Word of the Week: Acanthus

 

From Wikipedia: 

Acanthus (ornament) - "In architecture, an ornament is carved into stone or wood to resemble leaves from the Mediterranean species of the Acanthus genus of plants, which have deeply cut leaves with some similarity to those of the thistle and poppy. Both Acanthus mollis and the still more deeply cut Acanthus spinosus have been claimed as the main model, and particular examples of the motif may be closer in form to one or the other species; the leaves of both are in any case rather variable in form. The motif is found in decoration in nearly every medium. These sculptures were made from 75 BCE through 15 BCE."

Or

Acanthus (plant) - "Acanthus is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants in the family Acanthaceae, native to tropical and warm temperate regions, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean Basin and Asia. Common names include Acanthus and Bear's breeches. The generic name is derived from the Greek word ακανθος (acanthos), meaning 'thorny.'"

File this under things I probably should have known something about with my background in architecture but  I don't recall seeing this plant much before living in the Northwest. What a weird looking thing. It looks like it a stalk full of little hungry mouths eating bugs or something. And yet it's commonly carved into column capitals. The plants I've been seeing around Portland are also called "Spiny Bear's Breeches," a cute name.

Word of the Week: Saison

 

(Gigantic Image via BeverStateBeer: http://beaverstatebeer.com/its-going-to-be-huge-gigantic-brewery-opens/) ; Upright Brewing via leapbeer: http://leapbeer.wordpress.com/2012/05/26/leapbeer-review-150-five-by-upright-brewing-company/ )

Lots of beer festivals going on, and it's acting like summer weather-wise. This means I'm learning new beer words lately. The latest is Saison, From Wikipedia: 


Saison (French, "season") is the name originally given to low-alcohol pale ales brewed seasonally in farmhouses in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, for farm workers during harvest season^{[citation needed]}. Modern-day saisons are also brewed in other countries, particularly the USA, and are generally bottle conditioned, with an average range of 5 to 8% abv,^[1] though saisons at the more traditional 3.5% strength can still be found.

Word of the Week: Peplum

   

From The Free Dictionary: 

pep·lum  (pplm)

n. pl. pep·lums

1. A short overskirt or ruffle attached at the waistline of a jacket, blouse, or dress.

2. See peplos.

---

[Latin, robe of state, from Greek peplon, neuter of peplos, peplos.]

And a wikipedia article on the Greek peplos garment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peplos (with amusing and potentially nsfw diagrams.)

This week definitely has a word. I bought the jacket on the left at a used clothing store this week, and found out it was probably the Peplum Jacket from J. Crew. That had me wondering what that word was all about, and now I know. It occurred to me I'm often looking up this type of stuff, so maybe I ought to share it on my blog sometimes. Weekly, hopefully.