Reading the Signs
  • Blog
  • Cork
    • Cork City >
      • Derelict Cork
      • Cork City Plaques >
        • Arts & Artists
        • Buildings with Dates >
          • Individual Buildings or Houses >
            • 1847 Blarney St School
            • 1854 Greenmount School
            • 1856 Kyrl's St
            • 1856 Ladyswell Brewery
            • 1860 Cornmarket Arch
            • 1860 Richmond Cottage
            • 1860 Roman St
            • 1864 Butter Market House
            • 1865 Waterworks Chimney
            • 1870 Maryville
            • 1870 St. Paul's Avenue
            • 1871 North Presentation
            • 1874 Courthouse Chambers
            • 1878 Distillery Chimney
            • 1881 Neptune House
            • 1883 Reardens
            • 1888 Waterworks
            • 1889 St. Luke's N.S.
            • 1890 Kennedy Quay
            • 1892 Cork Baptist Church
            • 1894 Jamesville
            • 1895 Courthouse
            • 1896 Dun Desmond
            • 1897 Eye, Ear & Throat Hospital
            • 1900 Lough Hall
            • 1902 Fitzgerald's Park
            • 1913 St. Joseph's N.S.
            • 1914 64 St. Patrick's St
            • 1925 1 Libertas Villas
            • 1926 Capwell P.O.
            • 1928 Castlegreine
            • 1928 College Stream House
            • 1958 Churchfield B.N.S.
            • 1968 Scouthut
            • 1971 Library
            • 1994 McHugh House
          • Developments & Multiple Buildings >
            • 1719 Skiddy's Almhouses
            • 1761 Tuckey St
            • 1766 Millerd Street
            • 1767 James St
            • 1782 Farrens St
            • 1785 Grenville Place
            • 1832 Montenotte Road
            • 1833 Rotunda Buildings
            • 1833 York Terrace
            • 1836 Millfield Cottages
            • 1836 Rockspring Terrace
            • 1837 St. Luke's Place
            • 1853 Eglinton Place
            • 1865 Langford Terrace
            • 1878 College View Terrace
            • 1880 Bellevue Terrace
            • 1880 Bloomfield Terrace
            • 1882 Friar St
            • 1882 St James's Place
            • 1883 Monarea Terrace
            • 1883 Walsh's Square
            • 1886 Madden's Buildings
            • 1889 Marina Villas
            • 1894 Wynneville
            • 1895 St. John's Terrace
            • 1896 Balmoral Terrace
            • 1897 Ophelia Terrace
            • 1898 Centenary Crescent
            • 1898 Tramore Villas
            • 1900 Corporation Buildings
            • 1903 O'Connor Ville
            • 1905 St. Vincent's Terrace
            • 1907 Millview Cottages
            • 1907 Rock View Terrace
            • 1908 Arthur Villas
            • 1915 Morton Villas
            • 1932 Ardfoyle Terrace
            • 1932 Elmgrove
            • 1934 St Joseph's
            • 1940 St Vincent's View
            • 1982 Ardfert
            • 1983 St. John's Square
            • 1994 Red Abbey Court
            • 1999 Adelaide Court
            • 2004 Alexandra Court
        • Cork City Commemorative Plaques
        • Fenian Plaques >
          • Plaques
      • Cork City Timeline
      • Eucharistic Tiles - Cork
      • Cork Wheelguards
      • Grottos in Cork City
      • War of Independence - People >
        • Terence MacSwiney
    • Co. Cork >
      • Grottos in Co Cork
      • Clonakilty Jungle City >
        • Barrister Bill
        • Children's Green Dream
        • Cloich na Coillte Tiger
        • Crocakilty
        • Dufair
        • Horny Bill
        • Make Us Safe (Lucy)
        • Old Mill Car Park
        • 8/9 Pearse St
        • 26/27 Pearse St
        • Precious Tears
        • Taidghín Tiger
        • Tara
        • Wolfe Tone Street Roundabout
  • Not Cork
    • Clare - Ennis YHS Tiles
    • Clare - Co. Clare YHS Tiles
    • Clare - Ennis Grottos
    • Clare - Grottos
    • Kerry - Civil War Memorials
    • Kerry - Grottos
    • Limerick - Civil War Memorials
    • Co. Limerick - YHS Tiles
    • Limerick - YHS Tiles
  • Not Munster
    • Dublin YHS Tiles
    • Co. Galway YHS Tiles
    • Galway City YHS Tiles
    • Co. Mayo YHS Tiles
    • Athlone YHS Tiles
  • Groupings
    • Famine Memorials
    • Irish Words
    • Old Ads
    • Post Boxes
    • Roadside Memorials
    • Ghostsigns
    • ESB Logo, etc
    • Street Art
    • People
  • Contact
Search the site

MIXED MESSAGES.

Using signs, advertisements and messages as the inspiration for observation and comment - enlightened and otherwise

BLOG

What is a 'Gnomon'?

4/2/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Sundial by Seamus Murphy
Picture
It Was The Time Of Our Lives

​Books  - Notebooks

I have gone through phases with my books. In my teens and twenties, I used to write my name, date and place of purchase on the flysheet.

Somewhere, I read that writing on flysheets devalued a book. This had an effect. For years, I did not mark my books. The impact of that message wore off some time ago. Maybe I woke up to the fact that I will not be disposing of my books for value. They are mine and likely to remain so until my last day.

Since that Eureka moment, my books are full of notes - any references to another book; things demanding further investigation; or maybe just a new word or interesting expression. These were originally margin notes – but easier to find later if on flysheet and blank pages to back.
​
Those who inherit (or borrow) my books will likely have some fun reading the notes.

​Shakespeare & Joyce

Picture
Picture
​In November, on a family trip to Paris, I managed to get in a cemetery visit which was top of my personal To Do list. Next in line was a trip to Shakespeare & Co, also ticked off.

There was a queue for this English bookshop in Paris. It was a joy. I highly recommend for anyone who likes books or bookshops.

I had selected one book and was looking at shelves near the entrance. The book search had fallen into second place to the eaves dropping of the conversation between the English girl and Irish lad working behind the counter.

I was intrigued when she suggested that every child born in Ireland should be given a copy of ‘the book’. I had to ask.

He had just finished Finnegan’s Wake – the book she was proposing be in every household. He said that he read it without worrying too much about it making sense. He had read much of it aloud to himself.

​I was tempted. I have never read a book by James Joyce. Tempted as I was, I reckoned Finnegan’s Wake was not the place to start and it would become an unread dust-collector.

I compromised on a pocket edition of Dubliners – and I got the bookshop’s stamp to prove it.

It came off the shelf a short while back. The first page of the very first short story, ‘The Sisters’provided the first of many entries on the notes page. ‘Simony’ and ‘stirabout for supper’soon followed, and that was even before the first page was completed.

The first entry was ‘Gnomon’ – a word I had no recollection of ever hearing.

Having reverted to Chambers, I now know that I have seen a GNOMON – one of the definitions anyway.

By my own notes, I might fall into the examining category.
​
I very much like the sound and the look of the word – the challenge now is to manoeuvre it into conversation…..
Picture
Word origin of 'gnomon'
L < Gr gnōmōn, one who knows or examines, index of a sundial < base of gignōskein, to know
Collins Dictionary
​
gnomon noun 1 on a sundial: the raised arm that casts the shadow which points to the hour. 2 math the remainder of a parallelogram after a similar parallelogram has been removed from one corner. 
ETYMOLOGY: 16c: Greek, in sense 1.
Chambers Dictionary
​
Picture
Sundial, complete with Gnomon
Picture
Castletownsend, West Cork
I once set a table quiz and included the question, ‘What is the name of the gap in a bottle between the top of the liquid and the cork?’
​
If I ever set another quiz, the name of the sundial shadowmaker is likely to make an appearance – ‘gnomon’ having joined ‘ullage’ in that group of lovely sounding words.

​‘We are your children, O Manannan
To you, we sing this happy song’
Gnomon  - Manannan
​
The similarity in sound is reason enough to bring me back thirty five years when I first heard Children of Lír by Loudest Whisper – reason enough to share that it is in Wexford tonight.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    From Cork.

    Old enough to have more sense - theoretically at least.

    SUBSCRIBE

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Picture
    Unless otherwise specifically stated, all photographs and text are the property of www.readingthesigns.weebly.com - such work is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence


    Tweets by @SignsTheReading

    Archives

    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    March 2022
    November 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013

    Picture
    WRITE A LETTER

    Categories

    All
    Accuracy
    Arts
    Books
    Branding
    Cavan
    Cemeteries
    Clare
    Commemorate
    Cork
    Dated
    Donegal
    Dublin
    Economy
    England
    Fermanagh
    Gaeilge
    Galway
    Ghostsigns
    Graffiti
    Grammar
    Help
    Heritage
    Holland
    Humour
    Kerry
    Kildare
    Laois
    Leitrim
    Limerick
    London
    Longford
    Marketing
    Mayo
    Me
    Northern Ireland
    Offaly
    Old Ads
    Old Shops
    Other Blogs
    Plaque
    Politics
    Public
    Punctuation
    Religion
    Riddle
    Roscommon
    Scotland
    Sculpture
    Sligo
    Spelling
    Sport
    Stickers
    Street Art
    Submission
    Tipperary
    Tweets
    Waterford
    Westmeath
    Wild Atlantic Way

    Blogs I Read & Links

    Thought & Comment

    Head Rambles

    For the Fainthearted

    Bock The Robber

    Póló


    Rogha Gabriel

    Patrick Comerford

    Sentence First

    Felicity Hayes-McCoy

    140 characters is usually enough

    Johnny Fallon

    Sunny Spells
    
    That’s How The Light Gets In

    See That

    Tea and a Peach


    Buildings & Things Past

    Built Dublin

    Come Here To Me

    Holy Well


    vox hiberionacum

    Pilgrimage in Medieval Ireland

    Liminal Entwinings

    53degrees

    Ciara Meehan

    The Irish Aesthete

    Líníocht


    Ireland in History Day By Day

    Archiseek

    Buildings of Ireland

    Irish War Memorials


    ReYndr

    Abandoned Ireland

    The Standing Stone

    Time Travel Ireland

    Stair na hÉireann

    Myles Dungan

    Archaeouplands

    Wide & Convenient Streets

    The Irish Story

    Enda O’Flaherty



    Cork

    Archive Magazine


    Our City, Our Town

    West Cork History

    Cork’s War of Independence

    Cork Historical Records


    Rebel Cork’s Fighting Story

    40 Shades of Life in Cork

    
    Roaringwater Journal





    Picture
    Picture
    Best Newcomer Blog
Proudly powered by Weebly