Christine’s Hello

Each issue of Lovatts crossword magazines begins with a welcoming “Hello!” from Christine Lovatt. The columns contain fascinating insights into our wonderful  language; its history, idiosyncrasies, the things that we delight in and the things that drive us mad!  You can read some of Christine’s columns from the past here and a new one will be added each month.

Recent articles from Christine Lovatt

• Colossus 255 – Hello
• Colossus 244 – Hello
• Colossus 240 – Hello
• Colossus 235 – Hello
• Colossus 230 – Hello

Colossus 255 – Hello

Last modified on 2012-05-02 00:41:22 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

Reader Steve Stevenson recently queried our clue ‘Iris’ for the answer fleur-de-lis. He felt it should be lily, not iris.

Both Oxford and Collins dictionaries, our main sources, have two definitions for fleur-de-lis – ’stylised lily as a French heraldic charge’ and ‘iris’.

Although fleur-de-lis translates as ‘flower of the lily’, it doesn’t refer to a flower but to the well-known symbol (right) which is widely thought to be a stylised version of the species Iris pseudacorus and when you look at this diagram of the iris you can see that the fleur-de-lis looks more like an iris than a lily.

In the days when the French, or Franks, lived around the Luts river in the Netherlands, they were surrounded by beautiful irises growing on the river banks. French naturalist Sauvages wrote that when the kings needed a suitable symbol for their coat-of-arms they chose the flower that was familiar to them. The original name was fleur-de-Luts after the river, ‘flower of the river of Luts’. This fits in with the archaic spelling fleur-de-luce formerly used in England.

However, the fleur-de-lis is also thought of as a lily, so in a Lovatts crossword you may see the clue ‘iris’ or ‘heraldry lily’. The fleur-de-lis is a very popular symbol on many European flags and coats-of-arms. It is sometimes used in the Christian religion to represent the Trinity. Interior designers and architects often use it as a repeated motif, in wall cutouts or on wallpaper. On a compass rose it is used to mark the north direction.

The plural is fleurs-de-lis and features prominently in the Crown Jewels and Sir Walter Scott mentions it in his poem The Lay of the Last Minstrel:

“The treasured fleur-de-luce he claims
To wreathe his shield, since royal James”.

Happy Puzzling!

Colossus 244 – Hello

Last modified on 2012-03-20 22:19:29 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

The word mythology comes from the Greek mythos (story) + logy (study). Ancient mythology has given us many popular expressions as well as a plentiful supply of crossword clues.

By Jove! is an exclamation indicating surprise or agreement that first appeared in the late 16th century. Jove is an older Roman name for Jupiter, the Roman king of gods. Jupiter derives from the Latin Jovis pater, meaning ‘father Jove’.

To make a Herculean effort is to overcome an intense and difficult task.This comes from the famous Greek hero Hercules, son of Zeus and Alcmene. After conquering twelve almost impossible tasks set for him by King Eurystheus, Hercules was noted for his great strength and courage.

To have the knack of making money in every venture is to have the Midas touch. Midas, king of Phrygia was rewarded by Dionysus with one wish for showing kindness to one of his followers. Midas wished that everything he touched would turn to gold. Unfortunately for Midas, his food turned to gold when he touched it, and he bitterly regretted his choice.

Pandora’s box is a source of troubles to come. Zeus created Pandora, the first mortal woman, and sent her to Epimetheus with a box that was not to be opened. When curiosity got the better of her, Pandora opened the lid and afflictions were spread over the earth.

To be in love is to be struck by Cupid. Cupid, the Roman god of love and son of Venus, used his bow to shoot arrows of desire into the bosoms of both gods and human beings.

To have an Achilles’ heel is to have a weakness or vulnerable point. After being told her baby Achilles would die in battle from an arrow, his mother Thetis dipped Achilles into the River Styx, which was said to offer powers of invincibility. His heel, which she was holding him by, did not get wet. He survived many battles, but one day, was shot in this heel with a poisonous arrow and died instantly.

I’m sure you’ll find it won’t take a Herculean effort to complete the crossword competitions in this month’s Colossus (in stores now or available online).

Happy puzzling!

Colossus 240 – Hello

Last modified on 2011-12-21 04:34:57 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

One of the ways Christmas has changed over the years is the time spent together as a family making preparations. I’m sure many of you remember helping your mother to make the Christmas cakes, pudding and mince pies, or helping your father to bring in the Christmas tree and put up the lights. It seemed to be a warmer and more festive holiday. With all the hustle and bustle of the modernday Christmas, some of the special spirit of the season has disappeared.

Nowadays, many households don’t have the time or energy to cook those old-fashioned dishes. We can buy any Christmas goodies in the supermarket all ready to eat. The tree is often an artificial one, to make life easier. Yet it’s not easier, because we spend so much time shopping, for various treats and for presents.

It’s a sign of the times, it’s happening everywhere and it’s no good moaning about the good old days, I know. But wouldn’t it be fun to have an old-time Christmas once again? One tradition I remember is everyone in the family taking a turn stirring the mixture, for the cake.

Another one was decorating the tree together and on Christmas Day, playing board games, or doing the holiday crossword in the paper, everyone calling out clues.

We also went to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, something we haven’t done for many years now. It was exciting as a child to be allowed to stay up so late. But if my parents were hoping it would make us sleep in the next morning, they were sorely disappointed.

Of course life wasn’t perfect in those days, especially when one of the tree lights didn’t work and tempers got a little frayed, or when Uncle Bob had too much to drink and knocked over the Scrabble board. Or the Christmas tree.

However you spend your Christmas, I wish you all a well-deserved break, and hope you find some of the magic of the season still exists in your household.

From everyone here at Lovatts, we wish you a…

Happy Christmas!

Colossus 235 – Hello

Last modified on 2011-09-29 23:33:58 GMT. 1 comment. Top.

One of the joys of living in this day and age is that we don’t have to wear restrictive clothing any more. Gone are the corsets for women, while the collar and tie for men are rarely worn outside of business hours. When I was growing up, my father wore a collar and tie every day, even on holidays!

The word collar comes from the Latin collum meaning ‘neck’ and refers to the band attached to a shirt or dress that wraps around the neck. Or it may be a detachable band, like the clerical collar.

Collars were probably first used thousands of years ago, to domesticate animals and to subjugate slaves, but the shirt collar originated from the ruffle created by the drawstring at the neck of the chemise, an undershirt which was worn to save having to launder the outer clothes frequently.

Many different forms evolved, eg the Elizabethan ruff favoured by men and women such as Queen Elizabeth.

Later, many of the collars, such as the Eton collar, were high, stiff and buttoned, and very uncomfortable. The writerHG Wells, in his 1902 book Kipps, commented on stand-up collars that ‘they made the neck quite sore and left a red mark under the ears’.

Sailors were luckier, because the sailor collar is more comfortable with a deep V-neck in front and square at the back. The mandarin collar is a small upright collar based on the traditional Manchu garment while the Peter Pan collar is small and round-cornered.

The clerical collar, a white band of plastic or cotton, has evolved from vestments worn by priests of the early Christian church. Sometimes the collar is in the form of a vestigial tab, a square cutout in the shirt collar, often known as a Roman collar.

Collars were often used to symbolise rank and wealth, as you see from this verse of Robert Burns:
“His locked, lettered, braw brass collar
Shewed him the gentleman and scholar.”
In this case, ‘he’ was a dog, and collars have been used on dogs since at least the days of the Egyptian empire, when the dog was highly regarded and purebred dogs wore jewelled collars. In Britain, shepherd dogs wore spiked collars to protect them from wolves.

The colour of the collar is used as a political term to indicate the sort of work the wearer does. Blue-collar workers perform manual labour, white-collar workers usually work in offices and green-collar workers are in environmentally friendly jobs. Black collars are for miners and oil workers, and gold collars are supposedly worn by doctors, lawyers and other highly skilled professionals. There’s even the frayed-collar workers, the working poor on a minimum wage.

So don’t get hot under the collar if you get collared by somebody – maybe for having lipstick on your collar (the title of Dennis Potter’s famous musical TV mini-series).

Happy Puzzling!

Colossus 230 – Hello

Last modified on 2011-05-04 06:05:01 GMT. 0 comments. Top.

In Old English, wapman once meant man and wifman meant woman. Man referred to a human being of either gender. Gradually man came to stand for a male and wifman evolved into both woman and wife.

Wife once meant woman, such as in midwife or fishwife, and only came to mean married woman in relatively recent times. Lady comes from Old English hlafdige meaning mistress of a household or wife of a lord, but it literally means one who kneads bread, from hlaf – loaf and dige maker of dough.

Maiden meant young girl or spinster (old maid) and comes from the German mädchen meaning girl. The abbreviation maid which was used in names such as Maid Marian, now generally means a hotel cleaner. Maid of honour originally meant unmarried lady of noble birth who attends a queen or princess but eventually came to mean chief bridesmaid.

Bride comes from the Gothic word root brubs which meant daughter-in-law, because of the ancient custom of a married woman going to live with her husband’s family. The only newly-wed female in a household would be the new daughter-in-law. It may even be related to the word root bru which gives us brew, or make broth, because this was the job of the daughter-in-law. Aren’t you glad that some customs have changed?

We don’t often hear the word uxorious, which means being excessively fond of your wife. But there’s also a word for the murder of your wife – uxoricide.

Happy puzzling!