Certain people within my life have a tendency to overuse particular words. I myself confess to an overuse of "meanwhile". Others overuse words as diverse as "blah blah", "dommage" and the ever charming "neat" (you know who you are). As endearing as these might be, it is the use by a certain young man of my acquaintance of "huzzah" and other such archaic exclamations that most tickles my fancy.
Here is another place, and in a similar spirit, this word is used:
Book III. (Duodecimo), chapter 1. (Huzza Porpoise).—This is the common porpoise found almost all over the globe. The name is of my own bestowal; for there are more than one sort of porpoises, and something must be done to distinguish them. I call him thus, because he always swims in hilarious shoals, which upon the broad sea keep tossing themselves to heaven like caps in a Fourth-of-July crowd. Their appearance is generally hailed with delight by the mariner. Full of fine spirits, they invariably come from the breezy billows to windward. They are the lads that always live before the wind. They are accounted a lucky omen. If you yourself can withstand three cheers at beholding these vivacious fish, then heaven help ye; the spirit of godly gamesomeness is not in ye. A well-fed, plump Huzza Porpoise will yield you one good gallon of good oil. But the fine and delicate fluid extracted from his jaws is exceedingly valuable. It is in request among jewellers and watchmakers. Sailors put it on their hones. Porpoise meat is good eating, you know. It may never have occurred to you that a porpoise spouts. Indeed, his spout is so small that it is not very readily discernible. But the next time you have a chance, watch him; and you will then see the great Sperm whale himself in miniature.
From: Moby Dick - Herman Melville
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4 comments:
My darling, it's nice to see that my utterances are backed up by canonical literary authority and reminds me of the fact that, much to my chagrin, I have never read Moby Dick.
I've also read that in propoise was a delicacy much prized by the Enlgish monarchy, and whenever porpoises were seen swimming up the Thames they would be caught and served up for the royal supper...
Presumably the porpoises were so popular for that porpoise because of the English predeliciton for puns?
CVM, ma belle, may I congratulate you for bringing the tail of the wail into the bloggosphere. Dare I say, huzzaaaah!
As for you, signor anonymous (I KNOW WHO YOU ARE): I can't believe you have never read Moby Dick! And you call(ed) yourself a semiologist. Hang your head...xx
i came upon your blog after googling "french expressions of joy," mainly because i forgot everything i learned in high school and i also met a pretty french girl who already likes my pronunciation, but i can't hold a conversation yet which is something i'd like to be doing with her. on facebook. anyway; i got a hoity-toitster vibe immediately, like the assuming dick i am, then decided to put up my judgments and read the damn page for reading's sake. just stop labelling everything you see. if you were 5 years old would you think that? no. be as accepting as a 5 year old. so i read your post. and it was amazing. you have an incredibly romantic way in every inch of your own writing, and that was a brilliant choice in quote. i love it all. so i just wanted to say, due to that feeling of me needing to be much more accepting and trusting of the world, i maybe had a small breakthrough in my head, and it was perhaps entirely thanks to stumbling upon, if you will, your blog. and i thank you for that.
regards and muchly thanking ye wif grace, guts, and even some glory,
zach
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