2y ago

Daily Thread - Thursday 29 June

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- I think it's funny how Aust-tralia meant south but Aust-ria meant east.
  They've been teaching the kids down here a bit of Palawakani in schools lately. I think it's a nice initiative.
- Feel free to add regular snippets of knowledge. I'd be interested in knowing more about First Nations languages - and as I know next to nothing now anything you add is bound to be new to me!
  
  search the abc rn website for a snippet segment "Word Up" - introducing aboriginal words to a wider audience - one word at a time. Is broadcast at the end of Awaye on Saturday 6pm, Tuesday 9pm and Thursday 1am.
  
  Thanks - I've saved to look into later 🙂
- Oh, etymology, the study of insects!
- Ah, so the wordsmith reveals their heritage! You grow more interesting all the time my friend. <3
- Named after Queen Victoria?
  
  And Adelaide after King William IV's wife and queen.
- Could you please wax lyrical on the name 'Melbourne' at some point? I have heard one explanation, but it fails to thrill. Would be interested in your take.
  
  Can we wax lyrical about phrases like wax lyrical as well? I haven't really thought about it before but I assume it has the same origin as waxing of the moon. Maybe the opposite is "wane disjointedly", for those situations where you suddenly realise you have no idea where you are going with what you are saying an lurch awkwardly to an abrupt finish.
  
  I've always used 'wax lyrical' to describe someone speaking of a topic in enchanting detail - not boring at all but both comprehensively and rigorously. A good after dinner speech should wax lyrical, but also be accurate in detail. Does this fit your understanding?
  
  Absolutely. The lyrical would imply the speach is entertaining, and wax is growth/increase, which probably refers to both the amount of speaking itself, but also the knowledge that it imports, as opposed to something repetitious that adds nothing new.
  
  😂
  
  Interesting. The explanation I heard differed a bit on the 'bourne' component. It referenced the word 'bourne' to mean a fenced enclosure - Hamlet's soliloquy uses "that undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns" to mean heaven/death cos no-one except Jesus comes back through them pearly gates. And apparently Lord Melbourne took his name from an obscure country village called Melbourne that had been a fenced iron-age camp at some point. I do agree that the Scots use 'burn' to mean a stream of water, but I didn't think this was English usage as such. Burn usually meaning 'be destroyed by fire'. Which doesn't exactly fit with the stream/fountain bit. Interesting that two such different meanings can be derived.
  
  I wonder if the Scots got 'burn' back due to the heavy influence from Scandinavia - Vikings etc. I love following rabbit holes like these. Of absolutely no importance to current life whatsoever, but so fascinating.

494 comments