From: Padraic Brown (elemtilas@yahoo.com)
Date: Fri Dec 27 2002 - 07:33:12 EST
--- En réponse à Jan van Steenbergen:
> > > Wenedyk: "Weso£ej nacitacy i fieliczu nowu
> > > aniu!"
> "Wesó£" is straighty borrowed from Polish.
What's the etymology?
> Before I coined the word, I saw that
> the Romanian word is "vesel", so I thought, if
> Romanian can do that trick, why not Wenedyk?
> What is a wassail?
It's a toast used, particularly at this time of
year, when drinking to someones health.
Curiously, it holds the only remaining instance
of the imperative of was (the same was that's
also the past of be) and hale, meaning healthy.
So: be healthy! or be well! sort of thing.
Around here, wassailing (as a verb) also means
going around carolling at Christmas Eve and
getting invited in for a drink, or having drinks
brought out by your hosts. It's not a common
practice anymore, though.
Padraic.
=====
beuyont alch geont la ciay la cina
mangeiont alch geont y faues la lima;
pe' ne m' molestyont
que faciont
doazque y facyont in rima.
.
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