Thursday, July 12, 2012

What is "foolscap"?

According to the Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins, foolscap is a term used to designate stationary.

Foolscap stationary measures from 12 by 15 inches up to 13-1/2 by 17 inches. The most common size is 13 by 16 inches, which is often folded to make pages of 8 by 13 inches. Originally it was a printing paper used in England and got its name from the ancient watermark of a fool's head and cap used to identify the paper. The earliest specimens of paper using the foolscap watermark date back to before the time of Shakespeare.

So, if you want to channel Shakespeare in your writing, try to find some foolscap to write on. It might be fun to use pen and paper, for those who only use a computer.

Friday, July 6, 2012

Good Word for Historical Novels

Since my current fiction is historical mysteries set in ancient Egypt, I thought this would be a great word to share for today, barbarian, thanks to the book, Wicked Words.

Barbarian - an uncouth, uncultured, uncivilized person, especially one who is fierce and brutal. The barbarian is the quintessential outsider. The word comes from barbaros, the ancient Greek term for anyone who couldn't be understood because he didn't speak Greek. It derives ultimately from baba, an Indo-European root that imitates the incoherent speech of a baby. Originally a relatively neutral term for a foreigner, the Greek word began to acquire pejorative connotations following the Persian invasions of Greece under Darius and Xerxes in the fifth century BCE.

Those wacky Greeks; unless you were Greek, you were a barbarian.

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

What is a "jinx"?

I have always been curious about word origins and this one is a real hoot. According to the book, Wicked Words, jinx has had an interesting transformation.

Jinx is a person or thing believed to bring bad luck; as a verb, to change fate for the worse. However, the word is an Americanism and surprisingly new, dated so far only to 1911. It is apparently a misspelling of the word jynx, which is the name of an Old World bird, also called the wryneck (from the way it writhes its head and neck when disturbed). A member of the woodpecker family, the jynx was thought to have magical powers. Witches used its feathers in making love philtres and other potions, with the result that by the sixteenth century the bird's name was synonymous with "charm" or "spell." Thus, it seems, the jynx became a jinx.

What a great word to work into a novel, either as the bird, or a magical potion.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Favourite Word

I have always liked the word, minion, so I decided to do a little investigating. According to the book, Wicked Words, here is a little something about my favourite word.

minion. A subordinate or follower, usually contemptuous. . . . The word has enjoyed much better meanings in the past. It comes from the French mignon, dainty, which is also responsible for the filet mignon steak. A minion originally -- going back to the early sixteenth century -- was a beloved object, as a lady-love or darling. In time, the term was transferred to paramours, mistresses, obsequious attendants and dependents at court, then to hussies, jades, and other servile creatures -- with the result that the original estimable sense has been almost entirely lost.

What a fun word to use, in its original sense, in a historical novel.