Brook

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Brook

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Jun 23, 2013 10:51 pm

• brook •

Pronunciation: brUk • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive

Meaning: 1. (Rather archaic) To enjoy the use of, to profit from. 2. To bear, tolerate, put up with, endure.

Notes: The contributor of today's Good Word finds it a more pleasurable way of expressing tolerance than the ham-handed verb tolerate. It is a solidly English word going back to Old English, but has come down with only one derivation, brookable "can be tolerated". It has almost slipped away from English speakers; let's not let that happen.

In Play: Today's word is wholly unrelated to the name Brooks or the brook referring to a small streamlet. Here is a sentence that helps keep them straight: "Brooke Brooks will brook no picnics by the brook." Try this on your teenage son or daughter: "I will brook no opposition to my instructions."

Word History: Today's Good Word, as mentioned above, is a pure English word, rather than a word borrowed from another language. As such it represents a minority in the English vocabulary. In Old English it was brucan "to use, enjoy, possess". It is cousin to German brauchen "to need". Both these words come from Proto-Indo-European bhrug- "to use, enjoy the use of", from which Latin pulled frux, frugis "fruit" and fruor "enjoy", whose past participle is fructus, whence we borrowed, via French, fruit. The meaning arrived at where it is today by passing through a stages where it meant "enjoy eating" and on to "digest, bear on the stomach". "My stomach can't brook this pizza" became "I can't brook this pizza." (I will not brook omitting a note of thanks Dalyn Cook for sharing the fruits of her reading with us today.)
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MTC
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Re: Brook

Postby MTC » Mon Jun 24, 2013 6:39 am

I find the transition in meaning from "enjoy" to "endure" reveals much about human nature. From delight to dyspepsia, will we ever learn?

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Re: Brook

Postby Philip Hudson » Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:27 am

For either meaning, delight to dyspepsia, brook seems to fit best when spoken in the negative. I don't tell my granddaughter, who made a delicious dessert called sopaipilla cheesecake last night, that I brook either her or the cheesecake. I do tell my grandson I will brook no smart-aleck rejoinders on Facebook.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: Brook

Postby call_copse » Tue Jun 25, 2013 6:39 am

Just googled the Sopapilla Cheesecake - looks delicious. I'll brook no delay in assembling the ingredients and giving it a try - cheers. Glad to see the traditional gender split of boys being lippy and girls baking is still alive and well! :wink:

I note that it uses canned 'crescent roll dough' on the first hit recipes. I guess this is for what we in the UK would still call croissants.

(Apologies for diverting onto food, always my favourite topic).
Iain

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Re: Brook

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue Jun 25, 2013 2:32 pm

call_copse: Crescent rolls have French croissants beat by a country mile. They are lighter, smaller, fresher, hotter, tastier and just in all ways superior. They are less of an actual crescent than is a croissant. If England doesn't have them in the large food markets I am surprised. They don't actually come "canned". They are made at a food factory but they are on the refrigerated shelves at the market. Before you make the sopapilla cheesecake, research uncooked crescent roll availability in your area. The sopapilla in sopapilla cheesecake is not an accurate name. A real sopapilla is a sort of Mexican donut. It is hollow, without a donut hole, and much better tasting. Okay, it’s nothing like a donut. Unfortunately such goodies are vastly bad for your health. Donuts are worse for your health than French fries (chips in England) and sopapillas are in the same class. As for cheesecake in general, I only hope we have it in Glory, and it is not fattening there.
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Re: Brook

Postby call_copse » Wed Jun 26, 2013 7:19 am

(OT)
I'd suggest that a good croissant is fairly unsurpassable on it's own terms; in France incomparable and even here in Blightly you can get decent ones. I adore the crisp, buttery flakiness. I'm always happy to try something new though for instance these cronuts seem intriguing (if not worth $100):

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... rkers.html

I'm pretty sure I'd have heard of crescent rolls if they were available, being fond of my morning goods, but I'll cast about.
Iain

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Re: Brook

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Jun 26, 2013 11:11 am

“To die for,” is an idiom in current use, probably all over the English-speaking world. The discussion about food has introduced new words to me even though it began as the Goodword “brook”. Here is a part of an old country song: “Cigarettes and whiskey and wild, wild women. They’ll drive you crazy; they’ll drive you insane.” To the composer of that immortal verse these things were “to die for”. We have desserts called “death by chocolate”. The foods we have been discussing tend toward “to die for” and unfortunately that may be literal. Now Ian hits us with cronuts! I had hoped this monstrosity of a “to die for” confection hadn’t made it to Shakespeare’s, “…this sceptred isle…this other Eden, demi-paradise, this England”. Now, what Ian calls Blightly is blighted with the curse of cronuts. We are blithely going down a path with signs “here be dragons” posted along the way. This path was once celebrated in country music with, “Detour, there’s a muddy road ahead, Detour…” Enough of that!

Ian, I can’t find Blightly in any dictionary. I see Blighty which seems to have the same meaning. I am aware of Blighty but thought it had been long since dead, coming out of WW I as it did. Englishmen/women can get away with calling their sceptred isle Blightly or Blighty. I suggest Americans and the assorted others on this forum avoid its use. It is like my calling myself a country hick or white trash. I’d as lief others not call me one.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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Re: Brook

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Jun 26, 2013 2:41 pm

Cast about also comes quickly to the English mind, less so to Americans though we recognize and may use it.

Philip, the first word in that song is pronounced cigareets, lest you forget.
pl

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Re: Brook

Postby call_copse » Thu Jun 27, 2013 7:24 am

For Blightly read Blighty, fat fingers.

As far as I know cronuts are not yet available but I live in a semi masochistic sort of hope, masochistic as I'll only have to eat some. I'll content myself with baking some Sopapilla at the weekend, when my older kids come to visit back from uni.

I do exercise (very) hard daily (while most Brits love sport, less actually do it regularly these days sadly) and stick to fruit etc during the week, so don't feel you need to worry about my excessive fat consumption! :wink:
Iain

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Re: Brook

Postby Perry Lassiter » Thu Jun 27, 2013 1:27 pm

Acc to today's NYT, cronuts are a product of one bakery that can't keep people supplied. Donuts made like croissants? Or vice-versa.
pl


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