Gordon Lightfoot Forums - View Single Post - GL songs which reference, of all things, food! A new quizzer...

Don Quixote · 10-23-2008, 08:46 PM

Hi, Geo-Steve. Sorry to be late with a response; it's been an interesting 24 hours. I drove about 350 mi. last night to go to my aunt's funeral in PA (no laments; she lived to 91 and had a great, full life surrounded by loving family, and went very quickly), and just got back from the return trip.
Char et al. are correct: pussywillows and cattails are not synonymous, although this is one of my favorite songs and it did produce another impressive list for the food question. Cattails are reeds that grow in marshes and the like; pussywillows are large bushes that send out early fuzzy blossoms and are one of the first signs of spring, at least where I live.

The synonyms are "wherefore and why", and the food is "candy-cane delight", as noted by jj. Many people don't know that "wherefore" doesn't have anything to do with location, but is an older way of saying why (just like its answer, "therefore", or "because of which" doesn't refer to a place). Feel free to look it up if you don't believe me; many dictionaries list "wherefore and why" as one expression meaning "the cause and reason." The most famous use of the word "wherefore", of course, is in "Romeo and Juliet", and its misunderstanding has lead to erroneous and sometimes comical misinterpretations. Juliet doesn't say "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" as if he were hiding somewhere and she couldn't find him. She says "Wherefore [that is, why?] art though Romeo?" with no comma, to ask why Romeo has to be who he is, and specifically why he has to come from the family to which he was born, since his family and Juliet's are mortal enemies.
The food topic has been lots of fun, and even though I've been too busy to do much playing I've been doing lots of lurking--nice work!
Best,
DQ

10-23-2008, 08:46 PM	#84
Don Quixote Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Springfield, MA 01109 Posts: 309	Re: GL songs which reference, of all things, food! A new quizzer... Hi, Geo-Steve. Sorry to be late with a response; it's been an interesting 24 hours. I drove about 350 mi. last night to go to my aunt's funeral in PA (no laments; she lived to 91 and had a great, full life surrounded by loving family, and went very quickly), and just got back from the return trip. Char et al. are correct: pussywillows and cattails are not synonymous, although this is one of my favorite songs and it did produce another impressive list for the food question. Cattails are reeds that grow in marshes and the like; pussywillows are large bushes that send out early fuzzy blossoms and are one of the first signs of spring, at least where I live. The synonyms are "wherefore and why", and the food is "candy-cane delight", as noted by jj. Many people don't know that "wherefore" doesn't have anything to do with location, but is an older way of saying why (just like its answer, "therefore", or "because of which" doesn't refer to a place). Feel free to look it up if you don't believe me; many dictionaries list "wherefore and why" as one expression meaning "the cause and reason." The most famous use of the word "wherefore", of course, is in "Romeo and Juliet", and its misunderstanding has lead to erroneous and sometimes comical misinterpretations. Juliet doesn't say "Wherefore art thou, Romeo?" as if he were hiding somewhere and she couldn't find him. She says "Wherefore [that is, why?] art though Romeo?" with no comma, to ask why Romeo has to be who he is, and specifically why he has to come from the family to which he was born, since his family and Juliet's are mortal enemies. The food topic has been lots of fun, and even though I've been too busy to do much playing I've been doing lots of lurking--nice work! Best, DQ Last edited by Don Quixote; 10-24-2008 at 10:31 AM.