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Episode #42 – Crime & Virtue in “Strolls” & “Saunters” – Plus the Latest in Words You Should Know
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Approximate transcript:
Welcome to episode number 42, where we’ll saunter, stroll, and meander through our conversation about hikes and walking. You never realized how sometimes holy and sometimes criminal these simple acts can be—well, at least etymologically. And we’ll maybe get into what punctuation you may be according to your zodiac sign. Seriously? Maybe not, but articles like that always make me smile and lead to further questions. You know you’re curious.
But first, here’s…
The Latest in Word, Language & Writing News
Communications news can mean so many things, from animal communications to writing with artificial intelligence, but today, our updates take us into the world of brain technology—no, not hacking into fruit fly brains like we discussed a few episodes ago—specifically, communications not shared via one’s mouth or a traditional writing instrument. Recent studies have been examining how one can communicate merely by thinking.
Now the study that first caught my attention on this note lately was focused on a paralyzed patient, and how scientists were able to transfer his ideas into written words by having this patient think about not only what he wanted to share but to think about hand writing his ideas letter by letter. We’ve seen the past studies about how sometimes we learn better when we hand-write notes versus just listening. Now, this study seems to be tapping into a similar science, activating the part of the brain used when hand writing ideas, letter by letter, word by word to activate the brain in a particular way that creates sharable writing. Now how often during these Words You Should Know podcasts do I say a news story is mind-blowing. But this is another one of those cases.
The article that first caught my attention on the subject is titled “Man Who Is Paralyzed Communicates By Imagining Handwriting,” and a link to it is in my show notes, of course. As are a couple others on the subject from Scientific American and Nature.com if you’re interested.
In a similar brain science communications update, another study has recently been published focused on typing purely with one’s thoughts—well, one’s thoughts and a microchip implanted in one’s brain. And I know I love examining the merging of communications and futurist technology, but this one’s a bit much even for me—at least at this stage of the technology. I know some of us dictate texts or emails or speeches or books into our phones, but dictation through thought? Or perhaps “dictation” isn’t even the right word. What will that new word be? Now, this typing-by-thought-process sounds messy and a bit too much of a stream of consciousness ramble, but who knows? I imagine there’s great power here too. And I can only imagine the editorial tools of the future.
But we’re not in that future quite yet. Today, we’re talking a walk through the present. A walk, a stroll, a saunter. There are so many words for traveling by foot from here to there. However, some of these words have fascinating stories to them in themselves, and I’m not talking about “go” hijacking its past tense from another word. We’ve already covered that way back in episode 2.
Let’s turn to today’s…
English Language History & Trivia
Specifically the history of these walking words.
“Saunter” is a fascinating word, not only for its playful casualness, but because its meaning of “walking slowly, without any hurry, in a relaxed manner” has not always been its definition.
It seems that “saunter” came from an earlier Middle English form, santren, meaning “to muse” or “to reflect” or “daydream.” So, if you want to take a thoughtful walk, perhaps you might saunter, but here’s where I’m going to bring Henry David Thoreau into the mix—no, not because we’re going to talk about sauntering around Waldon Pond, but because he seems to be the origin of a fake etymology story about the word “saunter.”
Perhaps you’ve seen the social media meme, quoting famed writer and environmentalist John Muir, where he explains that one should not “hike” in the woods but “saunter.” As the quote goes:
“Way back in the Middle Ages, people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, ‘A la sainte terre,’ ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.”
Personally, I love this idea, and there is so much holy to be found in nature; however, sorry John Muir, but this isn’t a true story. If this John Muir reflection, as cited from Sierra Club sources, through another’s recollection, is true at all.
Henry David Thoreau, in his essay “Walking,” cites a similar but slightly tweaked story, specifically:
“Some, however, would derive the word from “sans terre,” without land or a home, which, therefore, in the good sense, will mean, having no particular home, but equally home everywhere. For this is the secret of successful sauntering.”
The third related but questionable claim is that “sauntering” comes from the Anglo-French word sauntrer the from French word, s’aventurer, “to take risks.”
But the Oxford English Dictionary among many others nix this theory as false as well. So take it as a lesson, social media memes aren’t always true, as you know, but even wise writers one might respect are known to take wrong turns—and we’re keeping this conversation just on language discussions. I know there’s a bigger conversation to be had about wrong choices and so many of the quote-unquote greats.
So there’s no relation to “sauntering” and the Holy Lands or those without a home and thus a home everwhere, but there is a solid connection between “sauntering” and “reflecting,” and that’s something to seize upon.
But “sauntering” isn’t the only “walk-like” word to go through a transformation. “Stroll” is another.
Now, maybe you think of “stroll” as similar to “saunter.” To “stroll” is to take a casual walk. You can push a stroller with babies inside as you go for a stroll. How sweet and innocent is that? Except for the fact that it actually isn’t at all.
The word “stroll” likely comes from a Swiss German word, strolchen, meaning not just “to walk about,” but also “to loaf,” coming from a related word for “vagabond,” “vagrant,” or “travelling fortuneteller.” Now this seems to come from an Italian word, astrologo, meaning “astrologer.”
Astrologer. Stroll. You can see the connection. But in this way, those who historically strolled were considered troublemakers and con-artists. Now, cross-cultural and class judgements aside—ooh, look another big conversation that could come out of this—“stroll” has come a long way, hasn’t it? Will this make you rethink pushing a “stoller” with innocent babies inside? Would you rather call it a “buggy” or “pram” to avoid the confusion? That’s up to you, but I think you’re solid in modern usage.
There are so many great stories and etymology tales hiding in walking words.
- “Meander” comes from the Greek name of an ancient river in Asia Minor, present day Turkey, which has a winding course.
- “Hike” seems to come from the Middle English word hytchen, which also gives us the word “hitch,” so in some ways, you could say “hike hike” instead of “hitch hike.” Maybe. I’ve seen it theorized. Some of these theories crack me up, but there you go.
- And lastly, “walk” came into English in the 1200s, a mix up of two different words, specifically the Old English word wealcan, meaning to toss or journey about, and the Old English word wealcian to roll up or muffle up. How walk walked from these meanings to its present day definition is a language stroll for another day.
And if we’re side notes, I probably should mention that if you were walk, stroll, or saunter through Paris, we could give a little shout-out to our conversation about “gargoyles” a couple of episodes back. The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris now has a fundraising campaign for renovations including the ability for one to adopt their stone “grotesques,” as in the figures many call “gargoyles” but without the drainage spouts through their throats and mouths.
There’s so much to ponder on a walk, right?
But moving on to our…
Language Challenge
I quoted words attributed to John Muir and Henry David Thoreau today (and yes the hyperlinks to the references, as always, are included in my show notes); however when you are speaking about a quote, what is the proper way to do so. Is it “quote/unquote” or “quote/end quote”? There’s a debate here, and there’s also a correct answer.
“Quote/unquote” or “quote/end quote”?
The answers, as always, can be found on my website, at GetAGripOnYourGrammar.com.
Personal Update:
As for my personal update, honestly I’m in the waiting stage that is so ever-present in a writer’s life. Books are being pitched. New projects are in their pre-tadpole stage, not yet metamorphosing into what they will be. And this is where I stumble upon this article titled “Written in the stars: Your punctuation mark based on your zodiac sign.” Am I a big believer in horoscopes and zodiac signs? Not really, but I’m easily distracted sometimes in pre-tadpole stage planning and waiting mode.
So, I’m a Libra, and to quote from this article, “natural mediators, you like to keep everything nice and balanced… Like a hyphen, you make things connected, increase readability and maintain symmetry — just as a Libra should.” So not a dash, but a hyphen (oh there is a difference, and the Leo’s out there get the em dash). What’s an em dash? Wait, there are types of dashes? Oh yeah there are. These are the details the editors of the world geek out on.
I’m not sure how I’m feeling about my hyphen, but I think it’s working for me. The history of disappearing hyphens is coming to mind, though, so is this an added prediction? Yikes.
Now I’m totally being playful with this, because sometimes we need to embrace a little space for that in our lives, don’t we? And if you’re interested in your sign’s punctuation, I have the link saved for you. Don’t you worry.
I didn’t hear the request directly from your brain, whether you’re imagining the letters of your message or otherwise, but in this moment of waiting—I can’t help but share.
I’m curious about your reaction.
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Words. Language. Communications. We’ve got this.