Transfixed by a rapid succession of bottles, glasses (O! beautiful stemware! How come I drink from a humble tumbler at home?), and, finally, a decanter passing over the counter at Hotel Biron, Aram wondered about the origin of that name. Is it related to canto, to sing? I suggested that the Latin root cant- came into english with the prefix de to form descant, and I was correct:
descant: Middle English, from Anglo-Norman descaunt, from Medieval Latin discantus, a refrain : Latin dis-, dis- + Latin cantus, song, from past participle of canere, to sing. See kan-
as for decant(er), the original question, I should have known (and
Meiling would doubtless have remembered) that it comes from the greek
noun kanthos, meaning 'eyelid'. The greek poets drew a visual simile
between a wnie-jug's lip and the tear-duct-y bit of one's eye.
Ah, for the sound of popping corks.
-------------------------------
** Saturday, November 12th **
-------------------------------BEAT MUNI CHALLENGE!
10:30am, Glen Park BART StationIn this bike ride, we will experiment with the age-old question: is cycling really faster than Muni? As everyone knows, beating Muni is often a cinch, but can you match the fabled 24 line? If you can beat this line, you can beat any line. The person who passes the most busses gets a free lunch. Meet at Glen Park BART and we'll ride together to the start of the 24 line. Wear a helmet. Contact brandonbaunach@dbarchitect.com for more info.
A terrible, terrible map of the 24 route is on the 511.org site.
Do you remember that stifling summer when MUNI automation meant that Mayor Willie Brown walked the stretch of Market between City Hall and the Embarcadero faster than any of the LRVs?