Chapter 16

Going out

Perhaps you like to spend your evenings expanding your cultural horizons. If so, you may wish to head to an art gallery or museum. A gallery was originally a long narrow room or covered walkway, from the Italian galleria; in medieval Latin it referred to a church porch. Its ultimate etymology remains unclear, although it may be an alteration of Galilee, the name given to the northern region of Palestine. The church porch was likened to the region of Galilee in being an outlying section of the church where outsiders were located and furthest from the altar (the table on which the consecrated bread and wine are placed, from Latin altus ‘high’); the choir, where the stalls occupied by the monks were positioned, was considered to be like Jerusalem—the centre of the Holy Land.

While a gallery is etymologically connected to part of Palestine, the original museum was founded in 280 bc by Ptolemy I of Egypt. The word museum is Greek in origin; it is from mouseion ‘seat of the muses’—the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the goddess of memory—also related to mnemonic, an aid to memory. The nine muses presided over the arts and sciences, with each muse representing a different branch of enquiry; Erato, whose name means ‘lovely’, was the muse of lyric poetry, Clio, from Greek kleiein ‘to celebrate’, was the Muse of history, while Urania, meaning ‘heavenly one’, was responsible for astronomy. The name muse goes back to a Greek root meaning ‘song’—it is the source of the English word music. It is, however, unrelated to the English verb muse ‘be absorbed in thought, ponder’, which derives from an Old French verb meaning ‘meditate, reflect’. The French verb muser is probably from a noun meaning ‘face’, also the root of muzzle—originally the term for an animal’s mouth or snout, and now a guard to prevent it from biting.

Alternatively, you may prefer to get your fix of culture by attending a dramatic performance at the theatre. The theatre takes its name from its principal function; the word originates in the Greek verb theasthai ‘to look at’. The audience, however, are defined by their role as hearers rather than watchers, since the word is from audire ‘to hear’—the root of auditorium, audition, as well as audit—originally a legal process at which accounts were read aloud. An amphitheatre, from Greek amphi ‘on both sides’, was a classical theatre in which a central stage was surrounded by a circle of tiered seating from which the action could be observed on all sides.

The Stage

The Greeks used the term comedy to refer to a comic drama or literary work—its origins lie in the word komos ‘revel’. Tragedy is also Greek in origin; it originally described a tragic play or solemn poem. The word appears to derive from tragos ‘he-goat’; the connection may have originated in the offering of a male goat as a prize in a writing contest. Melodrama is from Greek melos ‘song’ (also the source of melody) and drama ‘deed, act’. Today, melodramatic has acquired negative connotations of overly emotional; a similar development can be traced in the word histrionics, which originally meant ‘theatrical’ (from Latin histrio ‘actor’) but now implies ‘excessively dramatic’—often used of the attention-seeking behaviour of small children or professional footballers. The Latin term for a stage play was ludicrum, from ludo ‘I play’, which gives us the adjective ludicrous—originally meaning ‘pertaining to a game’ or ‘intended in play’, this word has also taken on pejorative overtones.

The establishment of Greek tragedy is credited to the poet Thespis, from whose name we have derived the word thespian to refer to an actor. The Greek term for an actor, or anyone prone to pretence and dissembling, was hupokrites—from which we get the English word hypocrite. Actor, from Latin agere ‘to do’, initially a legal term referring to a plaintiff, came to be used of a stage performer in the sixteenth century. A ham actor, one who through over-enthusiasm has a tendency to exaggerate unconvincingly, is nothing to do with cold meat; it probably originates in a variant form of amateur—etymologically someone who performs for love (Latin amare ‘to love’) rather than money. The Greek term pantomimos, meaning ‘imitator of all’, originally denoted a mime artist who acted out mythological tales using gestures and actions, and subsequently a comedy based on stock characters. It is the origin of the term pantomime, used of the traditional British Christmas entertainment in which B-list celebrities perform folk tales like Dick Whittington, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Aladdin. Such performances typically involve repeated innuendoes (from a Latin word meaning ‘nodding at, intimating’), cross-dressing, and plenty of slapstick—originally a device comprising two flat pieces of wood that was used to generate the sound of someone being slapped, used to accompany a feigned blow in popular comedy performances.

A number of idioms are theatrical in origin. Perhaps most evident is the phrase behind the scenes, now used to refer to something not subject to public access, but originally the area behind the stage where the audience is not permitted to enter—the word scene is from Greek scena, which could refer to the stage itself as well as the scenery. Waiting in the wings has a fairly obvious theatrical origin, since it refers to the side of the stage where an actor waits to make an appearance on stage. Perhaps less clearly connected is wing it, meaning ‘speak or act without preparation’, which originated in the way an actor playing a part at short notice would be helped by the presence of a prompter hidden in the wings. Stealing the limelight, referring to the light used to draw attention to the leading actors, is now used of any attempt to direct more attention to oneself. When the theatre director John Dennis (1657–1734) heard that a rival company had adopted his mode of simulating thunder for a production of Macbeth, he is recorded to have accused the company of having stolen his thunder. Another theatrical term reflecting our inclination to divert attention from another to ourselves is to upstage someone. Upstage is the term for the back of the stage; by positioning themselves upstage of another member of the cast, actors are able to compel that person to turn towards them and thus away from the audience.

The break during a play for drinks and ice creams is known as an interval; this can be used of any break in an activity, but it originates in Latin intervallum, referring to the space between ramparts. During the lengthy medieval mystery plays, which frequently lasted all day, it was usual to break up the seriousness with a light drama known as an interlude, literally meaning ‘between play’. The role played by an actor in a drama comes from Latin rotulus ‘little wheel’, and refers to the roll of paper on which an actor’s part was written.

At the end of a performance it is usual for the audience to applaud (from Latin plaudere ‘to clap’); while most modern audiences clap spontaneously, Roman actors had to demand their round of applause using the imperative form plaudite ‘applaud!’ From this we get the word plaudit, meaning ‘expression of praise or approval’. Less obviously related is plausible—the connection being that something considered plausible (that is, ‘reasonable’ or ‘likely’) was also deemed to be potentially worthy of applause. If a performance falls below expectation, the audience may be more likely to heckle than applaud. Heckle was originally a term describing the preparation of flax by splitting and combing the fibres before spinning. The modern meaning, referring to the interruption and haranguing of a public speaker, developed from a Scots usage describing the process of cross-questioning a witness in order to test the validity of a statement. A similar metaphorical development can be seen in tease; now used in the sense ‘make fun of someone’, tease also originated as a term for the process of separating the fibres of wool or flax in preparation for spinning. In Rome a poor actor ran the risk of being exploded, since explodere meant ‘to hiss off the stage’ or ‘to drive out by clapping’—despite the spelling, it too is based upon plaudere.

The word orchestra originated in the Greek word orkheisthai ‘to dance’; its earliest use was to refer to the semi-circular area in front of a stage where the chorus danced and sang in Greek theatre. From this it came to be used of the area set down below the front of the stage where the orchestra is situated during a theatrical performance, and from this to refer to the group of instrumentalists located there. For an alternative cultural experience you could attend a concert, or even dust off the instrument you learned at school and give your own performance.

Musical Instruments

The names given to several instruments are straightforwardly descriptive of their shape, or of the sound they make. The small flute known as the piccolo is from the Italian word meaning ‘small’, while the bassoon is from Latin bassus ‘low’. A piano was originally a pianoforte—still used in some traditional contexts. This name is a contraction of the Italian piano e forte, meaning ‘soft and loud’—a reference to the way the instrument allows the player to produce a gradation in tone, thereby distinguishing it from the harpsichord. Piano and forte are the origins of the abbreviations p and f used to mark dynamics on a musical score, along with the variants pp (pianissimo ‘very soft’), mp (mezzo-piano ‘half-soft’), and più piano ‘softer’ (from Latin plus ‘more’). Also of Italian extraction are the terms diminuendo ‘getting softer’ (from an Italian word meaning ‘diminishing’) and crescendo ‘getting louder’ (from an Italian word meaning ‘increasing’). The latter is often used today more loosely to refer to a climax, or peak of intensity, especially in the phrase reach a crescendo—much to the vexation of etymological pedants. For those who would see this as a recent corruption or misuse, it is worth noting that it has a longer and more distinguished history than one might assume—it is first recorded in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel The Great Gatsby (1925).

Other instruments are named after the manner in which they are played. Percussion is from the Latin verb percutere ‘to strike, beat’, referring to the way percussion instruments are played by striking, or hitting two instruments together. Instruments sounded in this way include the aptly named Glockenspiel, a German word meaning ‘bell play’, the drum, whose name may imitate its sound, and the cymbal, whose name—from Greek kumbe ‘cup’—references its shape. The xylophone is named after the material out of which it is constructed, since xylo is a Greek element meaning ‘of wood’—a component found in several other technical terms known only to scientists and Scrabble players.

Another instrument whose name contains a reference to the wood out of which it is made is the oboe, derived from the French hautbois ‘high wood’. A similar instrument, whose name is also of French origin, is the cor anglais, which means ‘English horn’. While an English horn having a French name may seem odd, the reverse is true of the French horn. The trumpet is a diminutive form of trump—an earlier name for the trumpet or a blast on the horn (from which the slang sense ‘break wind’ arose). Another instrument whose name is a variant of trump is the trombone, from Old French trompe ‘trumpet’, while tuba takes its name directly from the war-trumpet used by the Romans. The small version of a trumpet known as the cornet draws upon Latin cornu ‘horn’, reflecting the origins of the instrument in an animal’s horn. The similarity in shape explains the spread of this word to other objects, such as the cone-shaped wafer filled with ice cream. The clarinet is a diminutive form of French clarine, the name given to a type of bell, from Latin clarus ‘clear’. It is related to a clarion call, now a call to action, but originally the sound made by a trumpet with which an army was summoned to battle.

The closely related instruments known as the viol, viola, and violin, and even the cello (a clipped form of violoncello), are all linked to medieval Latin vidula, which may derive from an association with the Roman goddess of joy, known as Vitula. The word may also be the source of the Germanic word for the same instrument, fiddle, now also used to refer to a swindle or confidence trick. Someone taking a leading role in an enterprise is said to play first fiddle, while a more subordinate role is described as playing second fiddle. When the time comes to renounce a role, one must hang up one’s fiddle. People in good shape have been as fit as a fiddle since the seventeenth century. To have one’s face made of a fiddle is an obsolete phrase used to describe someone who is particularly attractive; by contrast, someone whose face is as long as a fiddle is considered to look especially miserable. Guitar is a borrowing of the Spanish word guitarra, which is derived from the Greek kithara, the name for an instrument resembling the lyre. Unrelated to all of these is the ukulele, whose name is from a Hawaiian word meaning ‘jumping flea’—the nickname of a particularly energetic exponent.

The musical term chord, referring to a group of notes sounded at the same time, derives from accord, in the sense ‘bring into harmony’. It first appeared in English in the fifteenth century, when it was spelled corde; this spelling survives in accordion. The word we now spell cord is a borrowing of the French word corde ‘string, rope’, which is derived from the Latin chorda. It is first recorded in English in the fifteenth century as cord; however, in the sixteenth century it was re-spelled as chord to reflect its Latin origins. This spelling remained common in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; it has survived into modern usage in certain specialized senses, such as touched a chord, and in the name of the harpsichord. In the eighteenth century, the musical cord was confused with this word and this triggered a change of spelling to chord; in the meantime the word chord lost its ‘h’ and reverted to cord. So, while the spelling of these two words might appear straightforward, their histories show that the spellings are, etymologically speaking, the wrong way round. Chord should refer to the rope, and the musical term should be cord. If you don’t play an instrument, perhaps you could try singing a cappella. This term, referring to singing performed without instrumental accompaniment, literally means ‘in the style of the chapel’, referring back to the monastic chanting and plainsong of the Christian liturgy.

If the carnival happens to be in town, you might decide to pay a visit. The word carnival is based upon Latin caro ‘meat’ (as in carnivore); the association derives from an early use of carnival to refer to the indulgence that preceded the period of fasting known as Lent. During Lent, Christians were expected to forgo such indulgences and to put away, or levare, the meat—from which we get the word carnival. Lent (earlier Lenten) takes its name from long—since the period of Lent coincides with the lengthening of the days in spring. If you have a taste for trapeze artists, fire-eaters, and lion tamers, you might prefer to visit the circus. Its name derives from the Roman circus (also the word for a circle)—the venue for chariot racing and gladiator (from Latin gladius ‘sword’) fights.

Another option for your evening’s entertainment is a trip to the cinema. Cinema is an abbreviated form of cinematograph, from Greek kinema ‘movement’ (compare the modern alternative, movies); it was borrowed into English from French, hence the soft ‘s’ pronunciation of the ‘c’. An alternative pronunciation with a hard ‘k’, reflecting the Greek etymology, was initially adopted by some—reflected in the rare alternative spelling kinema. Going to the cinema today will often mean visiting an Odeon; the proprietary name of this cinema chain is from Greek odeion, referring to a building employed for musical performance—originally the name of an edifice constructed by Pericles in Athens. The word Odeon is related to ode, a lyric poem—originally one that was intended to be sung—which is from the Greek word for a song.