On Sat, May 7, 2011 at 3:03 AM, Joseph McAllister <pentax...@mac.com> wrote:
> > I like the shot Frank. I haven't been at the right place at the right time > with swans. Good job. > > I can't find a definition that supports "busking" as a swan thing, though I > don't see why it could not be derived from the early european nautical use > for tacking or cruising around. > > busk 1 |bəsk| > verb [ intrans. ] > play music or otherwise perform for voluntary donations in the street or in > subways : the group began by busking on Philadelphia sidewalks | [as n. ] ( > busking) busking was a real means of living. > • ( busk it) informal improvise. > DERIVATIVES > busker noun > ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from obsolete French busquer ‘seek,’ from Italian > buscare or Spanish buscar, of Germanicorigin. Originally in nautical use in > the sense [cruise about, tack,] the term later meant [go around selling,] > hence [go around performing] (mid 19th cent.). > > > I only heard the word used some 8 months ago when a friend brought to my > attention the couple playing guitars on the periphery of an outdoor concert > near here, telling me she used to busk when she was younger, as she pointed > to the sign by the performers "Busking for Love and Money". Thanks for the research, Joe! Being that I'm currently in a public library, once I'm off the computer I should see if they've got an OED (shorter) to see what they have to say. Until I recently saw it referring to this swan activity, I was only familiar with its reference to itinerant musicians. I note one of the definitions that you found talks of a nautical sense, cruising about or tacking. Perhaps it's from this meaning of the word that this swan posture comes to derive its name? Anyway, thanks for the kind words, and thanks to everyone else who commented and looked. Report forthcoming as to what dictionaries around here have to say! ;-) cheers, frank -- "Sharpness is a bourgeois concept." -Henri Cartier-Bresson -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
