Saturday Word: Piyāla + Contest Announcement
pi·ya·la [ˈpēyälä]:
origin: Persian- پیاله; Uzbek: piyola- Russian- пиала́
noun
I recently acquired a catalog for Russian tea sets (manufactured for a store in New York City), which is fascinating in the cultural differences of mere eating habits. Surely England's high tea is well known, but alternate versions perhaps less so. Myself and an older friend puzzled over the word "palaya" applied to a specific set, which simply turned out to mean: a small bowl used to drink tea out of, used across the Middle-East and Asia for far longer than the British have been sipping leaves.
Not that Russians don't similarly enjoy elegant-handled porcelain cups with gold-trimmed flourishes, though they have more focus on decorative Samovars and accessories for caviar. Mmn, caviar.
Contest Announcement
Now until September, every comment will be added to a hat, the more comments then the more entries, and a winner will be drawn at the beginning of next month for a free 2 month LiveJournal subscription. Wordsmiths included. *runner-up gets a userhead of their choice
Comments have to be meaningful, not smiley faces or "nice" (etc). I also enourage you to state what sorts of words you prefer, what you like about the word, have you learned anything from 1word1day, and anything else you'd like to see in the future.
If the contest goes well, then I may do something like this again! ☆
origin: Persian- پیاله; Uzbek: piyola- Russian- пиала́
noun
I recently acquired a catalog for Russian tea sets (manufactured for a store in New York City), which is fascinating in the cultural differences of mere eating habits. Surely England's high tea is well known, but alternate versions perhaps less so. Myself and an older friend puzzled over the word "palaya" applied to a specific set, which simply turned out to mean: a small bowl used to drink tea out of, used across the Middle-East and Asia for far longer than the British have been sipping leaves.
Not that Russians don't similarly enjoy elegant-handled porcelain cups with gold-trimmed flourishes, though they have more focus on decorative Samovars and accessories for caviar. Mmn, caviar.
Contest Announcement
Now until September, every comment will be added to a hat, the more comments then the more entries, and a winner will be drawn at the beginning of next month for a free 2 month LiveJournal subscription. Wordsmiths included. *runner-up gets a userhead of their choice
Comments have to be meaningful, not smiley faces or "nice" (etc). I also enourage you to state what sorts of words you prefer, what you like about the word, have you learned anything from 1word1day, and anything else you'd like to see in the future.
If the contest goes well, then I may do something like this again! ☆