Tuesday Word: hart

[ellesieg.livejournal.com]

While on solo walks, I entertain myself by wondering why I thought it was a good idea to leave the house when it's 90+ degrees out with over 80% humidity, counting cats (best walk: 12.5 cats per mile/25.5 cats per hour!), and evaluating the reliability of street names. Lakeside? BY THE RIVER. Snowhill? In coastal South Carolina? Yeah, right. Oak? Oak trees, though I can think of several other streets more deserving of the name. Elm? Elm trees! Laurel? Laurels! Winding? S-shaped! Hart? Not a hart to be found.

Hart, a deer, a maaaaallle deer -- not as catchy as the original, but accurate. It comes from the Old English heorot, "deer," and generally applies to a male deer that is at least five years old, or a mature male deer, particularly a red deer. A hart of grease is a fat hart. A hart royal is a hart that has been pursued by a member of a royal family, which is awesome and something that should really be extended to humans. A queen chases down a taxi? The driver is a now a cabbie royal! A prince is frustrated with poor restaurant restaurant service and decides to track down his waiter? Waiter royal! Someone buy me a plane ticket to England so I can get a job that will lead to an opportunity to be rude to a royal. Marketable skills and a steady work history are alright, but my resume could use some color.

Comments

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

What I've never been clear on is when something's a hart or a stag.

---L.

[ellesieg.livejournal.com]

Or are they synonymous? I think I'll go with a stag being a lone male deer or one spotted with other male deer and a hart being a deer seen with does or a mix of male and female deer until someone can set this straight!

[med_cat]

Thank you for the laugh :)

Are there that many stray cats in South Carolina? I mostly meet squirrels, birds, and an occasional rabbit on my walks ;)

[ellesieg.livejournal.com]

Anytime! Or, you know, on the occasional Tuesday. :D

I think they all have owners, since it's always the same cats in the same yards. It's hard to be sure, though; there are a lot of neighborhoods here (mostly older and/or less well-off ones) where indoor/outdoor cats are still the norm.

[med_cat]

Ah I see :)