| I got the most fabulous book today. |
[May. 19th, 2009|04:16 pm] |
| [ | At |
| | 199 | ] |
| [ | Feeling |
| |  productive | ] |
Matt and I have a long-running inside joke in which I do something irritating (for example: playing a Draw 2 card against him for the fourth time in a row during a game of Uno), he shouts "Whore!", and I reply "I prefer the term 'courtesan', thank you very much."
Which I will connect to my point shortly.
So, today. I went for a meeting with my potential (now not-potential-but-definitely) employer for this summer. She works at the Bank Street College, which is a teacher's school affiliated with Columbia, and, as I was wandering back toward the subway station, I remembered (from when I worked at the university last summer) that there were always some notably good used book stands off to the left a bit. So I hitched a left and set in to browse.
And there, among the dusty volumes and sun-baked pages, was Dictionary of Courtesans, by C Hayward, published in 1962.
Reminded of the aforementioned joke, I snatched it up for the asked price of $8 - if nothing else, it would a) look nice on my shelf (old hardcovers, yay), b) provide a listing of random names for characters, and c) start some amusing conversations.
I started reading the introduction on the ride home, though, and it's actually quite interesting. The first page, for your enjoyment:
Of the various terms commonly employed to denote a courtesan one has an adventitious strength that may be due to confusion with the sound of the word prostrate, with its suggestion of a person in a humiliating attitude. The idea is, indeed, deliberately conveyed in French by the slang phrase une horizontale used to denote a woman of her kind; but the English word means, by derivation, one who is made to stand out or is exhibited. The term "harlot" is a form of the word varlet, meaning a rogue, and was formerly applied indifferently to men and women. A third expression, supposed to mean filth, was called by Moll Flanders a "harsh unmusical word." Even so long ago as the beginning of the seventeenth century the phrase was considered impolite. "You may call her courtesan," says a character in one of John Marston's plays, "but whore! fie 'tis not in fashion to call things by their right names." In the revised version of the New Testament the word "harlot" has been substituted; so, instead of "the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication," we now read "the great harlot which did corrupt the earth with her fornication.
The word courtesan, recommended by Marston, is open to the objection of being too polite. It only means a woman who, like a courtier, is well-dressed, has good manners, and is insincere, and would have been barely applicable to the unfortunates who walk the streets at night. The obsolescent word "strumpet" is, on the other hand, very severe. It is derived from the Latin stuprum and means defilement. There is a milder word "wench" that corresponds to the French fille and may be applied to a woman of the kind. There is, too, the vulgar expression "tart," that may be a corruption of the word sweetheart and is still used, in Australia, to denote an engaged young woman.
It goes on to discuss famous prostitutes throughout history and literature, from their prices to their cosmetics, and really is more interesting than it seems. The dictionary itself not only describes the courtesans listed, but provides a quote - poetry, prose or play - from some literature on them. Definitely worth the eight dollars.
In other news, I have an internship for the summer, which should be good. I start on June 9th, working Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for about 20 hours/week. Very exciting.
I've also been knitting lately. I finished a scarf the other day, but I left all my yarn upstate, so I can't start the next. This is quite disappointing. I hope to have pictures of my various projects up here some day, but not for a while.
Whedon continues to rock my world. I've been watching several hours of Angel each day, and am loving it. Fred and Gunn are completely my OTP of ever. Yes.
Aaaaand I still have a paper that I need to finish ASAP. I should get on that.
Ciao,
~FireFalcon1414
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
firefalcon1414's journal
ecstatic
confused
excited
busy
procrastinating
amused
enthralled
reminiscent of that more fanciful genre. The narrator's voice is confident and convincing, easy to hear and recognize. I have no way to express the beauty of this language better than to show it, and so...
surprised
The other day, I went grocery shopping with my mom to restock the house with food I'd eat. While pacing the soda aisle, we passed some bottles of nice fruit sodas, and, seeing the low price, grabbed one of the organic blood orange variety. It's pretty good - not overly sweetened, and with a strong citrus flavor - and has a very nifty sealing mechanism.
melancholy
distressed