Playing Music 1

[CajunCenturion]

Trumpet, fiddle, oboe, and violin are all musical instruments. Why is it acceptable 'to trumpet' and 'to fiddle', but not 'to oboe' and 'to violin'?

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[Dimandja]

Because the last two haven't made it as verbs?

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[Thadeus]

Point of Information here: violin and fiddle are the same instrument. So fiddling would be violining in a sense.

But to your point, I don't know what got trumpet and fiddle over the edge into verb-dom... And more interesting to me, to non-music associated verbdom.


~Thadeus

 

[SilentAiche]

I think the difference may be because trumpet and fiddle have non-musical meanings, such as "to trumpet the news loudly" or "to fiddle around the house." I don't know which meaning came first, the name of the instrument or the non-musical meanings, but once an infinitive apparently always an infinitive.

Thadeus - A CounterPoint of Information, with a wink: where I'm from, it's a violin when you play Mozart and a fiddle when you play Hank Williams...

THanks,
Tim

 

[mscallisto]

where I'm from, it's a violin when you play Mozart and a fiddle when you play Hank Williams..." I must agree, yet remember never to fiddle with a tuba tooth paste.

 

[jebenson]

To Infinitive and Beyond!

I used to rock and roll every night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find 30 minutes a week in which to get funky. - Homer Simpson

 

[tsdragon]

Speaking of music, when did "duet" become a verb? I was watching a program on "60 Minutes" the other day about a guy who had discovered a new species of monkey. This particular species is monogamous, and the couples "sing" together a lot. The guy who discovered them kept saying that they were "duetting" (I guess that's how it's spelled). Even worse, sometimes they were "duetting together"! Can you duet alone?


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[SilentAiche]

Is it possible they were just singing solos at the same time?

************

"Duetting together" reminded me of one of my own redundancies. A few years ago I was telling my family about an incident that happened at a movie rental store. I began the tale, quite unintentionally, with, "I was standing behind this guy in front of me..." We still laugh about that one.

THanks,
Tim

 

[CajunCenturion]

We need to ban SkipVought from further participation in this thread. "Duet" is not "do it" and with a monogamous pair of monkeys, the last thing we need are Skip's comments about them "duetting together"

Seriously, that's horrible tsdragon. I'm glad I didn't see that piece as I might have destroyed the TV. Maybe we can get 60 Minutes to do an expose on the degradation of English so they can interview themselves.

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[mscallisto]

I believe that was SilentAiche

 

[CajunCenturion]

Not me, I meant SkipVought
His reputation is preceeding him.

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[SkipVought]

If they duet in a trio-baby, what a show!

Skip,

_{[red]Be advised:[/red] The dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac, lays awake all night wondering...
"Is there really a DOG?"}

 

[SilentAiche]

Besides, mscallisto, tsdragon started it!

THanks,
Tim

 

[mscallisto]

You're right tsdragon was fiddling and diddling

 

[sleipnir214]

Thadeus - A CounterPoint of Information, with a wink: where I'm from, it's a violin when you play Mozart and a fiddle when you play Hank Williams...

I am reminded of the riddle:

Q: What's the difference between a violin and a fiddle?
A: People want to listen to fiddle music.

I had the gleeful opportunity to spring that one on a friend who is a professional classical violin player. Oddly, she didn't think it was as funny as I did...


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TANSTAAFL!!

 

[CajunCenturion]

A comparison that I've heard is that violin wants to sing whereas the fiddle wants to dance.

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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SkipVought]

Linda donned her brand new skates upon the ice to frisk.

Wasn't she a silly girl, her little *!

Linda was not only silly, but also very very naughty.

None preferred violin.




Skip,

_{[red]Be advised:[/red] The dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac, lays awake all night wondering...
"Is there really a DOG?"}

 

[SilentAiche]

Sleipnir214: I like the riddle!

BTW, maybe I'm underexposed to too many things, but I had to Google TANSTAAFL to figure out what it meant. Amazingly, there were a bunch of references. I was expecting it to have something to do with Florida (Tampa an St. Augustine...)

Not everything we learn here is about 'puters.

THanks,
Tim

 

[sleipnir214]

SilentAiche:
It's a general comment and an oblique literary reference. It's the motto of the Free Lunar Republic in Heinlein's book, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress[/b].

If you want to irritate a viola player, here's another riddle:

Q: What's the difference between a viola and a violin?
A: A viola burns longer.

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[tsdragon]

His reputation is preceeding him.

As opposed to his reputation following him?

Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.