defenestration

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KatyBr
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defenestration

Postby KatyBr » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:26 am

a good word we haven't seen in the WOTD in a long time
de·fen·es·tra·tion (d-fn-strshn)
n.
An act of throwing someone or something out of a window.



[From de- + Latin fenestra, window.]
Kt
(there are always somethings best defenestrated, eh?)

frank
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Postby frank » Sat Oct 01, 2005 6:00 am

Image

"La rencontre au château de Prague tourne au pugilat. Deux gouverneurs détestés du roi, Wilhelm Slavata et Jaroslav Martinic, sont jetés par la fenêtre avec leur domestique Fabricius. Les victimes tombent heureusement sur un tas de fumier et s'en tirent sans mal !"

Defenstration doesn't always damage the health, but it can cause (30 year of) war...

Frank

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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:31 pm

It's amazing how Latin fenestra evolved so much to become Portuguese fresta (a slit).

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Flaminius
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Postby Flaminius » Sat Oct 01, 2005 12:54 pm

From French fenêtre, I assume the first 'e' in fenestra had the tendency to weeken or disappear. The resultant fnestra may have easily become frestra/fresta in languages whose R is a trill.

Fl,am

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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:55 pm

Rrright.

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M. Henri Day
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Postby M. Henri Day » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:38 pm

Dropping a vowel here and there, the Latin term gave rise to, e g, Swedish «fönster», German «fenster». Interestingly enough, the terms used in Norway and Denmark (but not, as we have seen, in Sweden), «vindu» and «vindue», resp, are both derived from the same old Norse term, ««vindauga» - an eye (opening) to the wind - which gave rise to English «window»....
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

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Postby Brazilian dude » Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:48 pm

And there's also Dutch venster.

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tcward
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Postby tcward » Mon Oct 03, 2005 12:24 pm

And southern redneck winder. ;)

(Surely you've all seen the Microsoft Winders joke before...)

-Tim

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Postby M. Henri Day » Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:13 am

Is that what the late, great Ray Charles meant by «Georgia on my mind» ?...

Henri
曾记否,到中流击水,浪遏飞舟?

eberntson
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Re: defenestration

Postby eberntson » Sat Nov 17, 2012 12:15 pm

This was a popular work with me in the 70s, I learned the word from Monty Pythons Flying Circus; there is an episode where a lot of people self defenestrate.

However, I just watched a video about the word (see Merriam Webster), and it mentioned the Defenestration of Prague I & II. The 2nd, contributed to the start of the 30 Years War, see Frank's reference above. This is a case where truth is stranger than fiction.
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns

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Re: defenestration

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Nov 17, 2012 1:17 pm

Years ago my then teen daughter watched an afternoon sit-com of some sort where a lead character kept getting murdered. (Shades of Fearless Fosdick with swiss cheese holes all over him: He killed me, but it wasn't fatal.) i happened to walk through the house that afternoon and witnessed Natalie (?) being defenestrated. TV has no problems resorting to either defenestration or resurrection.
pl

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Slava
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Re: defenestration

Postby Slava » Sat Nov 17, 2012 2:48 pm

I don't recall just where I saw it, but when a major figure at Microsoft recently and suddenly departed, the headline referred to his defenestration. :D
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

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Re: defenestration

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Nov 17, 2012 5:31 pm

eberntson: Thanks for pulling this chestnut out of the embers of past Good Word Suggestions. Although I had never seen the word defenestration before, I immdiately knew it's meaning. Strange though, my mind went to German to get window (fenster) instead of the Latin (fenestra). My Celtic ancestors would be ashamed of me.
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Slava
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Re: defenestration

Postby Slava » Sat Nov 17, 2012 6:39 pm

By-the-by, here's where the Good Doctor gave it his special treatment: http://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword ... fenestrate

Interesting sense of humor, no?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

eberntson
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Re: defenestration

Postby eberntson » Mon Nov 19, 2012 2:08 am

@Philip: your welcome!
@Slave: Like a perfect dry martini, humor is best with only a airing of vermouth and a twist. Drier the better. 8)
EBERNTSON
Fear less, hope more;
eat less, chew more;
whine less, breathe more;
talk less, say more,
and all good things will be yours.
--R. Burns


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