Questions for 22 - 24 December

[vilakins]

A fun and relaxed (and possibly also merry, as that means "pleasantly tipsy" to me) Christmas to all who celebrate it!

It's just past the summer solstice which means it doesn't get dark till 9:30 down here, yet there are still a few people who light up their houses US-style. I hope they do it again at Matariki (our latest holiday) next year; we so

Comments

[jhall1]

Was Oamaru perhaps originally settled by a lot of people from Scotland, as I've always assumed that "wee" started out as a Scottish dialect word meaning "small"? (As in "wee sleekit cowering beastie", if I'm quoting from Robert Burns' poem about a mouse correctly.)

Thanks for the good wishes; I wish you the same.

[vilakins]

It was indeed - everything that happens here has bagpipes. The word's used for a lot more than "tiny" though, unlike with Burns's mouse. (And yes, there's a Burns Society here.) I'm just waiting till someone mentions the "wee" pandemic, though I've heard it's been a bad wee year.

[jhall1]

It sounds like it must be one of those words that, like Covid, has undergone a mutation.

[jaxomsride]

Well its easy to see what nationality settled your local area. Scottish use of wee has morphed beyond referring to small
https://joyclarkson.com/home/2017/11/7/some-wee-scottish-phrases
From an American who lives in Scotland.

[vilakins]

Oh, yes! All our festivals (when not cancelled) have bagpipes. Thanks for that. I've been coming myself to the realisation that it's a softening word, primarily used by women though I've also heard it from men.