SASHAY
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SASHAY
• sashay •
Pronunciation: sæ-shay • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive
Meaning: (Slang) 1. Go, sally forth, walk in a lofty, proud gait; strut. 2. (Dance) A smooth, gliding step-together-step figure.
Notes: Today's Good Word is a lexical orphan, so its family is restricted to its inflectional forms, sashayed and sashaying. Sashaying serves as both noun and adjective.
In Play: When I think of this word the first sense that pops into my mind is simply "go" or "sally forth": "Why don't you sashay out to the ranch afore the sheriff gets here." Today's word is a bit archaic, so to give it some context, I used the equally archaic afore instead of before. It can also imply strutting: "Harvey Wallbanger sashayed up to the bar as though he owned the place."
Word History: Today's Good Word is a descendant of lexical royalty. It is a mispronunciation of chassé. It is a term of dance that changed its form as it descended from classical ballet to square dancing. It began "a sliding step-together-step" movement. It spread from there to ballroom dancing and was applied to a similar figure in American square-dancing, in which partners circle each other by taking sideway steps. The change in pronunciation is explained by folk etymology, the attempt to make foreign words sound more "English". We have another example of this in do-si-do, a dance figure by which partners circle each other back to back. This word comes from French dos à dos "back to back" from French dos "back". (We can no longer sashay around recognition of Jeanne Henry's contribution of today's Good Word.)
Pronunciation: sæ-shay • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive
Meaning: (Slang) 1. Go, sally forth, walk in a lofty, proud gait; strut. 2. (Dance) A smooth, gliding step-together-step figure.
Notes: Today's Good Word is a lexical orphan, so its family is restricted to its inflectional forms, sashayed and sashaying. Sashaying serves as both noun and adjective.
In Play: When I think of this word the first sense that pops into my mind is simply "go" or "sally forth": "Why don't you sashay out to the ranch afore the sheriff gets here." Today's word is a bit archaic, so to give it some context, I used the equally archaic afore instead of before. It can also imply strutting: "Harvey Wallbanger sashayed up to the bar as though he owned the place."
Word History: Today's Good Word is a descendant of lexical royalty. It is a mispronunciation of chassé. It is a term of dance that changed its form as it descended from classical ballet to square dancing. It began "a sliding step-together-step" movement. It spread from there to ballroom dancing and was applied to a similar figure in American square-dancing, in which partners circle each other by taking sideway steps. The change in pronunciation is explained by folk etymology, the attempt to make foreign words sound more "English". We have another example of this in do-si-do, a dance figure by which partners circle each other back to back. This word comes from French dos à dos "back to back" from French dos "back". (We can no longer sashay around recognition of Jeanne Henry's contribution of today's Good Word.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword
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I always felt like sashay had a feminine connotation to it. Not sure why. That's why in the "In Play" portion when it said "Harvey Wallbanger sashayed up to the bar ...", the first thing I thought was Harvey Wallbanger must be effeminate. Hmmm, not sure what that says about my psyche. Living here in the Deep South, the word sashay is a fairly common term and everyone knows what you mean when you say it.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself. -- Rumi
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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I also was unaware that men could sashay.
I never saw a sashaying man.
I hope I never see one.
But I can tell you this right now.
I'd rather see than be one.
(With my apologies to Gelett Burgess, the poet who wrote "The purple cow".)
I never saw a sashaying man.
I hope I never see one.
But I can tell you this right now.
I'd rather see than be one.
(With my apologies to Gelett Burgess, the poet who wrote "The purple cow".)
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.
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- Dr. Goodword
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GABBY HAYES Effeminate?
I originally had a sentence in my write-up of sashay to the effect that the word conjures up memories of Gabby Hayes, Roy Rogers's old, bearded sidekick. I decided that not all of my readers are old enough to remember him and pulled that sentence. Are any of you old enough to remember him? He is the only one I could recall using the word and he never said simple go, only "Sashay out to the ranch and see if you are there." Or things similar.
I'm not sure why the association with women. In the old B-grade cowboy movies in the 40s and 50s, only men used the word. It would be to low-brown for women.
I'm not sure why the association with women. In the old B-grade cowboy movies in the 40s and 50s, only men used the word. It would be to low-brown for women.
Last edited by Dr. Goodword on Wed May 16, 2012 8:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
• The Good Dr. Goodword
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Oh yeah, I remember Gabby, one of my favorite characters. Some of the younger generation still watches old westerns on the. Movie channels. To me the word has noo feminine connections, just old western and perhaps hillbilly. I do ascknowledge that in the proper context I can see a woman sashaying into the room or up to the bar.
pl
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
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I, too, remember ol' Gabby. And Festus, deputy to Marshall Dillon on Gunsmoke. Don't forget Tonto to the Lone Ranger and Pancho with the Cisco Kid. Thanks for the memories! I still can't shake the feminine connotation I feel with the word sashay. It became ingrained somehow.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I'm going to change myself. -- Rumi
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