I was probably reminiscing about Mississippi in the last post because it is positively subtropical here these days. This evening I found myself humming "Too Darn Hot" by way of being very, very obvious about the whole thing.
And it struck me that the version I had in my head, which is unfortunately on a CD not in my possession (I *think* its Ella Fitzgerald's version), has a number of lyrics at the end which the transcriptions I've looked at don't include.
But this isn't a question about Cole Porter, or Kiss Me, Kate, or Ella Fitzgerald. Be patient.
One of the lines I remember at the end -- an extended riff on the "Mr. Adam, for his madam, is not" line -- was "the gyrene for his queen." That had puzzled me for a long while. Someone finally clued me in on gyrene as slang for a Marine, that is, a member of the USMC.
And so to our question. Whence gyrene? The Historical Dictionary of American Slang gives the lie to the fable that the word (which goes back to at least the 1890's) is a combo of "G.I." and "Marine" (which wouldn't make sense anyway). Instead, it points to a more probable solution that the words origin is in a Greek (and, from Greek, Latin) term for a morphologically appropriate kind of organism -- an form of animal life which is, if true, a clever enough metaphor.
What is the English word for this putative Greek origin of gyrene?
First correct answer posted to comments wins a commemorative poster from Cheap Trick Live at the Halls of Montezuma.
Posted by BT at June 28, 2002 12:13 AMso, i'm riffing here: gyrate, gyroscope--something that spins around; an animal that spins around, uh, in the water (marine); um, like a sea otter or maybe a manatee. aha--a sea cucumber?
by the way, did you know that marinara (in terms of pasta) means "with seafood" here in Australia! Makes us Americans look a bit stupid for leaving the seafood out of this aptly named red sauce.
Posted by: art on June 28, 2002 02:57 AMNot all the linguine with clams in the world could make "sea cucumber" the correct answer.
But I appreciate the comparative-sauce note. Does this mean that Australians in general have a deeper connection to Italian culture than we do?
Posted by: BT on June 28, 2002 09:08 AMIt's from Lewis Carroll:
"And the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe."
Incidentally, the word's most famous use in popular music was not by Cole Porter but Leadbelly in his classic "Goodnight, Gyrene."
Posted by: Gavin on June 28, 2002 09:19 AMOh MAN do I want that poster! And maybe it could be mailed with my $3 seltzer check slipped inside.
I was going to guess that it had something to do with Jarhead + Marine = Jarine; Gyrine by normal linguistic drift. ("Remember the Great Vowel Shift!" he yells, inspiringly, but no one is inspired. It had come out more like "Rymymbyr Thy Groat Vywell Shaft!" and no one understood a word of it.)
Some Greek creature, eh. One that goes from ocean to land, where it throws itself whole hog into the fruits of the local sex industry. Hmmm.
Posted by: scott on June 28, 2002 09:34 AMOK, I've got no idea but Scott's lead-in
>>One that goes from ocean to land
is too reminiscent of an article I just read in the Washington Post with the great title "Freakish Fish Causes Fear in Md." and I thought I should share. (It's about super nasty snake-fish that eats everything and can survive out of the water for 4 days.) Cool.
Fearing Freakish Fish!
Fearing Freakish Fish!
Fearing Freakish Fish!
Gyraffe? One o' them amphibious gyraffes of course.
Posted by: scott on June 28, 2002 10:30 AMMan, why can't you ever ask a etymology question where their best guess is Dr. Seuss? It's always gotta be Joyce, or the ancient Greeks, or somebody else hard.
I'll go with the twisty, gyrating in our eyes while motionless Nautilus.
Posted by: boxjam on June 28, 2002 11:44 AMEnglish "word"? As in it can be described in one? Here I was thinking something like "leather-necked sea turtle."
Okay, so how about alligator?
Posted by: KF on June 28, 2002 02:19 PMHmm, reviewing the wording, it does seem like the possibility is open that the English word has absolutely no relation to the Greek name.
That said, is anyone else having trouble buying the idea that Marines would be known by a deft metaphor on some Greek word?
Posted by: scott on June 28, 2002 02:38 PMCurtis Mayfield?
Posted by: boxjam on June 28, 2002 03:58 PMThe Boxer Rebellion?
Scott, I didn't say I believed it. That's just what this well-researched, widely-praised volume claims is likely.
One hint: the Marine's in-between nature is, as some have suspected, captured in this putative metaphor.
Posted by: BT on June 28, 2002 05:16 PMSalamander.
Posted by: boxjam on June 28, 2002 11:15 PMPlatypus.
Posted by: KF on June 29, 2002 12:03 AMHmmm...an in-between Marine thingy...
Tadpole? (Pollywog?)
Um...would also explain the existence of an obfuscating euphemism...I mean, who really wants to lob the term 'tadpole' at a boatload of Marines?
If I should win before I wake,
I pray BT my prize to take,
And hide it in that hidden place -
Vanish it without a trace
To the trusty 5th dimension.
Marked:
Jimmy Hoffa:Your Attention.
Well done, Opus; you are my own personal hero.
Pollywog/tadpole it is. You can find the discussion and reference to sources on page 1006 of Vol 1 of the Random House Dictionary of American Slang, edited by J.E. Lighter.
As for the Fifth Dimension, I don't know that Marylin McCoo deserves this prize more than you do, but I'll be glad to put out inquiries. In the meantime, I'll stick the poster in the tesseract and you can have Charles Wallace pick it up whenever he's got a minute.
Posted by: BT on June 30, 2002 11:23 AM[weekend is over]
Bill--indeed, Australia may have more active ties with Italy than the US; at least, Melbourne has a very large and vocal Italian/Greek/Turkish (i.e., Mediterranean) community. In fact, there were "riots" here when Italy lost in the World Cup (and celebrations when Turkey won). So, not suprising that "marinara" means "with seafood"; only surprising that it doesn't mean that in America.
Then again - as another Australian - there is evidence of other "meaning drift" (to coin a crap phrase) in the US. One of my favourites is "entree". In an Australian restaurant, an "entree" is the first course, the starter if you will, while "entree" is the main course in the US (God, if I've got that wrong I may die). This doesn't mean that Australia has closer ties to the French, either - maybe just that the proportion of people with ties to those nationalities prevent the "meaning drift" (that has occurred with such terms in the US. Or, alternatively, I still don't have enough caffeine in my system.
Posted by: Garthmeister J on June 30, 2002 08:35 PMI'll stick the poster in the tesseract and you can have Charles Wallace pick it up whenever he's got a minute.
I hate to send the lad tessering on so dark and stormy a night - just roll IT up, slip IT into a corkable bottle, and float IT to me via the Bermuda T. - Amelia Earhart and I time-share a beachhouse in the exclusive nether end of Mulder Heights.
(BTW, I hiked today, and spied some of the little wascals in a creek. I thought of you. Christ.)
Posted by: opus dark on July 1, 2002 03:35 AMHow about Ge = earth and marine = sea?
Posted by: Fiach on July 27, 2002 11:23 AM