Friday trivia

Walking up behind a gang of litter pickers working Horton Lane this morning, I passed maybe half a dozen bottles and tins and plenty of other litters of various shapes and sizes, down in the bottom of the hedge, well the council side of the boundary with Horton Golf Club and well within range of a council litter pick. Where was the ganger-man?

Perhaps I ought to suggest to whatever outfit the litter picking operation has been contracted out to, that the pay of the litter pickers gets docked according to weight of litter picked up by the ganger-men sweeping up behind them, to the benefit of the pay of these last.

Better news at the golf club itself where the starlings were in residence in the rather moribund oak tree, just inside their entrance. In full voice.

Then back home I was able to check up on various further finds in Simenon's story 'Liberty-Bar', mentioned previously at reference 1, among other places.

First up sidéré, the same root as our sidereal, literally perhaps star-struck, but not really as strong as that. Perhaps surprised, caught unawares would be nearer the mark here, although Larousse talks of stupefaction, being struck dumb. Even of it being a psychiatric term for the temporary suspension of motor and emotional activity as the result of an affective shock - while I don't think Simenon had anything so drastic in mind at all. Oddly, Littré had very little to say about the word at all.

Then we had cacahouètes, which I thought might be peanuts, but that I had better check, to have Larousse tell me that they were the fruit of the arachide. So off there to find that it is nothing to do with spiders, rather the humble peanut plant, complete with a helpful picture. A native of Brazil, presumably taken to Africa by the various well-meaning people colonising Africa. Perhaps, in this case, north Africa as we are talking of an Arab street hawker.

And last we had ras, from whence our raze and razor, but with all kinds of other interesting meanings and usages unknown to us Anglos. For example, the sort of flat or raft used for maintenance alongside ships. A king in Ethiopia. Or raser les murs for when one is struggling to find a decent night club after having taken some strong drink. Perhaps from the tendency of such people to hug the walls when walking the streets at night.

Reference 1: http://psmv3.blogspot.co.uk/2016/10/libational-cups.html.