A special way of knowing

Whenever I see the word “intuition,” I think of typing my mother’s dissertation on Christian apologist C.S. Lewis in 1986. During that time “Dr. Mom” mentioned that Lewis married a divorced American woman, Joy Davidman, and that he did not find true happiness until his highly logical mind encountered Davidman‘s strong intuition.

"Intuition" comes from two Latin word parts, according to the American Heritage Dictionary. “In,” of course, meant, and still means, “in.” “Tueri” meant “to look at, view.”

There are many fine quotes on this word at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/intuition.html.

Among them, my favorite is by English Romantic poet William Wordsworth: “Faith is a passionate intuition.”

C.S. Lewis, age 50
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

When close is good enough

I am becoming positively smitten with technology. This afternoon when I saw the Norwegian word “barnelopet” in today’s paper, I thought I could possibly get a quick translation.

I IM’d Nicole Seltz in Oslo around 2:15 p.m., which was 10:15 Oslo time. (Norwegians use what we call military time, so they designate 10:15 as 22:15.) At any rate, Nicole, who earned her bachelor’s degree here in the United States, is now working some long hours in Oslo, and I thought she may have already turned in for the night.

I apologized for my late request and said it was no big deal if she couldn’t immediately get back to me. In under a minute, I was delighted to get her reply: “Hi D, no worries! We iphone peeps are available 24/7! Barneløp (singular). Barneløpet (plural) would be translated to kids’ run.”

The o with the slash through it creates an “ur” sound, by the way. The word as a plural is pronounced “BARN-eh-lur-peht.”

The newspaper’s typesetting software probably cannot duplicate the o with the slash. However, in this case we got close. That’ll have to be good enough – for the time being, anyway!

Nicole Seltz in Muir Woods, May 2011
Photo by Debra Dobbins
 

Good taste in cuisine – and art

In one of his articles today on page 8A, Associated Press Food Editor J.M. Hirsch explains how to prepare a seared bison carpaccio. He defines carpaccio as “an Italian dish of thinly sliced and seasoned raw steak.”

I wondered why the Italians came up with this name. Apparently, they paid homage to a painter who lived in the late 1400s and early 1500s.

“Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1465 – 1525/1526) was an Italian painter of the Venetian school, who studied under Gentile Bellini,” according to Wikipedia. “He is best known for a cycle of nine paintings, The Legend of Saint Ursula.” A photo of one of those painting appears below.

The Dream of St. Ursula, 1495, Vittore Carpaccio
Courtesy of Wikipedia
 

‘Ohio’ flows from one language to others

There’s just time today to note that “Ohio” came into English via French. French explorers of North America picked it up from the Iroquois, according to Webster’s. In that Native American language, it meant “fine or large river,” Webster’s also notes.

The Ohio River, according to Wikipedia, “is the largest tributary, by volume, of the Mississippi River.”

Illustration of Ohio River basin courtesy of Wikipedia
 

Handsome blossoms

Yesterday I noticed my neighbor’s crab apple tree was blossoming handsomely. I’m also happily spotting forsythia bushes bursting forth their vibrant shades of yellow.

The word “blossom” can be used as a noun or a verb. As a noun, it can mean a “flower or bloom” or a “state or time of flowering,” according to Webster’s. As a verb, it can mean to bloom or “to begin to thrive or flourish; develop,” again according to Webster’s.