In this episode, we look at clothing and fashion in the Elizabethan era, and we examine the connection between clothing, custom and language. We also examine Shakespeare’s plays about the lives of Julius Caesar and Henry V of England. Along the way, we also explore how Elizabethan clothing conventions influenced the structure and presentation of those plays. Works discussed in this episode include:
Henry V – William Shakespeare
Julius Caesar – William Shakespeare
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yw0bLHTOb0
Thought you might like to hear this regarding your development of the term trousers.
Certainly I used the term trooser as a lad.
From your avid listener;-)
I’m finding this episode especially interesting and fun.
I’ve done some writing on the 14th c. Middle English work *The Cloud of Unknowing,* about contemplative practice and meditation. In it I included a footnote about the word “habit,” prompted by the Cloud author’s emphasis on examining our habits of thinking and conceiving. (In Middle English, by the way, the word “concept” was often spelled “conceit.”)
Here’s the footnote:
“Habit” is an interesting word. It comes from the Latin *habere,* which meant “to have” or “to hold.” In English “to habit” used to mean “to live in” (you can still can see that in the words “inhabit” and “habitat”). But when it comes to us having a habit of thought—or a habit of mind, or a habit of knowing—the situation is more than just having the things we experience as objects within our heads. It’s not like our minds are just containers which hold things inside them; the things that we think and know aren’t merely items that our minds “possess.” It’s almost the other way around: instead of our minds possessing the things that we think and know, just as often it’s the case that what we think and know “possesses” our minds. We tend to live inside of what we believe we know, and in that way what we believe we know becomes our “habitation.”
“Addiction” of course is another meaning associated with “habit.” And still another is “to clothe” or “to have a typical outfit,” as in a riding habit or a nun’s habit. I think all those associations are worth keeping in mind when we consider the habits of our knowing. (And I’m aware that the idiom I’ve just used is kind of ironic—what I’ve said in effect is “keep in mind how your mind is kept by what’s in it.”)
I recently discovered this podcast and just wanted to let you know how great I think it is!!! Always interesting, well-researched and narrated. I am excited to listen to all of the episodes. Thank you!
Australia: “Strides”
In Ireland, these reflexive pronouns can also be used as direct pronouns. The person is question is inferred [1] by the questioner and known to the person being being asked.
It is generally colloquial and a degree of closeness or informality is assumed. The Irish can be very informal to strangers as it is.
Examples include:
‘Is herself at home’ — ‘Is your wife/mother/sister/girlfriend home?’ And the ‘herself’ in this context is very much dependent on who is asking. One also asks down (or on the same level as) and not up. I would never refer to a close friend’s mother as ‘herself’ but I might do to her daughter/sister/etc. if I knew them well.
‘I’m looking for himself. Do you know where I’ll find the lazy sod’ — Likewise.
‘Is that yourself?’ is rhetorical and stands a greeting.
[1] Or maybe it is ‘implied’. I have forgotten the distinction between the two.
Great episode!
The first time I encountered a reference to the St. Crispin’s Day speech was as a throw-away line in, of all places, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I watched about a decade after it aired. About two-thirds of the way through the seven seasons of that show, Buffy and her compatriots were about to head out and battle against a powerful entity. Her compatriots were not enthusiastic given that their prospects of success were not hopeful. Buffy gave a “get off your duff” speech, which was hardly rousing. One of the two British characters, Spike, looked at the other Bit, Giles, and said “that was hardly a St. Crispin’s Day speech” (or something to that effect). Given that this was in the era of the internet, I knew those words meant something, and within a minute or two found an explanation.
In a much earlier episodes of the History of English you explained about inflexions (I was unaware that they existed!). As an example, I think you also explained why Caesar used “Brute” rather than the name Brutus in “E tu, Brute?” For me, it was all an ah-hah moment. All this gives me a chuckle because one of the last times I have heard “E tu, Brute?”, aside from relistening to this episode, was in Robin Williams rapid fire character of the Genie in Disney’s Alladin. All good thoughts!
Again, great episode.