Word of the
Day for Wednesday 15th
January 2014
Hurdy-gurdy \HUR-dee-GUR-dee,
-gur-\, noun:
1. a barrel organ or similar
musical instrument played by turning a crank.
2. a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution against the strings of a rosined wheel turned by a crank.
2. a lute- or guitar-shaped stringed musical instrument sounded by the revolution against the strings of a rosined wheel turned by a crank.
The
whole fleet of vehicles caught in the circle stops and starts to the eye-rhythm
established, and a loud fairground hurdy-gurdy on the sound
track synchronises all the movements into an unexpected, ravishingly beautiful
and joyous merry-go-round.
-- David Bellos, Jacques Tati, 1999
-- David Bellos, Jacques Tati, 1999
The
thump of rugs being beaten was sometimes joined by a hurdy-gurdy,
which was painted brown and mounted on squalid cart wheels, with a circular
design on its front depicting an idyllic brook…
-- Vladimir Nabokov, The Gift, 1970
-- Vladimir Nabokov, The Gift, 1970
Hurdy-gurdy entered
English in the 1740’s. It is a variant of the Scots word hirdy-girdy meaning
"uproar."
Thanks to: www.dictionary.com
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