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Post by downriver on Aug 30, 2021 13:09:39 GMT -8
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 30, 2021 15:02:51 GMT -8
Just because people in this forum seem to like this sort of thing...
The word "saunter" comes from the French, sainte terre, and captures the sense of motion that pilgrims adopted on their pilgrimages to the Holy Lands (Sainte Terre) during the Middle Ages...They were in no hurry to get back to their hovels.
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Post by downriver on Aug 30, 2021 15:19:10 GMT -8
Just because people in this forum seem to like this sort of thing... The word "saunter" comes from the French, sainte terre, and captures the sense of motion that pilgrims adopted on their pilgrimages to the Holy Lands (Sainte Terre) during the Middle Ages...They were in no hurry to get back to their hovels. Yes, I first learned of it via Thoreau... “I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least—and it is commonly more than that—sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements.“ ― Henry David Thoreau, Walking Regards, DR
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Aug 31, 2021 3:45:18 GMT -8
The word "saunter" comes from the French, sainte terre, and captures the sense of motion that pilgrims adopted on their pilgrimages to the Holy Lands (Sainte Terre) during the Middle Ages...They were in no hurry to get back to their hovels. I'm shocked you didn't mention John Muir! Thanks for the thread to both of you. I enjoyed it immensely! I could go into more detail, but it's probably not warranted. If either of you likes "detail", let me know. I found the journey invigorating.
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Aug 31, 2021 5:24:34 GMT -8
Nice!
We often see various herons on our creek, but we've also been seeing an egret lately. Pretty far north for those southern birds.
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balzaccom
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Waiting for spring...
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Post by balzaccom on Aug 31, 2021 8:15:49 GMT -8
The word "saunter" comes from the French, sainte terre, and captures the sense of motion that pilgrims adopted on their pilgrimages to the Holy Lands (Sainte Terre) during the Middle Ages...They were in no hurry to get back to their hovels. I'm shocked you didn't mention John Muir! I didn't think he was alive in the Middle Ages. I guess he's older than I thought...no wonder that beard was so long.
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Post by downriver on Aug 31, 2021 12:04:29 GMT -8
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Aug 31, 2021 18:13:50 GMT -8
I didn't think he was alive in the Middle Ages. I guess he's older than I thought...no wonder that beard was so long. Snark! Snark! No, I spent a few minutes this morning before taking off on my walk, and what I found was mostly etymologists' opinion that there is no proof of any derivation such as was stated in Thoreau, and then, reportedly, repeated by Muir in an interview and reported in an article, but there isn't even confirmation that the "interview" ever took place. Might have been a fabrication. Etymologist types seem to think those ideas, and the "sans terre" derivation ("saunter" derived from this other French phrase which designated the homeless vagabonds of Europe), were sort of 19th century "urban myths". It's interesting as heck, and a really good way to while away a morning - I woke at 4:30 this morning and couldn't go back to sleep - but I didn't find anything definitive despite being interested enough to follow links around for a couple hours. Also, the phrase in French is actually “terre Sainte”, so something strange is going on here.Etymological urban legends — specious stories of how words came to be — are as old as Plato. A catalogue of them would fill a library shelf. Exploding them all would be a fool's errand, and I'm not that kind of fool. But some stick in the craw more than others, and probably none more than this*:
Hiking — "I don't like either the word or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains — not hike! Do you know the origin of that word 'saunter?' It's a beautiful word. Away back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, 'A la sainte terre,' 'To the Holy Land.' And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not 'hike' through them." - John Muir
But the appropriate quote (from the article above, quoted from Thoreau's essay, “Walking”): I have met with but one or two persons in the course of my life who understood the art of Walking, that is, of taking walks,—who had a genius, so to speak, for sauntering; which word is beautifully derived "from idle people who roved about the country, in the Middle Ages, and asked charity, under pretense of going à la Sainte Terre," to the Holy Land, till the children exclaimed, "There goes a Sainte-Terrer," a Saunterer, a Holy-Lander. They who never go to the Holy Land in their walks, as they pretend, are indeed mere idlers and vagabonds; but they who do go there are saunterers in the good sense, such as I mean. Some, however, would derive the word from sans terre, without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally at home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering. He who sits still in a house all the time may be the greatest vagrant of all; but the saunterer, in the good sense, is no more vagrant than the meandering river, which is all the while sedulously seeking the shortest course to the sea. But I prefer the first, which, indeed, is the most probable derivation. For every walk is a sort of crusade, preached by some Peter the Hermit in us, to go forth and reconquer this Holy Land from the hands of the Infidels. Etymonline: "JOHN MUIR and 'SAUNTER'" Etymological origin and earliest recorded occurrence of 'saunter' in English english.stackexchange.com/questions/566445/etymological-origin-and-earliest-recorded-occurrence-of-saunter-in-englishI found lots of other articles, but only an overly obsessive type like myself would follow all these threads. References: lexicide.com/index.php/2018/01/31/here-were-false-etymologies-only-a-year-late/ www.etymonline.com/word/saunterlexicide.com/index.php/2019/10/29/saunter/And the original article written by Thoreau in The Atlantic in the June 1862 issue. www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1862/06/walking/304674/As much as I enjoyed the photos, this was the "journey" to which I referred in "I found the journey invigorating.". Nobody ever said I was not crazy. :^)
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rebeccad
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Post by rebeccad on Sept 1, 2021 9:21:20 GMT -8
Gabby, I hope you do make it to PG. I think we have some things in common. I was down the rabbit hole after an etymology just yesterday...
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gabby
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Post by gabby on Sept 1, 2021 10:16:01 GMT -8
Gabby, I hope you do make it to PG. I think we have some things in common. I was down the rabbit hole after an etymology just yesterday... I suspect I'm nowhere near to your skills in this department: After looking at your comment, I casually checked the links I provided above in that post. They were all bad - 404 city. I think I merely copied that post from a much longer "note taking spree" with quotes and links while I was running around the internet chasing that particular "rabbit" - I'll typically start a session of some editor, usually Atlantis WP because it has the ability to read and output HTML or PDF or EPUB/MOBI (I like to read long, long articles on my Kindle or phone) so I can add my notes one after the other in that window so I "don't lose track". Of course, my mind is going, however slowly, though I suspect you guys are seeing that more than I. And, without the extra help from the computer and its multiple-windowed references, I figure I'd be pretty much worthless in person (IRL). But, I do talk a great deal, even if most of it comes off as gibberish. As Berta says to Alan (in Two and a Half Men, after he's told his ex-wife off on the phone): "You know what your problem is? Phone cojones." Two And A Half Men Season 4 Episode 19, "Smooth as a Ken Doll"P.S. I am trying to get there this year. I have doubts about it. I get another C-scan of the abdomen next week (earliest they could do it with the covid impact - shortage of personnel), and I won't know about the kidney stones until after that. I don't have any problems I can detect myself (no pain or other difficulties), but the uro-guy is insistent that this problem needs to be taken care of posthaste because I've had the condition since the end of June.
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Post by downriver on Sept 1, 2021 10:31:17 GMT -8
Nice! We often see various herons on our creek, but we've also been seeing an egret lately. Pretty far north for those southern birds. How far north do you live? I live above the 45th parallel in the Pacific Northwest and see herons and egrets year-round here. Very common, actually. Regards, DR
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walkswithblackflies
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Post by walkswithblackflies on Sept 1, 2021 11:27:38 GMT -8
Nice! We often see various herons on our creek, but we've also been seeing an egret lately. Pretty far north for those southern birds. How far north do you live? I live above the 45th parallel in the Pacific Northwest and see herons and egrets year-round here. Very common, actually. Regards, DR I live on the 43rd parallel in Upstate NY... USDA Zone 5. The 120" of snow dissuades those birds from overwintering here. LOL! We're right on the edge of the egret's range: It's interesting to see that they breed to the north of us (Thousand Island / St. Lawrence region).
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Post by downriver on Sept 1, 2021 11:39:07 GMT -8
How far north do you live? I live above the 45th parallel in the Pacific Northwest and see herons and egrets year-round here. Very common, actually. Regards, DR I live on the 43rd parallel in Upstate NY... USDA Zone 5. The 120" of snow dissuades those birds from overwintering here. LOL! I’m very lucky living in a moderate climate with not a lot of snow (we get rain) in the valleys and hills. Plenty of snow up high in the mountains, though. I use to like snow, not so much anymore. Glad you’re able to see herons and egrets in the warmer months. I just love the eye colors of both species. Beautiful birds. Regards, DR
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Post by bradmacmt on Sept 1, 2021 13:30:40 GMT -8
Gabby, I hope you do make it to PG. I think we have some things in common. I was down the rabbit hole after an etymology just yesterday... I love Gabby's journey's down various etymological rabbit's holes; I too love words. We have a locally produced "word program" on Yellowstone Public Radio called "Chrysti the Wordsmith." About 20 years ago Chrysti used to come in to where I worked at the time and we'd sit and talk "words." One day I floated a word idea for her show and she liked it enough to make it the subject of one of her shows. I still have a nice letter on her letterhead thanking me. Great gal and show.
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Post by downriver on Sept 1, 2021 14:53:03 GMT -8
And Chrysti is part of Montana’s premier female polka band, the Awesome Polka Babes. Polka on...
Regards,
DR
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