callas@eris.DEC (The tea leaves never lie) (05/01/85)
The english horn (which looks a lot like an oboe, but sounds a
fifth lower) got its name when the French "cor angle'" (lit:
"angled horn"-- the instrument actually had a bend in it, though
the modern version is straight with a curve only in the bocal)
was confused with the near homophone "cor anglais". As a wind
instrument, it certainly qualifies as a horn in the musical
sense.
The reason an english horn looks a lot like an oboe is because
it *is* an oboe. An alto oboe, to be precise. Your etymology is
correct, but your analysis isn't. Both the oboe and the english
horn are woodwind instruments. The term "horn" refers to brass
instruments.
Jon, an english hornist.
...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-eris!callasrob@ptsfa.UUCP (Rob Bernardo) (05/02/85)
In article <1946@decwrl.UUCP> callas@eris.DEC (The tea leaves never lie) writes: > ... Your etymology is > correct, but your analysis isn't. Both the oboe and the english > horn are woodwind instruments. The term "horn" refers to brass > instruments. > In this case, it doesn't. Neither in the case of calling a saxophone a "horn." I think what you meant to say it that in current usage among [classical?] musicians and musicologists, the word "horn" is limited to brass instruments. But when talking about the etymology of a word, one must keep in mind different meanings of words to different groups of people in different geographic and sociological and chronological situations. -- Rob Bernardo, San Francisco, California {nsc,ucbvax,decwrl,amd,fortune,zehntel}!dual!ptsfa!rob _^__ ~/ \_.\ _ ~/ \_\ ~/ \_________~/ ~/ /\ /\ _/ \ / \ _/ \ _/ \ \ /
jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA (John Purbrick) (05/02/85)
> If you tell me what an "English Horn" is, > I'll tell you what a "bollock" is. > -Nige Gale Please don't. But Americans sometimes say "To make a bollix of...." or "To bollix up...." meaning, to make a mess of. This term isn't usually regarded as obscene. How about an explanation of the term "pillock", which was used several times in the British movie "A Private Function"? A barbaric north-of-Watford combination of "pill" with "bollock"? John Purbrick ...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg jpexg@mit-hermes.ARPA
ncg@ukc.UUCP (N.C.Gale) (05/07/85)
If you tell me what an "English Horn" is, I'll tell you what a "bollock" is. -Nige Gale