2009-05-08

Fifth things...

Fifth things -- the fifth things that we never include in this blog, because in this dimension of (alleged) reality, the only true fifth thing is our Muse - often awaken me at night. And at the risk of touching off a long, ugly decline into irrelevence, with spring finally here, there's a fifth thing that has lately bothered me. A question, as they say, of import, gravitas, and possibly, crunchiness.

I mean, no less an awesome dude than Bill Shakespeare posed the musical question, "What's in a name?", then by way of immediate answer plopped "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" into Juliet's script.

But I happen to recall an old, small, and according to the great god Google, now completely forgotten story, in which a king and his princess daughter more or less contradicted Juliet by agreeing that everyone would like dandelions a bunch better if they renamed them 'Golden Fancies.' Of course, in this fiction, there was no question of accepting large, evil, international chemical marketing conglomerates' notions of weediness.

Now, Bill was a helluva writer, but not necessarily the final authority on everything. He was born at least five (heh) and a half millenia after certain, nearby, semi mythical coyotes. But while there is no longer any passing mention of Golden Fancies vis-a-vis dandelions left anywhere (And after all, the entire golden construct could be a cruel trick of an ancient and crotchety canine disposed to Alzheimerish daydreams, or a sharp-as-a-tack but completely unreliable narrator - your choice... I digress.) the philosophical saw-off continues to torture my poor doggie brain. Which is it?

9 comments:

skylark said...

I'm sure Logan-the-Dandelion-King would be happy with a name change to Logan, King-of-the-Golden-Fancy... and he wants to know where you took that yummy picture.

Woodsy said...

In French they are called pise-en-lit, pee-in-the-bed. Not a pretty name either. But, ever since I even littler than I am now, I have loved that flower. If you want to make me happy, bring me a big bouquet of pise-en-lit. They are also incredibly nutritious, and you can make great wine out of them.

coyote said...

Skylark: Mmmhhhmmm. And why am I under the impression that Logan-the-Dandelion-King is a golden retriever? Or someone who looks darned like one?

The photo was made in one of my favourite places to roll in the grass: by the old water treatment plant near Lebreton Flats...

Woodsy: I suspect our friend Logan might not appreciate anyone else peeing on his dandelions...

xup said...

I don't mean to get all Milan on you or anything, but I'm not sure that millenia is a real word. Doesn't "millenium" mean 1,000 years, therefore it can't be pluralized like that, so there be some other Latin word for 5,000 years and also wasn't Shakespeare around only five hundred and a half years ago? Of course maybe you're talking about prehistoric, semi-mythical coyotes which is way before my time and/or realm of knowledge. Is this post really about dandelions?

4th Dwarf said...

Ha! Great catch, Xup. I bet the dog meant "millennia" (with 2 Ns). But this sort of comeuppance is what he gets for using the big words all the time.

Of course, the term he really should have used was "quinquetdemimillenium" (5,500 years)

coyote said...

XUP: This post? It's about whatever you want it to be, ma'am.

A millennium is indeed 1,000 years. 'Millennia' means a bunch of 'em stacked in a pile. The 'ia' suffix is a perfectly acceptable way to pluralize an 'ium' singular form in Latin, from which, as you note, said word thingy derives.

As in, "You are actually going all Milanium on me; if you do it more than once, then it would be Milania."

And hey. I am a prehistoric dog. Whose hazy early memories of the 'hood go back a few centuries before the beginnings of this. I deserve some slack.

Although I admit that I persist in thoughtlessly misspelling 'millennium' with a single 'n' most of the time.

Call it a charming eccentricity...

Short Guy: Piss off, show off!

4th Dwarf said...

Really, Coyote, you are not modeling the sort of behaviour we expect of commenters here.

t said...

Hee hee hee hee hee hee hee hee!!!!

coyote said...

Shorty, how could I have been so remissified?

Please consider the above emended to read: " **** off, **** off!... "

Thank you.