• hurdy-gurdy •
Pronunciation: hêr-di-gêr-di • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: 1. An ancient stringed instrument played by cranking a wheel that rotates beneath a row of strings, then depressing keys to bring the strings in contact with the wheel. 2. A barrel organ, which is also played by turning a crank.
Notes: The nitty gritty of the hurdy-gurdy is that it is a rhyme compound with a plural, hurdy-gurdies, and not much else in terms of derivative relations. An adjective hurdy-gurdyish has been used a few times to refer to music and to someone who looks like the stereotypical hurdy-gurdy player.
In Play: The unfortunate fact of the matter is that the crank on the hurdy-gurdy lowers it in the esteem of music lovers: "Yes, I consider hip-hop to be music—not as good as hurdy-gurdy music—but music." Its reputation was not enhanced by the barrel organ, often referred to as a hurdy-gurdy in the first half of the 20th century. The "organ grinders" who operated them usually had a monkey that would collect coins from passers-by with nothing better to do that to listen to the repetitious music and watch a monkey take their money.
Word History: Today's Good Word is another rhyming compound, like willy-nilly, shilly-shally, and Humpty-Dumpty. It probably was influenced by an older word, no longer used, hirdy-girdy "uproar, disorder", a variant of hiddy-giddy "whirling, confusion", itself a corruption of an earlier heady + giddy. (Let us not dilly-dally in conveying our gratitude to the person known only as Grogie in the Agora, for suggesting today's word.)
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If, as I understand it, the barrel organ was basically a music box run by a hand crank, then I can see what it was disparaged.
The idea of a crank turning a wheel to which the performer could selectively apply the strings is an entirely different matter. A kind of crank-operated violin or such instrument. That could prove interesting to see and hear.
The idea of a crank turning a wheel to which the performer could selectively apply the strings is an entirely different matter. A kind of crank-operated violin or such instrument. That could prove interesting to see and hear.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.
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