Honeymoon

Honeymoon (pronounced huhn-ee-moon)

(1) A trip taken by a newly married couple.

(2) A period of a month or so immediately after a marriage.

(3) By extension, any period of blissful harmony.

(4) Any new relationship characterized by an initial period of harmony and goodwill.

(5) In politics, as honeymoon period, a period of heightened popularity enjoyed by a new leader or government.

(6) To spend one's honeymoon (usually followed by in or at); to take a honeymoon.

(7) As second (and presumably third and beyond) honeymoon, a holiday which is intended to capture something of the feeling of the first. 

1540–1450: A compound word, the construct being honey + moon, from the earlier hony moone (though most etymologists suspect that in the oral tradition it was much older).  Honeymoon may be compared with the Middle Low German suckermânt (honeymoon (literally “sugar-month”) and the German Low & German Hönnigweken (honeymoon (literally “honey-weeks”). The German Honigmond, the French lune de miel and the Turkish balaki are all calques of the English term and one intriguing German variation is the plural flitterwochen, the construct being flitter (tinsel) + wochen (week), presumably an allusion to the insubstantial and fleeting nature of a couple’s early affections.  Babymoon and family moon were constructions in line with the original cynical sense of honeymoon the idea that the joy brought by a new-born soon fades as the demands of parenthood become apparent.  Honeymoon is a noun, verb & adjective, honeymooner a noun, honeymooning a noun, verb & adjective and the (simple past tense and past participle) honeymooned is usually a verb but can be applied adjectivally; the noun plural is honeymoon.  As a modifier it’s associated with forms such as honeymoon suite, honeymoon cottage etc.

The pre-900 honey (a viscous, sweet fluid produced from plant nectar by bees and often used to sweeten tea or to spread on baked goods and (by extension) used often to describe anything literally sweet, smooth or in some way desirable (animal, vegetable or mineral)) was from the Middle English hony &  honi, from the Old English hueng & huniġ, from the Proto-West Germanic hunag, from the Proto-Germanic hunagą (related to the Old Norse hunang, the Old Saxon hanig, the West Frisian hunich and the German Honig), from the earlier hunangą (related to the Swedish honung), from the primitive Indo-European kn̥honk-o-s, from kn̥hónks. It was cognate with the Middle Welsh canecon (gold), the Latin canicae (bran), the Tocharian B kronkśe (bee), the Albanian qengjë (beehive), the Ancient Greek κνῆκος (knêkos) (safflower; yellowish), the Northern Kurdish şan (beehive), the Sanskrit kánaka- (gold) and the Northern Luri گونج‎ (gonj) (Bee).  Honey has been productive in English phraseology and word creation including honeybee, honeybun, honeycreeper, honeydew, honeyeater, honeypot & honeysucker.  The alternative spelling was hunny.

The pre-900 moon (with an initial capital the Earth's only permanent natural satellite and without, the technical term to describe other such bodies in the universe) was from the Middle English mone, from the Old English mōna (moon), from the Proto-West Germanic mānō, from the Proto-Germanic mēnô (moon), from the Gothic mena, from the primitive Indo-European mḗhn̥s (moon, month), probably from meh- (to measure).  It was akin to the Old Frisian mōna, the German Mond (moon), the Latin mēnsis (month), the Ancient Greek mḗnē (moon) and the Sanskrit māsa (moon, month).  Poetically, it refers to a month, particularly a lunar month, a measure of time used by pre-modern cultures, surviving in modern use as “many moons” (a long time).  In cartomancy, the moon is the thirty-second Lenormand card and since the emergence of crypto-currencies has been used to describe a rapid increase in value of a coin or token.  Moon has been productive in English phraseology and word creation including ask for the moon, blood moon, blue moon, moonbounce, moonbow, moonless, moonlet, moonstruck, moonwake, moonwalk & moonsick.

Lindsay Lohan on honeymoon at the Bodrum EDITION on the Turkish Riviera, July 2022.  The choice of orange and blue swimwear may not have been in memory of the Gulf livery in which Ford GT40s (left) & Porsche 917s (right) raced during the 1960s & 1970s but both were good choices.

In English, although honeymoon always denoted the period of time following a wedding, the idea now is honey in the sense of sweetness, the first fine careless rapture of love, the happy time in a marriage before reality bites.  However, the original reference was a more cynical reference to that first affection waning like the moon.  Fortunately, the later (attested since 1546), more romantic interpretation prevailed and the meaning is now (1) the first month after marriage", which tends to be the sweetest or (2) dating from circa 1800, the holiday the couple take immediately after the ceremony which, for some, will also be the consummation.  The timing of that consummation could be significant, some claiming (though the evidence is slight) that the honeymoon is a relic both of (1) the old tradition of elopement and (2) marriage by capture, both practices during which the couple (happy and not) went into hiding to avoid reprisals from relatives, the plan being that by the end of the month, the woman would be with child, thus rendering the marriage immune from annulment by the Church.  Whatever the origin, the tradition of a honeymoon crossed the English Channel, known from the 1820s in France as the voyage à la façon anglaise (English-style voyage).  Whether by coincidence or as a product of opportunistic commerce, the adoption on the continent became part of the new industry of (relatively) low-cost mass tourism and honeymoon tours (sometimes in groups) were among the first examples of packaged tourism where transportation, accommodation and sight-seeing were bundled and sold at a fixed price.

1958 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud I “Honeymoon Express”, the name gained from the configuration of the coachwork: a two-seater with an unusually capacious boot (trunk).  English coachbuilders Freestone & Webb (F&W, 1923-1963) constructed three Honeymoon Express cars, two Rolls-Royce & one Bentley, one of each featuring the tail fins.  In the US, vastly more extravagant fins were at the time a thing as Detroit (actually mostly General Motors (GM) and Chrysler) went through its macropterous phase but, in dimensions and curvature, F&W's interpretation was closer to those on the Mercedes-Benz heckflosse (W112 & W112, 1959-1968) and well sort of what appeared on the three Alfa Romeo “BAT” cars (1955, 1956 & 1957). 

A most attractive tale from ancient Babylonia, though not one all historians accept is that upon marriage, a bride’s father would supply all the “honey kash” (a type of beer to which honey and sweet herbs were added) the groom could drink for one month after the wedding and, because the calendar was lunar based, this month was referred to as the “honey moon”.  Many anthropologists too doubt the story but Persian does have the similar ماه عسل (Māh-e Asal) ("month of honey" or "moon of honey").  Just as the Medieval period was a source of many Greek “myths” reputedly from antiquity, in the nineteenth century, encouraged by the popularity the works of Richard Wagner (1813-1883) had lent to the Norse legends, new “legends” were created, one borrowing from Ancient Babylonia and claiming the source of honeymoon was the “custom of the higher order of the Teutones to drink Mead (or Metheglin, a beverage brewed with honey and, in genuine Norse mythology, the nectar the Valkyries serve in Valhalla to the fallen warriors), for thirty days after every wedding.  Long discredited by historians, the fanciful tale still occasionally is quoted.

The high priest of Haitian voodoo, Max Beauvoir (1936-2015) and a relief painting depicting a voodoo ceremony, Port au Prince, Haiti, February 2010.  Mr Beauvoir was a biochemist before succeeding his grandfather as a Voodoo priest, attaining eventually the title of Supreme Servitur (supreme servant), one of the high titles in the Voudou priesthood.

In December 1975, Bill and crooked Hillary Clinton spent part of their honeymoon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  The honeymoon seems to have been a success although in his autobiography, Mr Clinton did note the “…most interesting day of the trip…” was when they both witnessed a voodoo ceremony conducted by voodoo-priest Max Beauvoir, the highlight apparently when a woman bit the head off a live chicken.  Helpfully, Mr Beauvoir also gave the honeymooners what Mr Clinton described as a "…brief course in voodoo theology" (and since that day, crooked Hillary Clinton has never denied practicing voodoo).  Mr Clinton described the rituals:

"After several minutes of rhythmic dancing to pounding drums, the spirits arrived, seizing a woman and a man.  The man proceeded to rub a burning torch all over his body and walk on hot coals without being burned.  The woman, in a frenzy, screamed repeatedly, then grabbed a live chicken and bit its head off.  Then the spirits left and those who had been possessed fell to the ground."

He added that the experience had profoundly transformed his understanding of God and human nature, the way “…different cultures try to make sense of life, nature, and the virtually universal belief that there is a nonphysical spirit force at work in the world."  "The Lord works in mysterious ways" he added.

Thumbnail

Thumbnail (pronounced thuhm-neyl)

(1) The (finger)nail of the thumb.

(2) As thumbnail sketch, anything quite small or brief, as a small drawing or short essay, a précis or summary.

(3) In printing, a small, rough dummy.

(4) In journalism, a half-column portrait in a newspaper (also called the porkchop).

(5) Something quite small or brief; concise.

(6) Concisely to describe (something or someone).

(7) In computing (on the graphical user interfaces (GUI) of operating systems), a small image used as a preview of the original which loads upon clicking the thumbnail.  Unlike an icon, which is (Usually) a representative symbol, a thumbnail is a smaller copy of the original larger image (although technically, a thumbnail can be constructed which reports a smaller file size than the original).

1595–1605: The construct was thumb + nail.  Thumb was from the Middle English thombe, thoume & thoumbe, from the Old English þūma, from the Proto-West Germanic þūmō, from the Proto-Germanic þūmô from Proto-Indo-European tūm- (to grow).  The spellings thum, thume & thumbe were still in use in the late seventeenth century but are all long obsolete.  Nail was from the Middle English nail & nayl, from the Old English næġl, from the Proto-West Germanic nagl, from the Proto-Germanic naglaz, from the primitive Indo-European hnogh- (nail).  The earliest known instance of the phrase “thumbnail sketch” in the sense of "drawing or sketch of a small size" (though usually not literally the size of a thumbnail) dates from 1852, the verb usage adopted in the 1930s.  Thumbnail is a noun & adjective; thumbnailer is a noun, thumbnailed is a verb & adjective and thumbnailing is a verb; the noun plural is thumbnails.

Fifteen images of Lindsay Lohan’s thumbnails.

The term "thumbnail sketch" began with architects, designers and artists who quickly would create small, conceptual sketches of their ideas so they could be tested without the time or effort required to render at full-scale.  While it’s possible some may literally have been the size of a actual thumbnail, most would have been larger and the term was chosen just as something indicative of “smallness”.  The practice or architects and others creating small sketches was of course ancient and may even have been associated with prehistoric cave painting but it was in the mid-nineteenth century the term “thumbnail sketch” came to be used.  The use of the thumbnail sketch (including the companion “pencil test” in graphic design) is now universal in industries where images need to be created and the techniques learned proved useful in the 1980s when icons became widely used in the on were used on graphical user interfaces (GUI) of operating systems.  In text, in the 1950s, the thumbnail sketch came to be applied to any a précis or summary and has always been prevalent in publishing and criticism (as brief plot summaries, reviews etc) and as short-form biographical data, especially when assembled in a list of those so profiled.

Thumbnail sketches of recent Australian administrations

Kevin Rudd (right) & Cardinal Pell (left), 2010.

Kevin Rudd (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2007-2010 & 2013): There have been few Australian prime-ministers who entered office with such goodwill as that enjoyed by Kevin Rudd and none who have so quickly squandered it all.  Mr Rudd’s win in 2007 was a testament to his personal popularity and a reasonable achievement given that, by any standards, on paper, the previous government shouldn’t have lost office, there being no crisis, an outstandingly good fiscal position, low unemployment and no serious scandals.  Essentially, the electorate seemed bored by a decade-odd of dull competence and Mr Rudd was new, presentable and in his nerdy, weird way, appealing and thus the country voted.  His honeymoon wasn’t noticeably short but he had the misfortune to be prime-minister when the global financial crisis (GFC) hit and while for many reasons, Australia was relatively unaffected, the stresses it induced revealed tensions in his government and his background as a public servant wasn’t useful whenever decisiveness was required; long used to providing advice to others who made decisions, his government stuttered under the weight of committees and boards of enquiry.  A contrast with this intellectual timidity was his reputation for arrogance and abrasiveness when dealing with his colleagues and this didn’t help him maintain their support; he lost an internal party vote in 2010 and the Australian Labor Party (ALP) choose another leader.  In 2023, it was announced Dr Rudd would be Australia’s next ambassador to the United States and there are rumors he’s negotiated a secret, back-channel deal whereby he reports directly to the prime-minister and not, as is usual, to the foreign minister.

Julia Gillard (left) & Kevin Rudd (right), 2013.

Julia Gillard (b 1961; Australian prime minister 2010-2013):  Julia Gillard is thus far the only woman to become Australia’s prime-minister and some of the treatment she endured in office might make a few women wonder if reaching the top of the greasy pole is worth the price to be paid.  That said, it’s still a good gig and many will try.  Metaphorically knifing her predecessor in the back meant her premiership didn’t start in the happiest of circumstances and it didn’t help and he made little attempt to conceal his thoughts on recent events.  The poison spread through the party and the healthy majority gained in 2007 was lost in the 2010 election, the Gillard government surviving only with the support of three independents, all of whom extracted their own price.  Bizarrely as it might seem to some, Rudd returned for a while as foreign minister, an unhappy experience for many.  It couldn’t last and it didn’t, Mr Rudd resigning and unsuccessfully contesting the leadership.  Still despite it all, on paper, the Gillard government managed things successfully in a tight parliament and although the actual achievements were slight, they probably exceed expectations.  Ms Gillard is probably best remembered for her “misogyny” speech which deservedly went viral because it was highly entertaining although it did reveal someone sensitive to criticism and one wonders if she’d ever reviewed some of things said about male politicians over the centuries.  It’s clearly a more sensitive age but nor did she appear to see any inconsistencies between the words spat at her and her use of “poodle” and “mincing” (with all that they imply) when decrying one of her male opponents.  As it was, Mr Rudd got his revenge, toppling her in 2013 although his victory may have seemed pyrrhic (his second coming lasting three months-odd), he was probably content.

Tony Abbott (left) & Vladimir Putin (right) with koalas, 2014.

Tony Abbott (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2013-2015): One probably disappointed that Ms Gillard was in 2013 replaced was Mr Abbott because all the indications were the Liberal-National coalition’s victory in the 2013 election would have produced a landslide-scale majority rather than the merely comfortable one achieved against Mr Rudd.  Still, the majority was sufficient for Mr Abbott easily to purse his objectives and he immediately set to reducing expenditure, cutting taxes, stopping irregular immigration (his famous “stop the boats” campaign lent three word slogans (3WS) a new popularity which endures to this day) and attacking trade unions.  He was a very different character from Mr Rudd but similarly inept in managing public perception of his government.  In his thoughts, there was a certainly of purpose Mr Rudd lacked but the core problem was that his world view seemed to have been set in stone by the Jesuits who taught him while he was training for the priesthood and while much had changed since the fourteenth century, he’d not moved on.  Thus created were the tensions which marked his government which was split between technocratic realists, right-wing fanatics, a genuinely liberal wing and his coalition partners, the National Party which was devoted to the horse trading necessary to extract the money required to pork-barrel their electorates.  Presiding over this lot as a leader with thoughts were more akin to the old Democratic Labor Party (DLP) than anything from the third millennium, it’s probably remarkable Mr Abbott lasted as long as he did.  The 2014 budget which made big cuts was blamed by many for his demise and while it’s true it was badly designed and poorly explained, it does appear Mr Abbott, while one of the most formidably focused and effective oppositions leaders, simply lacked the skills needed to be prime-minister.  In 2013, he lost an internal party ballot to the man he’d replaced in a similar vote in 2009.

Malcolm Turnbull (right) & Peter Dutton (left) roadside billboard (2016).

Malcolm Turnbull (b 1954; Australian prime minister 2015-2018):  There was an unusually great public optimism which immediately surrounded Mr Turnbull’s accession to office.  So encouraging were the polls that he probably should have gone to an early election as Anthony Eden (1897-1977; UK prime-minister 1955-1957) did in 1955, thus avoiding the grinding down of energy inevitable in “fag-end” administrations.  Instead he delayed, making the same mistake as Gordon Brown (b 1951; UK prime-minister 2007-2010) and John Gorton (1911-2002; Australian prime-minister 1968-1971) and the early support evaporated, the government surviving the 2016 election with only a slender majority.  Being from the liberal wing, Mr Turnbull really wasn’t a good fit as leader of the modern Liberal Party he’d been accepted only because he was rich, a virtue which in the party tends to mean other vices are overlooked (if not forgiven).  This allowed him sometimes to prevail but ultimately it was the corrosive and related issues of energy and an emissions reduction policy which proved his nemesis.  Even if the public didn’t fully understand the intricacies of the issue (and the especially complex mechanisms in the associated legislation), increasingly they were being persuaded by the science underlying climate change and just wanted the matter resolved.  The factions in the Liberal-National coalition had for more than a decade been torn asunder by climate policy and the divisions poisoned public perception of the government; Mr Abbott may have been wrong in how he handled the matter in 2013 but he was at least certain and decisive and was accordingly rewarded.  Support for Mr Turnbull eroded and in an amusingly chaotic leadership coup in 2018, he lost the leadership.  In retirement, he found common cause with Mr Rudd as they joined to complain about the undue influence Rupert Murdoch’s (b 1931) News Corporation exerts in Australian politics, especially the national daily The Australian which, despite a notionally small distribution, is highly effective in setting agendas, forcing other outlets to pursue News Corp's pet issues.

The Turnbull administration is remembered also for imposing the "bonk ban", a consequence of one of the many extra-parliamentary antics of "bonking Barnaby" (Barnaby Joyce, b 1967; thrice (between local difficulties) deputy prime minister of Australia 2016-2022 and known also within the beltway as "the beetrooter", a nicknamed explained as (1) an allusion to this often florid complexion and (2) the use of "root" in Australia to refer to sexual intercourse).  Mr Turnbull was a keen student of etymology and having once worked as a journalist was fond of the alliterative phrase so when writing his memoir (A Bigger Picture (2020)) he included a short chapter entitled "Barnaby and the bonk ban".  As well as the events which lent the text it's title, the chapter was memorable for his inclusion of perhaps the most vivid thumbnail sketch of Barnaby Joyce yet penned:

"Barnaby is a complex, intense, furious personality.  Red-faced, in full flight he gives the impression he's about to explode.  He's highly intelligent, often good-humoured but also has a dark and almost menacing side - not unlike Abbott (Tony Abbott (b 1957; prime-minister of Australia 2013-2015)) - that seems to indicate he wrestles with inner troubles and torments."

Mr Turnbull and Mr Joyce in parliament, House of Representatives, Canberra, ACT.

The substantive matter was the revelation in mid-2017 the press had become aware Mr Joyce (a married man with four daughters) was (1) conducting an affair with a member of his staff and (2) that the young lady was with child.  Mr Turnbull recorded that when asked, Mr Joyce denied both "rumors", which does sound like a lie but in the narrow sense may have verged on "the not wholly implausible" on the basis that, as he pointed out in a later television interview, the question of paternity was at the time “...a bit of a grey area”.  Mr Joyce and his mistress later married and now have two children so all's well that end's well (at least for them) and Mr Turnbull didn't so much shut the gate after the horse had bolted as install inter-connecting doors in the stables.  His amendments to the Australian Ministerial Code of Conduct (an accommodating document very much in the spirit of Lord Castlereagh's (1769–1822; UK foreign secretary 1812-1822) critique of the Holy Alliance) banned ministers from bonking their staff which sounds uncontroversial but was silent on them bonking the staff of the minister in the office down the corridor.  So the net effect was probably positive in that staff having affairs with their ministerial boss would gain experience through cross-exposure to other portfolio areas although there's the obvious moral hazard in that they might be tempted to conduct trysts just to engineer a transfer in the hope of career advancement.  There are worse reasons for having an affair and a bonk for a new job seems a small price to pay.  It's been done before.

Scott Morrison (left) & Grace Tame (right), 2022.

Scott Morrison (b 1968; prime-minister 2018-2022): There are a few candidates who deserve to be regarded as Australia’s worst prime-minister (some of them quite recent) but the uniquely distinguishing feature of assessments of Mr Morrison’s term is that so many view it with such distaste.  His narrow victory in the 2018 election was a remarkable personal achievement but that proved the high-water mark of his administration.  Many critiques noted his lack of background, his experience limited to sales, marketing and slogans which has its place but did seem to result in him viewing a democracy rather as a sales manager views his employer’s customer loyalty programmes: Just as only good customers are entitled to the benefits of membership, in the Morrison government it seemed only electorates which returned coalition members were deserving of funding.  That did change in the run-up to an election; then marginal electorates which might elect coalition members attracted largess and while all parties do this, few have been so so blatant or extreme as Mr Morrison.  He also blundered in foreign affairs, publicly and pugnaciously calling for an international enquiry into the origins of the SARS-COV-2 virus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic.  That was a good idea but it should have been handled through the usual channels, not as foghorn diplomacy and the assumption of most was he was looking forward to going to his church (one where they clap, sing, strum guitars and the preacher assures the congregation God approves of surf-skis and big TVs) and telling everyone he’d stood up to the Godless atheists in the Chinese Communist Party.  Then there was the matters like the way a submarine contract was cancelled (costing the taxpayer a few hundred million) and the “robodebt” scandal (which turned out to be unlawful) which cost an as yet uncertain millions more.  Robodebt also exposed the contrast between his attitude to poor people who might be entitled to small welfare payments and that towards corporations which benefited from COVID-19 payments intended for those suffering certain defined losses in revenue.  When it was pointed out many companies which had received millions actually increased their revenue during the pandemic, Mr Morrison made it clear they could keep the money.  Maybe poor people should become Liberal Party donors.

Thumbnails of Lindsay Lohan image files in a sub-directory.

Video

Video (pronounced vid-ee-oh)

(1) A visual product (usually moving images), with or without audio, saved on some form of playable media.

(2) The visual element (film, television etc), as in a program or script, pertaining to the transmission or reception of the image (as distinct from audio).

(3) The visual component of any transmission.

(4) Of or relating to the electronic apparatus for producing the television pictures; of or relating to television, especially the visual elements.

(5) A clipping of video cassette or video cassette recorder (VCR).

1935: From the Latin video (I see), first person singular present indicative of vidēre (to see), on the model of “Audio”, thus the appended –o.  The adjective came into use in 1935 (as the visual equivalent of audio) while the noun in the sense of “that which is displayed on a television screen” dates from the early British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) transmissions in 1937; the early form used by the technical staff was “video transmission” echoing “audio transmission” in radio.  The first known instance of “videogame” in print dates from 1973 although by then consumer products have been available for some eighteen months and it’s possible that among developers or users, the term had earlier been in use.  Whereas all audio (tapes, clips, grabs etc) contain exclusively sound, a quirk of video media is that most contain both visual and audio content; in practice, this cause no confusion because the conventions are well-understood.  Other conventions have also evolved.  Movie obviously has some overlap with video a some long-form commercial product (such as the typical feature film) would always be described as a “movie” or a “film” rather than a video bit if the same thing exists on tape or optical media, it will often be called a “video”, especially if on tape (videotape the generic term).  In an optical disc it’s more likely to be called a DVD, a product which in 1995 actually began life as the “Digital Video Disc” but was soon renamed “Digital Versatile Disc” because the eight-fold increase in capacity compared to the CD (Compact Disc) meant they were a convenient low-cost storage option in computing.  Even discs in the more recent Blu-Ray optical format appear often to be called “DVDs” at the consumer level, an indication Blu-Ray came too late to gain critical mass as the industry switched to streaming and weightless distribution to static libraries.  The videocassette (more often used as video + cassette) seems first to have been mentioned in patent application documents in 1970, the Videocassette recorder (VCR) first available at the consumer level in 1971.

Many of the futurists who predicted something like the internet got much right but few predicted the upload aspect of sites like YouTube and TikTok, the conjunction of a high percentage of the population enjoying both the possession of a video camera and access to bandwidth meaning that within years there were billions of content providors, many of whom found an audience.  Such videos are rarely called “movies” and are described variously with terms like “videos”, “clips”, “vids” or “shorts”.  Modifiers have been applied to “video” to created whatever meaning is needed including direct-to-video, full-motion video, home video, martyrdom video, video arcade, video camera, video clip, video conference, video game, video journalism, video nasty, videographer, video-jockey, videotape and videogram.  Video is a noun, verb & adjective, videoing & videoed are verbs; the noun plural is videos or videmus.  The plural videmus (the first-person plural form of the Latin verb) is rare and used usually for humorous effect.

Video meliora, proboque, deteriora sequor

The Latin phrase video meliora, proboque, deteriora sequor (“I see better things and I approve, I follow worse things” and better understood as “I know what I'm going to do is wrong but I'm going to do it anyway”) is from the Roman Poet Ovid’s (Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BC–17 AD) Metamorphoses, appearing in a passage in which Medea acknowledges her obligations towards her father and homeland but decides anyway to desert her people and run off with Jason.  Poets and others have since used the words to refer to those who know right from wrong and choose to do wrong, the purpose to illustrate either human weakness or immorality.  In English, the best known of the authors who cited the phrase are the worthy John Locke (1632–1704) and the deliciously wicked Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679); earlier, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354–430) couldn’t resist, noting “he sees what the rectitude of actions requires and he wants it and is  

Lindsay Lohan and her lawyer in court, Los Angeles, December 2011.

Video meliora, proboque, deteriora sequor appears in The Wise Virgins (1914), the second novel published by Leonard Woolf (1880–1969) and a work which until re-published a decade after his death was neglected and tended to be assessed only as the catalyst for what proved the worst of the breakdowns suffered by his wife, the novelist Virginia Woolf (née Stephen; 1882–1941).  The book was released two years after their marriage, the first drafts begun during their honeymoon in Spain; something which over the years has drawn the odd wry comment.  The autobiographical elements were undisguised, the subjects the two newly-wed protagonists and a supporting cast drawn from the Bloomsbury set and although for decades dismissed, it’s regarded now as an engaging satire of the last days of the pre-1914 world of English society.  For the modern reader, it’s a compelling tragedy, a tale of someone who attempts to escape society’s conventions but through his own weakness of character finds himself trapped in that very world.

Leonard and Virginia Woolf, a photographic postcard, Dalingridge Place, West Hoathly, Sussex, 23 July 1912.

Commercially, The Wise Virgins was a failure and Leonard Woolf took the opportunity to blame the unfortunate timing of publication: “The war killed it dead” he recorded in his autobiography, not bothering to list the work in the index.  There’s long been the idea he wasn’t unhappy to see it buried; Virginia Woolf read The Wise Virgins three months after publication and although with the bloodless austerity of a don she noted in her diary that the work was “very good in some ways and very bad in others”, within a fortnight she descended into what would prove the worst of her many breakdowns (the one, feminist critics seem most to relish discussing) during which she rejected her husband, refusing for some two months to see him.  Virginia Woolf's own works, including her two fictional portraits based on him are more sympathetic to his memory, his character in The Wise Virgins perhaps a portrait of what he imagined he might have been had he not repressed his worse impulses and certainly, Leonard Woolf’s reputation has not suffered like that of Ted Hughes (1930–1998; Poet Laureate 1984-2008) after the suicide of his wife Sylvia Plath (1932-1963).  As with many a roman-à-clef, one must always be conscious that much is fiction but it’s a tale of the fate of another flawed man and the quote from Ovid is not misplaced.

Can

Can (pronounced kan)

(1) A sealed container for food, beverages etc, by convention made from aluminum, iron coated with tin or another metal (has now become a common form even on parts of the English-speaking world where “tin” was the traditional use (the form “tin can” covering all bases).

(2) A receptacle for garbage, ashes, etc (often as “trash can”)

(3) A bucket, pail, or other container used usually for holding or carrying liquids.

(4) A drinking cup; a tankard.

(5) A shallow, cylindrical (usually aluminum, cardboard or plastic) container made in various sizes and used for storing and handling film on cores or reels (often used in the phrase “in the can” to indicate the completion of something).

(6) In slang (mildly vulgar), of US military origin, the latrine; the toilet.

(7) In slang, jail; prison (often in the phrase “in the can”).

(8) In slang (mildly vulgar), the buttocks (always in the plural).

(9) In audio engineering, a set of headphones which cover the ears (always in the plural).

(10) In admiralty slang, a depth charge (in the US Navy used also as a slang term for a destroyer, the “utility” warship in size historically between a frigate and cruiser).

(11) In slang, to discard something; to throw away.

(12) In slang, to throw something away;

(13) In slang, to stop something (a project, discussion etc).

(14) In many places, an alternative to “canx” as an abbreviation for “cancelled” (notably by those who have standardized on three-character codes)

(15) In military ordnance, a standard abbreviation for “canon”.

(16) For some purposes, the abbreviation for “Canada” & “Canadian”.

(17) To be able to; to possess the necessary qualifications, skill or knowledge; to know how to; to have the power, authority or means to.

(18) To have the possibility.

(19) To know (obsolete).

(20) To seal a substance (usually food) in a can; to preserve by sealing in a can (can also be used of substances stored in glass jars etc.

(21) In slang, to dismiss from employment; to fire.

(22) In film & television, to record on film, tape or some other medium (based on the physical “cans” in which films were stored).

Pre 900: From the Middle English, from the Old English cunnan (to know, know how) and cognate with the German & Gothic kann (know), the Old Norse kunna, Old High German kunnan, the Latin cognōscere (to know) and the Sanskrit jānāti (he knows).  The use to describe the receptacle emerged some decades later and was from the Middle English canne, can & cane, from the Old English canne and cognate with the German Kanne, the Old Norse and Old High German kanna, the Irish gann and the Swedish kana, all of which may be of West Germanic origin.  In the Late Latin, a canna was a “small drinking vessel”.  Can is a verb & noun, canned & canning are verbs; the noun plural is cans.

In Singlish, “can” is a versatile word.  Singlish (the construct a portmanteau of Sin(gapore) + (Eng)lish)) is still known by some language specialists as Colloquial Singaporean English but the blend is a more popular description and aligns the variation with flavors like Spanglish (Spanish influenced English), Hinglish (Hindi influenced English) & Konglish (Korean influenced English).  In Singapore, Singlish is used in parallel with Singaporean Standard English (differing usually from British English only in the accents although standards in the Far East tend generally to be higher) and it’s been documented since the 1960s although the linguistic tradition is much older.  In Singlish, the meaning of “can” can vary according to the relationship between the speakers and the tone of voice used although essentially it means “yes”, the nuances learned through use. For example Can or not? means “Can you do this?” to which the reply is Can (yes).  As a politeness, that might be responded to by Can meh? (Are you sure?), the expected answer being Can lah! (Yes of course!).  Inevitably, that begat Cannot lah!

In idiomatic use, a “can of worms” is a complicated, difficult, distasteful problem and if applied in retrospect it’s often of something which proved insoluble.  To “carry the can” is to take responsibility for something (particularly if challenging or troublesome); when used in the form “left carrying the can” it implies the task has been “dumped on one”, all others having evaded task.  It’s believed “carry the can” has its origin in the undesirable task of “latrine duty” in the military which required one literally to carry away from the temporary latrines “cans of shit” (also the origin of “can” as a slang word for “toilet”.  To “kick the can down the road” is delay dealing with a problem, the idea being of not then picking up the can as one eventually must.  “In the can” indicates something is complete, arranged, agreed or finalized and was from film production, the cores or reels of processed and edited films being stored “in the can” (a shallow, cylindrical (usually aluminum, cardboard or plastic) container made in various sizes to suit different film stocks.  To be a “can do” sort of person is to be dynamic, positive and anxious to accept a challenge.  The politician Campbell Newman (b 1963; premier of the Australian state of Queensland 2012-2015) described himself as “Can do Campbell” and enjoyed a fine election victory but it ended badly; in the next he suffered one of the bigger landslides in modern political history losing even his own seat.  “Canned laughter” was the process by which “laughter tracks” were spliced into the recordings of television comedies for subsequent broadcast, emulating a live (and appreciative) audience.  It’s often been regarded cynically but all the research suggests it really did work.  The popular phrase ”no can do” indicates an inability or unwillingness to do something.

Yes we can

Barack Obama (b 1961; US president 2009-2017) more than once observed he thought the speeches he wrote were better than any which came from his speechwriters and one can see his point but one of the reasons his presidency is regarded as insubstantial is that his words were more impressive than his deeds.  He was elected president and awarded the Nobel Prize for the same reason: He wasn’t George W Bush (George XLIII, b 1946; US president 2001-2009).  He promised much, exemplified by the phrase “…yes, we can” which expertly he worked into a speech he delivered in Nashua, New Hampshire on 8 January 2008, during the Democratic primaries while campaigning against crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013) for the party’s nomination:

…and tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America — the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes, we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes, we can.

When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes, we can.

When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes, we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes, we can.

A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes, we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves: If our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time — to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

As a rhetorical device, the repetition of “yes we can” worked well and he deserves credit also for the skill with which it was delivered; few US politicians since Ronald Reagan (1911-2004, US president 1981-1989) have shown such a flair for timing and effect and Reagan had the advantage of decades of practice under the tutelage of some of the best film directors.  But in office, reality bit and Obama soon understood why so many of his predecessors had commented that one surprise as president was how difficult it was to get anything done and the more that involved change, the harder it was.  On the night, “yes we can” thrilled many but among Republicans and even some factions in his own party, the spirit was somewhere between “no we probably shouldn’t” and “no we won’t”.  Still, he may have convinced himself because in his farewell address in Chicago in January 2017 he reprised “yes we can” before pausing for effect and adding “…yes we did”.  Dutifully, the audience applauded.

Soda agnostic Lindsay Lohan with (clockwise from top left) can of Rehab, can of Coca-Cola, can of Red Bull, Can of Pink Ginseng, can of Sunkist Soda & can of Pepsi Cola.  The car in the "Rehab" shot is a 2006 Mercedes-Benz SL 65 (R230; 2004-2011) which, flachkühlered, would later feature in the tabloids after a low-speed crash.

In the matter of can & may.

"Can" and "may" are modal verbs and the grammar Nazis police their use with some relish and for those who care about such things, there are frequent instances of misuse.  Can & may are sometimes interchangeable: just about anywhere on the planet it can at some time rain but it’s as correct to say it may at some time rain.  In some cases too, neither can nor may might be the appropriate word to use even if both are grammatically correct:  It’s really not helpful to ask: “Can I believe anything said by crooked Hillary Clinton?” or “May I believe anything said by crooked Hillary Clinton?” because the better choice is “Should I believe anything said by crooked Hillary Clinton?”  The answer is of course: “No”.  Still, the general principle is “can” is used of possibilities and “may” of permissions”, illustrated by the companion sentences “I can swim” & “May I go swimming”.  One of the quirks of English which may account for some the undue popularity of “can” is that while can’t has since the eighteen century been one of the language’s most commonly used contractions, “mayn’t is listed by most authorities as rare or archaic (though extinct might more reflect reality).  That was probably because can’t more effortlessly rolls from the tongue.

Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), acrylic with metallic enamel paint on canvas by Andy Warhol (1928–1987).

One of the landmarks of pop-art, Warhol’s Campbell's Soup Cans (1962), is a piece which depends for its effect, not on its content but its intent and there was a randomness of chance in the choice of subject.  The artist explained it by revealing for some twenty years he’d been having a can of the stuff for his lunch, thereby accounting for the motif of “the same thing over and over again”, a idea he’d reprise with variations for the rest of his life.  Had his habit been to enjoy sardines for lunch instead, the painting would have looked different but the meaning would not have changed.  It’s was also an coincidence of capitalism that 32 cans appear, that happening because at the time the company offered that many flavors but had they offered 36, the work would have contained that many.  Presumably, had the range been 29, 31 or some other number symmetrically more challenging things might have differed in detail but the concept would have survived.  Repeating the nearly identical image, the canvases stress the uniformity and ubiquity of the product’s packaging and subvert the idea of painting as a medium of invention and originality.  Although pop-art had at the time a newness about it, Campbell's Soup Cans was another step in the path art had taken since 1917 when Marcel Duchamp (1887–1968) had submitted a porcelain urinal for display in an art gallery, his purpose being to have people question whether art was defined by what it was or the context in which it appeared.  Does anything become art if it's put in an art gallery?  It was an confronting question and we’ve been living with its implications since, none more so than Ted Cruz (b 1970; US senator (Republican-Texas) since 2013), cans of "Campbell's Big'n Chunky Soup" his favorite food.  In 2016 he told US Weekly: "When I'm away from the family, in Washington DC, my dinner is a can of soup.  I have dozens in the pantry" and in that count he may be being untypically modest; his wife revealed that after their honeymoon, he returned from a trip to the grocery store with (literally) 100 cans. 

Campbell's Soup (Limited Editions).

On several occasions, the Campbell brand has taken advantage of the famous association and produced editions of soup cans with Warhol style labels complete with the artist's printed signature.  The first two runs used color schemes close to those which appeared in the 1962 work but the most recent was rather more garish with some changes to the layout.  A notable difference was the customers weren’t required to purchase 32, the cans sold individually.  In a development which Warhol would doubtless have applauded, the cans soon appeared on sites like eBay for three figure US$ sums, a healthy appreciation for their original RRP between US$1-2.