Mother's Days

Collage©2010Babetteandfriends

Come fly with me!

'Babette and friends' cards in the Shop.

Etymology of the word: Dog

Illustration©2010Babetteandfriends

Fascinating information about the word Dog:
Dog (noun) In Old English O.E. docga, a late, rare word used of a powerful breed of canine. It forced out O.E. hund (the general Germanic) by 16c. and subsequently was picked up in many continental languages (cf. Fr. dogue, Danish: dogge), but the origin remains one of the great mysteries of English etymology.

Many expressions -- a dog's life (c.1600), go to the dogs (1610s), etc. -- reflect earlier hard use of the animals as hunting accessories, not pampered pets.
In ancient times, "the dog" was the worst throw in dice (attested in Greek, Latin, where the word for "the lucky player" was "the dog-killer"), which plausibly explains the Greek word for "danger," kindynas, which appears to be "play the dog."

Slang meaning "ugly woman" is from 1930s; that of "sexually aggressive man" is from 1950s. Dog tag is from 1918. To dog-ear a book is from 1650s; dog-eared in extended sense of "worn, unkempt" is from 1894.

In a letter addressed To King Edward VI, 15th May 1546, Queen Elizabeth I, wrote the sentence below { read the whole letter by clicking on the sentence if you are interested in Tudor History and to understand the meaning of the whole sentence}
Notwithstanding, as a dog hath a day, so may I perchance have time to declare it in deeds. [Queen Elizabeth, 1546]

It is ill wakyng of a sleapyng dogge. [Heywood, 1562]

Phrase put on the dog "get dressed up" (1934) may refer back to the stiff stand-up shirt collars that in the 1890s were the height of male fashion (and were known as dog-collars at least from 1883), with reference to collars worn by dogs. The common Spanish word for "dog," perro, also is a mystery word of unknown origin, perhaps from Iberian.

Did you ever wonder where do the phrase "The Dog Days" come from?
Not from our dogs but from stars and calendars.
It is first recorded in 1538 as Dies Caniculares in Latin. In Greek it was known as Kyon Seirios. Greeks thus named time period around the heliacal rising of Sirius (q.v.), the Dog-star, noted as the hottest and most unwholesome time of the year; usually July 3 to Aug. 11. But variously calculated, depending on latitude and on whether the greater Dog-star (Sirius) or the lesser one (Procyon) is reckoned.
The heliacal rising of Sirius has shifted down the calendar with the precession of the equinoxes; in ancient Egypt c.3000 B.C.E. it coincided with the summer solstice, which was also the new year and the beginning of the inundation of the Nile. The "dog" association apparently began here (the star's hieroglyph was a dog)

Our friend Courage the Shepherd dog!

We got very good news today about our friend Courage's recovery. He had been neglected and starved for weeks and was struggling between life and death when rescued by German Shepherd Rescue of Orange county. He went through extensive and painful treatments and finally he is on his way to new beginnings. We send him love and happy kisses and woofs and many thanks to the good people at the German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County for their selfless work. We need more two leggeds like you!

Dogs Are Shakespearean, Children Are Strangers

BY DELMORE SCHWARTZ

Dogs are Shakespearean, children are strangers.
Let Freud and Wordsworth discuss the child,
Angels and Platonists shall judge the dog,
The running dog, who paused, distending nostrils,
Then barked and wailed; the boy who pinched his sister,
The little girl who sang the song from Twelfth Night,
As if she understood the wind and rain,
The dog who moaned, hearing the violins in concert.
—O I am sad when I see dogs or children!
For they are strangers, they are Shakespearean.

Tell us, Freud, can it be that lovely children
Have merely ugly dreams of natural functions?
And you, too, Wordsworth, are children truly
Clouded with glory, learned in dark Nature?
The dog in humble inquiry along the ground,
The child who credits dreams and fears the dark,
Know more and less than you: they know full well
Nor dream nor childhood answer questions well:
You too are strangers, children are Shakespearean.

Regard the child, regard the animal,
Welcome strangers, but study daily things,
Knowing that heaven and hell surround us,
But this, this which we say before we’re sorry,
This which we live behind our unseen faces,
Is neither dream, nor childhood, neither
Myth, nor landscape, final, nor finished,
For we are incomplete and know no future,
And we are howling or dancing out our souls
In beating syllables before the curtain:
We are Shakespearean, we are strangers.

Delmore Schwartz, “Dogs Are Shakespearean, Children Are Strangers” from Selected Poems (1938-1958): Summer Knowledge. Copyright © 1967 by Delmore Schwartz.

Science proves: Dogs Detect Human Emotion

They could have saved their time and money.  Anyone who lives with animals knows they do indeed detect emotions and navigate the changes.

Maybe the scientists should study why most humans do not.

Dog Sketches...

Perfect day for sketching as it did not stop raining cats and dogs. Phrase to rain cats and dogs is attested from 1738 (variation rain dogs and polecats is from 1652), of unknown origin, despite intense speculation. One of the more idiotic assertions is that it refers to pets sliding off sod roofs when the sod got too wet during a rainstorm. Ever see a cat react to a rainstorm by climbing up on an exposed roof? I really would like to find out where this phrase originated though. If you ever come across an interesting entry please do "comment".

Babette and friends stayed indoors all day. I simply love using conté crayon and pressed charcoal to draw my perfectly obedient and very patient dog and cat models while they lounge around and calmly chew their chews. All is peaceful until there is the much dreaded lightening right after a loud thunder, then they loose their cool and it is complete "bordello" in the house (as "we" pooches are still very scared of this phenomena) It is too bad, because their momkeep used to love to watch this particularly spectacular Nature show.

I will post more when I have more complete drawings of my 3 Graces together.. For now enjoy the below sketches by 17th century Flemish painter Francis Snyders. You can view more of his work and 17th century European Animal Genre Painting at Louvre's on line collection

Dogs in Ancient Greece and Rome

I came across fascinating information about dogs in Ancient Greece and Rome in Encylopaedia Romana. I hope you will find it as fascinating as we did at Babette and friends.

"There on the left as one entered...was a huge dog with a chain round its neck. It was painted on the wall and over it, in big capitals, was written: Beware of the Dog."

Petronius, Satyricon (XXIX)