Question: Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme - they're all growing in my herb garden, and I would like to know the origins of their names. Also, I cannot help but ask, what is their significance in the Simon and Garfunkel song?
Answer: Rosemary's name comes from the Latin name for the herb, which was "rosmarinus." "Ros" means "dew," and "marinus" means "of the sea." The name was anglicized in Middle English to "rosmarine," but popular etymology associated the first part of the word with "rose" and the second part with the name "Mary," probably often with the Virgin Mary in mind. The herbal name "rosemary" was first recorded in an English-Latin dictionary written in 1440. But why was the herb designated "sea-dew" in the first place? The answer lies in the fact that rosemary is indigenous to southern Europe, where it thrived in the climate of the Mediterranean coast.Sage's name is closely related to our word "salvation"; it comes from the Latin word for "healthy" or "safe," "salvus," and was named for its supposed healing properties; before it was a culinary herb, sage was used as a general tonic and cure-all. (The Latin name of the herb, "salvia," is not lost to us; not only is it the genus name of sage, but it's the common name of some of the herb's relatives, often grown as colorful annuals.) How did we get from "salvia" to "sage"? Middle English forms were "salge," "sawge," and "sauge" - the "u" came from Old French. By the 16th century we had permanently shortened it to "sage."
In the case of "thyme," we again imitated the French. Middle French adhered closely to the Latin spelling, "thymum," but in this instance corrupted the pronunciation, rendering the "th" like "t." In Middle English it was variously spelled "tyme," "time," "thime," or "thyme." The etymology of "thyme" is interesting, though a little obscure. The word seems to be ultimately from Greek "thyein," which means "to make a burnt offering." As with sage, before its culinary properties were appreciated the ancients found another use for the herb; thyme, with its aromatic qualities, may have been used as incense.
Our common garden parsley was known in Old English as "petersilie." First recorded 1000 years ago, this word derived ultimately from Greek "petroselinon," which can be translated as "stone-celery." By the 14th century the word had been shortened to "persely," again possibly having been influenced by the French, whose word for the herb was "peresil"; then in the 15th century the "a" started showing up in the first syllable. Once the name was corrupted, it was applied broadly to a number of other plants, but the genus name of garden parsley, Latin "petroselinum," reflects its ancient pedigree. Parsley, too, was not originally thought of for cooking; it made nice wreaths for honored heroes - athletes and poets, for example - in ancient times.
The presence of "parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme" in the chorus of Simon and Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair" reflects the medieval custom of using flower symbolism in song lyrics. (The song itself is, in one form or another, a very old English ballad.) The herb sage was symbolic in the Middle Ages of wisdom, even though it has nothing to do with our word "sage" meaning "wise," which comes from Latin "sapere," "to be wise." Thyme stood for virginity (and thus found its way into many ballads of ruinous passion); rosemary, "for remembrance" (thus says Ophelia in Hamlet). The significance of parsley is not altogether clear.
Question: We have a 3-year-old named Jay who likes to take his clothes off and run around naked, so we call him "Jaybird" as in "naked as a jaybird." Where did this expression come from, since jays have feathers like other birds?
Answer: It turns out that colloquial speech has attributed jaybirds, also known as "blue jays" or simply "jays," with many characteristics that they don't actually possess. "Naked as a jaybird" is certainly the most common "jaybird" expression, but The Dictionary of American Regional English also lists "sassy (or saucy) as a jaybird," "antic as a jaybird," "proud as a jaybird," "happy as a jaybird," "loony as a jaybird," and others. Additionally, to call someone a "jaybird" in some parts of the country, particularly the South, is to indicate in a humorous way that you think him a rustic or hick, a meaning also indicated by "jay," although the latter is a somewhat dated usage. It remains uncertain why this particular bird is such a popular object of comparison. Perhaps people just like the way its name sounds in such expressions. Its raucous personality might also have something to do with it.