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It's so great to see all the mnemonics that deal with stalactites and stalagmites!
For me, I took geography in French in grade 7, so I learned that les stalactites tombent et les stalagmites montent.
What were the origins of the two terms? I would imagine that they were probably created and defined as a pair, so what do the -ctite and -gmite part of the word mean?
I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that — I've known that expression for a long time, and when I brought up the topic with a group of colleagues yesterday, a few people nodded when I mentioned it. I am currently in New Jersey, but I don't think this is a New Jerseyism. It's possible that I heard it the most when I lived in Wisconsin, but the people I remember nodding were from Los Angeles and Toronto. They were over 45 years old, as am I, and maybe that's the key point.
This newer meaning of 'sketch' is news to me; it completely passed me by. What a geezer.
ArteNow said:
Debby with a why – I've never heard "She's such a sketch!", but I have heard "She's such a stitch."
Where did you hear "sketch" used to mean amusing?
Debby with a why - Interesting...I'm in that same mid-40 age range and have spent my entire life in the Midwest, although a little further south and west than Wisconsin...Iowa, to be precise. I think 'sketch' actually makes more sense than 'stitch' in this case...cartoons sketches are usually funny/entertaining but I can't think of a case where a stitch is funny. There's also 'leaving them in stitches' for when a performer makes an audience really laugh. But that always reminds me of a post-surgical ward where everyone has stitches. Definitely not funny and a situation where if you're the one in stitches, you DON'T want to laugh. Maybe it comes from laughing so hard you get a stitch in your side.
ArteNow: I just wrote to a friend that comes to mind when I think of using sketch that way, and I'll keep you posted. (I've been hoping that Grant or Martha could help, but alas, they aren't showing up. :^)
I have also used stitch just as you describe, and I agree with you that sketch is more colorful or evocative -- just more fun, somehow.
Well, my friend agreed, and so did her mother in Minneapolis. And my friend's mother, a retired reference librarian, took a bold step:
Then she decided to look it up in the American Heritage Dictionary (College
Edition) and there it was as the last of 4 definitions of "sketch":
4. noun informal "an amusing person."
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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