Hurrah for yellow herald of spring!

Drum roll, please!

At long last, spring arrives tomorrow. There’s no better proof than the daffodils by the back door of The Daily Sentinel that spring up every year in late winter. On recent blustery days many Sentinel employees have stopped and admired them. These bright flowers have held out the promise of warmer, better days ahead. Daffodils have long been the symbol of rebirth and new creations.

The word “daffodil” came into English around 1540, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. It was “a variant of Middle English affodil (ca. 1400) … The initial d- is perhaps from merging of the article in Dutch de affodil, the Netherlands being a source for bulbs.”

Daffodils have inspired many people around the world. For example, according to Teleflora’s website, “In Wales, it’s said if you spot the first daffodil of the season, your next 12 months will be filled with wealth, and Chinese legend has it that if a daffodil bulb is forced to bloom during the New Year, it will bring good luck to your home.”

Daffodils also inspired William Wordsworth, one of England’s major Romantic poets, who often took inspiration from his environment in northern England’s “Lake Country.” His famous poem, “I wandered lonely as a cloud” is just as well known by its alternate name, “Daffodils.” It appears below.

 “I wandered lonely as a cloud”

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
                -- William Wordsworth

Some of the Sentinel’s daffodils
Photo by Debra Dobbins

William Wordsworth at age 28
Portrait by William Schuter
Courtesy of Wikipedia

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Alluding to a classic

Many writers will recognize the allusion above to Strunk and White’s classic, brief book on using good grammar and punctuation, The Elements of Style.

(William J. Strunk was a professor of English at Cornell University. E.B. White was the author of Charlotte’s Web. Both men are now deceased.)

Although recently the book has had its detractors, it still provides many helpful tips on solid, clear writing,

You may find its entire text at http://www.bartleby.com/141/.

A weighty word

“Gravitas” means dignity, seriousness or influence. It comes from the Latin gravitas, which meant weight or heaviness, according to the Online Etymology Dictionary. Gravitas gave us “gravity,” which was first used to indicate dignity, seriousness or influence, the dictionary states.

The dictionary also notes that “gravity” in its scientific sense was “first recorded” in the 1640s.

“Gravitas,” the dictionary says, “became useful when gravity acquired a primarily scientific meaning.”

It’s good to remember that gravity, despite its association with weightiness, seriousness and a downward pull, can help provide some light-hearted fun.

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Finding a place in the sun

Without going into great (read pedantic) detail, it seems as if words for our four basic directions have been around since mankind’s early beginnings.

That’s not really surprising, as having a sense of direction likely was vital for ancient hunters and gatherers venturing far from home.

Linguists think the word for “west” came from an ancient utterance for “evening,” based on the direction of the setting sun. Conversely, the word for “east” came from an utterance for “dawn,” based on the sun’s rising each morning.

“North” evolved from the idea of someone sensing what was on the left as he or she faced the rising sun, and “south” was based on an ancient expression for – you guessed it -- “sun.”

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Slinging slang

A letter to the editor today has some Internet slang.

LOL: laugh out loud
BRB: be right back
LMAO: laughing my a** off  (The Dowager Countess would not approve….)
RBTL: read between the lines

This entry has been kept purposely brief. With any luck, no one will dismiss it with a TLDNR (too long did not read).

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