OFF: GONG in LA, 6/2/99

[Chris Warburton]

At 19:44 03/06/99 EDT, you wrote:
>---And what is a speculum? Too lazy to get the dictionary right now, Chuck

speculum // n. (pl. specula / /)
1 Surgery an instrument for dilating the cavities of the human body for
inspection.
2 a mirror, usu. of polished metal, esp. (formerly) in a reflecting telescope.
3 a lustrous coloured area on the wing of some birds, esp. ducks.
[Latin, = mirror, from specere ‘to look’]

>BTW, what is the origin/meaning of the word "glissando"? Chuck

glissando // n. (pl. glissandi / / or -os) Mus.
a continuous slide of adjacent notes upwards or downwards.
[Italian from French glissant ‘sliding’ (as glissade)]

Your erudite (with the help of the Concise Oxford Dictionary) correspondent

ChrisW
(43 today, 43 today - and feeling about 93!)