mvb has adopted no words, looked up 0 words, created 0 lists, listed 0 words, written 1 comment, added 0 tags, and loved 0 words.
mvb has adopted no words, looked up 0 words, created 0 lists, listed 0 words, written 1 comment, added 0 tags, and loved 0 words.
Comments by mvb
MVB commented on the word wapentake
On the subject of the derivation and definition of the word wapentake, the High School Confidential comment about family insignia is unquestionable. My own comment is simply an esoteric addendum. It involves James Joyce's use of wapentake in Finnegans Wake. You'll find the term on page 30, where Joyce draws the poor reader into an absurd account of the etymology of the main character's name. His first name is Harold or Humphrey, and we don't know which. If we even care to know, wapentake supplies a clue. The taking of family insignia is called heraldry. Yep, we move from obscurity to clarity by dint of a pun.
April 14, 2019