There are so many lowest common denominator reality shows on t.v. Why isn't there a librarian nerd wannabe show? There's already a librarian action figure! If you can't cut it in the rough and tumble world of the university library reference desk you are fired. When your friends describe someone as a "muse" for a roommate because that person has meals ready in advance of the roommate's return each day, and provides certain amusements, is "muse" being used correctly?
This is the life of a wild & crazy etymology junkie:
The ancient Greek Muses, the goddesses of the arts, are the daughters of Zeus and Memory. Muse comes from the Greek Mousa. Related words are museum, music, and mosaic.
To muse, (ponder or meditate), and also bemuse, are from the Latin mus which means snout, as in sniffing around.
Amuse and amusement are from the Latin muser, which is close to mus, but not the Greek Mousa. Muser means to idle or dawdle, or to stare fixedly. Musetta, from La Boheme may be named for the small French bagpipe of the same name (infer what you will) which derives from muser.
Mouse isn't from Mousa, but from Greek mys, which means muscle. Thus, one might muse about the expression, "What are you, a man or a mouse?"
The library reality show would have added drama with federal, state, and local investigators demanding user records. Eric Lichtblau's story,"Libraries Say Yes, Officials Do Quiz Them About Users", in today's New York Times reports that,despite what the Administration claims, officials have made at least 200 inquiries for library records. They must be from the Latin mus for snout!
No comments:
Post a Comment