
The pitcher goes so long to the well that it breaks at last.
- Proverb, (Dutch)
The pitcher goes so often to the well that it is broken at last.
- Proverb
The pitcher goes so often to the well, that it gets broken at last.
- Proverb, (German)
The pitcher goes so often to the well, that it leaves its handle or its mouth.
- Proverb, (Spanish)
The pitcher that goes often to the fountain leaves there either its handle or its spout.
- Proverb, (Italian)
The pitcher that goes often to the well leaves either its handle or its spout there.
- Proverb, (Portuguese, Spanish)
The pitcher that goes too often to the well is broken at last.
- Proverb, (English)

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