Duet (pronounced doo-et or dyoo-et (non-U))
(1) In
music, a composition for two voices or instruments.
(2) An
action or activity performed by a pair of closely connected individuals.
(3) A
pair or couple, especially one that is harmonious or elegant.
1730–1740: From the Italian duet (a short musical composition for two voices), from duo (two) and a diminutive of the earlier duett & duetto, the construct being du(o) (duet) + -etto (from the Late Latin -ittum, accusative singular of –ittus, an alternative suffix used to form melioratives, diminutives, and hypocoristics). The ultimate source was the Proto-Italic duō, from the primitive Indo-European dwóh. The French adopted duet before the English in 1740 although the noun may have been used in English from circa 1724; as a verb (to perform a duet), use was first noted in 1822. The technical form duettino (short, unpretentious duet) emerged by 1839. Duet is a noun & verb, duetting & duetted are verbs and duettist is a noun; the noun plural is duets.
Madam Butterfly
Although The Alfa Romeo (type 105/115) Spider was continuous production between 1966-1993, it was only during the first three years the bodywork featured the memorable Osso di Seppia (Round-tail, literally "cuttle fish") coachwork. After 1970, the Spider gained a Kamm-tail which increased luggage capacity and presumably also conferred some aerodynamic advantage but purists have always coveted the cigar-shaped original. The factory in 1965 conducted a competition to find a suitable name for the little roadster and in those days that meant running advertisements in newspapers (which people actually read) to which readers responded by cutting out and filling in the coupon, writing in their suggestion, putting it in an envelope on which they wrote the address, buying and affixing a stamp and putting envelope in mailbox. The winning entry was "Duetto" which Alfa Romeo's directors liked because it summed up the romantic essence of a machine definitely built for a couple. Unfortunately, for some tiresome legal reason relating to an existing trademark, it couldn't officially be used but for decades, among the cognoscenti, it's always been called the Duetto.
Lindsay Lohan duetting: On stage with Duran Duran (left) and spinning the vinyl with former special friend, DJ Samantha Ronson.
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