Spanish Word of the Day

Quote: Nareed

the word Fierro is a synonym.

Thus the famous Damascus Steel very likely was dirty iron with a lucky content of nickel impurities.

The dictionary says "fierro" could be a slang for knife, gun, branding iron or even a car accelerator or money.

I thought that Damscus steel was an ancient manufacturing technique done over wide geography and over many centuries. I didn't associate it with any particular type of ore.

Quote: Pacomartin

I thought that Damscus steel was an ancient manufacturing technique done over wide geography and over many centuries. I didn't associate it with any particular type of ore.

It may have evolved into that. As I recall, the original Damascus Steel was known more for it's very high quality.

alloys do go back a long way. Bronze, which goes back further than iron, is a an alloy. I'm not sure if it was made like that on purpose or not. Were copper utensils and tools available during the bronze age?

Quote: Nareed

It may have evolved into that. As I recall, the original Damascus Steel was known more for it's very high quality.

alloys do go back a long way. Bronze, which goes back further than iron, is a an alloy. I'm not sure if it was made like that on purpose or not. Were copper utensils and tools available during the bronze age?

A copper pendant was found in northern Iraq that dates back almost 11,000 years before the present. Smelting copper dates back 9,500 years ago. Natural bronze, a type of copper made from ores rich in silicon, arsenic, and (rarely) tin, came into general use in the Balkans around 7,500 years ago. Previously the only tool made of copper had been the awl, used for punching holes in leather and gouging out peg-holes for wood joining. However, the introduction of a more robust form of copper led to the widespread use, and large-scale production of heavy metal tools, including axes.

Alloying copper with tin to make bronze was first practiced roughly 5,500 years ago.

Brass, an alloy of copper and zinc, is of much more recent origin. It was known to the Greeks, but became a significant supplement to bronze during the Roman Empire.

I am not sure when utensils became commonplace.

Quote: Pacomartin

I am not sure when utensils became commonplace.

Not soon enough. I think as late as the early renaissance Europeans ate mostly with their hands.

At the beginning of the 17th century, though, forks were still uncommon in the American colonies. Ward writes that the way Americans still eat comes from the fact that the new, blunt-tipped knives imported to the colonies made it difficult to spear food, as had been the practice. Now they had to use their spoons with their left hand to steady the food while cutting with the right hand, then switch the spoon to the right hand to scoop up a bite. The “zig-zag” method, as Emily Post called it, is particular to Americans.

Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/food/2009/07/a-history-of-western-eating-utensils-from-the-scandalous-fork-to-the-incredible-spork/#ixzz2Us6a3fVJ


Since your family is from Europe, which way do you eat?

Quote: Nareed

Not soon enough. I think as late as the early renaissance Europeans ate mostly with their hands.

I know they assume that at the Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur. However, you can always sneak in your own.

Fecha: 1-6-13
Palabra: Mondadiente

Today's SWD means toothpick. I don't think I need to ask Paco about the etymology this time. Mondar means to peel/clean, and everyone knows that diente means teeth.

The advanced readers can have the day off.

Quote: Wizard

I know they assume that at the Tournament of Kings show at the Excalibur. However, you can always sneak in your own.

I wonder how much money they save by not using silverware. It can't possibly amount to much.

Quote: Wizard

Mondar means to peel/clean.

Well the verb does mean to peel/clean, but it does have a broader meaning

Clean or purify something strange ; clean the bed of a river; pruning; remove the rind to the fruit or beans;cutting someone's hair; coughing repeatedly to clean the chest or throat of mucus before speaking or singing. Colloquial definitions include getting beat up, or being cleaned out of your money.

mondar. (Del lat. mundāre).
1. tr. Limpiar o purificar algo quitándole lo superfluo o extraño mezclado con ello.
2. tr. Limpiar el cauce de un río, canal o acequia.
3. tr. Podar, escamondar.
4. tr. Quitar la cáscara a las frutas, la corteza o piel a los tubérculos, o la vaina a las legumbres.
5. tr. Cortar a alguien el pelo.
6. tr. Carraspear o toser repetidas veces para limpiar el pecho o la garganta de mucosidad antes de hablar o cantar.

colloquial
7. tr. Quitar a alguien lo que tiene, especialmente el dinero.
8. tr. coloq. Azotar, apalear.
9. prnl. coloq. mearse de risa

Mondar is one of those words which are never used in Mexico. A toothpick here is called "palillo de dientes" or just "palillo."