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buskin (BUS-kin) noun
1. A thick-soled, laced boot, reaching to knee or calf, worn by actors of ancient Greek and Roman tragedies. Also known as cothurnus. 2. A tragic drama. [Perhaps from Middle French brousequin.] Words often form and come to acquire new meaning for peculiar reasons. Because those big shoes were often worn by tragedians, we came to refer to a tragedy itself as a buskin. A counterpart of buskin is sock (a comedy) after soccus, a lightweight low shoe worn by Greek and Roman comic actors. -Anu "`My vein,' wrote Corneille, `often combines the lofty buskin with the comic sock, and ... pleases the audience by striking contrasting notes.'" Linda Winer, Corneille With Kushner's Help, Newsday (New York), Jan 20, 1994. This week's theme: words from theater. Today's AWAD is sponsored by NannyTax, Inc., providing tax compliance services to employers of domestic help. For useful information and a free consultation, please visit: http://www.nannytax.com ............................................................................ Don't confuse fame with success. Madonna is one; Helen Keller is the other. -Erma Bombeck, author (1927-1996) AWAD on your Website: http://wordsmith.org/awad/add.html Gift subscription: http://wordsmith.org/awad/gift.html Bulletin board: http://wordsmith.org/board AWAD archives: http://wordsmith.org/awad/archives.html Pronunciation: http://wordsmith.org/words/buskin.wav http://wordsmith.org/words/buskin.ram
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