[lit-ideas] Re: Geisha (Was: Sapir/Whorf Hypothesis)
- From: Jlsperanza@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2004 21:57:14 EDT
In a message dated 8/22/2004 8:25:46 PM Eastern Standard Time,
aamago@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>I just have a hard imagining that when one combines men
>and booze and professional pleasers let's call them, that sex
>isn't involved.
Exactly. Incidentally, this is to report something of what I see as a
superficiality in the OED. Under 'geisha', it reads, "[Japanese]". We all knew
that. But it fails to provide the _real_ etymology of 'geisha' -- as the OED
does
with Anglo-Saxon etymologies (e.g. 'nightingale').
By contrast, the American Heritage Dictionary does provide the etymology of
'geisha', below. I note that I was mistaken when I wrote that it came from the
Japanese for 'sing' and 'dance'. It comes from the Japanese from 'art'
('gei') and 'person' ('sha'). So, if you think of it, Sammy Davis _is_ a
geisha.
Cheers,
JL
_http://www.bartleby.com/61/15/G0071500.html_
(http://www.bartleby.com/61/15/G0071500.html)
Japanese : gei, art (from Middle Chinese ejh) + sha, person (from Middle
Chinese tia).
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