Bedeck

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Bedeck

Postby Dr. Goodword » Tue Jul 23, 2013 10:49 pm

• bedeck •

Pronunciation: bê-dekHear it!

Part of Speech: Verb, transitive

Meaning: 1. Adorn, decorate. 2. To deck (out), to dress in finery or your Sunday-go-to-meetin' best.

Notes: Here is a word that won't go away; we should reward its stamina by using it more. The past participle is probably the form we are most familiar with, as a town hall bedecked with flags and bunting. The gerund hasn't been used for years, but remains in the Oxford English Dictionary: She arrived in splendiferous bedeckings. The expression we use now does not allow a gerund and has a slangy sound to it: "He came decked out in a new suit."

In Play: This word may be used with inanimate objects: "The church was bedecked in a sea of flowers and glowing faces." It may also be used to refer to animate objects referring to their dress: "Maud Lynn Dresser arrived at the party bedecked in every piece of jewelry in her possession."

Word History: Today's Good Word was dekke in Middle English, probably borrowed from Middle Dutch dec "roof, covering". The Middle Dutch verb decken, from which dec was derived, originally meant simply "to cover". The reason we think this word was borrowed is that English already had directly inherited a word from Old Germanic, derived from the underlying Proto-Indo-European root (s)teg- "to cover"; it was (and still is) thatch. Thatch is cousin to German Dach "roof", Czech and Slovak deka "blanker", and Latin tegula "tile", as in the tiles that Romans covered the roofs of their houses with. (Let us now bedeck James Thompson lavishly with our gratitude for coming up with today's Good Word and posting it to Dr. Goodword.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

damoge
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 503
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:49 pm
Location: End of the Earth

Re: Bedeck

Postby damoge » Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:33 am

and "bedight"?
Everything works out, one way or another

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Bedeck

Postby Slava » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:21 pm

Here's another of bedeck's relatives, Bedizen.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Re: Bedeck

Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:38 pm

The word makes me think of the old song:
"In your Easter bonnet, with all the frills upon it".
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: Bedeck

Postby Perry Lassiter » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:49 pm

Slava, I checked the bedizen link and found I had suggested the word! Totally forgot and still don't remember.

I do appreciate the etymology of be- as make. I've often wondered about those words.
pl

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Bedeck

Postby Slava » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:57 pm

I do appreciate the etymology of be- as make. I've often wondered about those words.
I've thought a lot about the be- words, too. So far I've come up with just one that means the opposite of the usual sense. Behead does not mean to give someone a head.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

damoge
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 503
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:49 pm
Location: End of the Earth

Re: Bedeck

Postby damoge » Wed Jul 24, 2013 1:59 pm

so "bedight" is some past participle of "bedizen" and not "bedeck"?
bedizen sounds very german, did we take it "as is"?
Yes, Luke, and bedight is a bed laden with blossoms waiting for a special small person...
Everything works out, one way or another

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Bedeck

Postby Slava » Wed Jul 24, 2013 2:28 pm

It looks to me that all three have their separate roots.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

damoge
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 503
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:49 pm
Location: End of the Earth

Re: Bedeck

Postby damoge » Wed Jul 24, 2013 2:56 pm

Now I'm confused. Bedight, bedeck and bedizen each has a separate root? Is there a functional difference among the words?
Everything works out, one way or another

User avatar
Slava
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 8040
Joined: Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:31 am
Location: Finger Lakes, NY

Re: Bedeck

Postby Slava » Wed Jul 24, 2013 3:40 pm

Now I'm confused. Bedight, bedeck and bedizen each has a separate root? Is there a functional difference among the words?
I believe so. Here are my takes on them:

Bedizen has negative connotations, implying that one has overdone it.

Bedeck is more positive, or at least neutral. It implies simply that something is decked out.

Bedight is no longer used, except in poetry, and though in general it means bedeck, it has a great many other meanings that can be used, (including "to rule," "to handle," "to abuse," "to have sex with," "to kill," "to clothe," "to make ready," "to repair"), or so sayeth etymonline.com.
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

MTC
Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 1104
Joined: Mon Apr 05, 2010 11:40 am
Location: Pasadena

Re: Bedeck

Postby MTC » Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:00 pm

"Bedizened Bee" (Apis mellifera pictus): Rarely observed member of the Honey Bee family which adorns itself with colorful bits and pieces of material found in its environment in an effort to obtain a competitive mating advantage with the Queen.

Once adorned to its satisfaction, the Bedizened Bee performs an elaborate dance to attract the Queen, stepping nimbly right and left while moving its mandibles and antennae suggestively. The courtship display is often interrupted by unadorned drones, but if successful, the Bedizened Bees' ornate lineage is insured.

Thus far the Bedizened Bee has only been found in a narrow range around the Hollywood Hills, America, and Bombay, India, likely because of proximity to the film industry with its abundance of sequins, ribbons, and feathers employed by the bee in its mating dance.

Look for specials on the Bedizened Bee by the National Geographic and Discovery Channels, coming soon.

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: Bedeck

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:33 pm

Brahm's lullaby:

Guten Abend, gute Nacht,
mit Rosen bedacht,
mit Näglein besteckt,
schlupf′ unter die Deck!
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will,
wirst du wieder geweckt.

Lullaby and good night,
With roses bedight,
With lilies o'er spread
Is baby's wee bed.
Lay thee down now and rest,
May thy slumber be blessed.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

damoge
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 503
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:49 pm
Location: End of the Earth

Re: Bedeck

Postby damoge » Wed Jul 24, 2013 9:39 pm

Guten Abend, gute Nacht,
mit Rosen bedacht,
mit Näglein besteckt,
schlupf′ unter die Deck!
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will,
wirst du wieder geweckt.

ok, very old german poorly remembered says:


good evening, good night
with roses bedight
with lilies bestrewn
slip neath the covers.
early tomorrow, if god wills,
you will again awake.

However, that doesn't tell me how bedight could mean all those different things. I see no thread to connect them. Someone with greater knowledge, or at least a better imagination, come to my rescue please?
Everything works out, one way or another

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: Bedeck

Postby Philip Hudson » Wed Jul 24, 2013 11:43 pm

damoge: Your translation from German to English is pretty good and not so poorly remembered. The standard English version of the lullaby was not intended to be an exact translation. I am primarily interested it the German word bedacht and its translation into English bedight.

I am also puzzled by the many possible definitions of bedight.

MTC: Your "Bedizened Bee" breaks me up. Bravo!
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

damoge
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 503
Joined: Sat Feb 06, 2010 8:49 pm
Location: End of the Earth

Re: Bedeck

Postby damoge » Thu Jul 25, 2013 11:16 am

it would seem bedacht is better as bedecked, and maybe bedight was just because it rhymed with night...
no?

I always thought bedight and bedecked were just alternative forms for the same thing. I never knew they were separate words from separate sources with different meanings.

Am feeling very confused at this point.
Everything works out, one way or another


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot] and 49 guests