 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / March 2010How did "hamadryad" come to mean "king cobra"?
In the U.K., that is. I first came across that use in "Mary Poppins." The scene is in the Snake House at the zoo. Not being British, I'd never have guessed what type of snake P.L. Travers meant if it hadn't been for Mary Shepard's illustration. And there doesn't seem to be any connection to the better-known meaning of the word..... Lenona. >In the U.K., that is. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >And there doesn't seem to be any connection to the better-known >meaning of the word..... Perhaps the name "hamadryad" was given to the snake by Europeans because when they first found them the snakes were living in trees.  SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > In the U.K., that is. > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > And there doesn't seem to be any connection to the better-known > meaning of the word..... Maybe something to do with this: "In his [Strabo's] descriptive geography, written about the time Christ was born into the world, he speaks of a monster serpent which he denominates the ophiophage. He means the hamadryad which was said to live on trees, darting down upon and killing other snakes as well as animals and men. It was the great Cobra de Capello, the death snake of the ancient Druids. Strabo quotes as authority, Megasthenes and Nearchus. The monster is given as seventeen to nineteen feet long; an oviparous serpent only known in the dense woods and wilds of India, beyond the Ganges." Cyrenus Osborne Ward, /A History of the Ancient Working People, Volume 2/, p. 110 (1900). http://books.google.com/books?id=Q2BGAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA110#v=onepage&q=&f=false "This is the hamadryad, so named, we presume, from its being found in trees." From an article credited to the /New York Times/, published in /The Friend/, Eighth Month 20, 1892, p. 30. http://books.google.com/books?id=3z8rAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA30#v=onepage&q=&f=false -- Jerry Friedman Thanks. I found out it IS true that king cobras can climb trees, though one doesn't often hear of their doing so, somehow. In nature documentaries, I think, one is more likely to see mambas doing that. Lenona. >Thanks. I found out it IS true that king cobras can climb trees, >though one doesn't often hear of their doing so, somehow. In nature >documentaries, I think, one is more likely to see mambas doing that. Hmmm. Obviously, snakes manage to get up in trees. However, "climb" does not - to me - describe their means of doing so. "Slither up", perhaps. Some writers are evidently comfortable with "climb", though: "Rat Snakes can climb right up tree trunks! It does this because among its food are birds and eggs. How do Rat Snakes climb trees? If you hold a Rat Snake you will see that in cross section it is shaped like a loaf of bread -- a rounded top with straight sides meeting the flat bottom at more or less right angles. Those squared sides pressed against a tree's bark irregularities give the snake a bit of hold, kind of like a tire with a good tread holds to the road better than a smooth tire. But it's not a very firm hold. Rat Snakes fall out of trees a lot, and that can be very surprising if you happen to be below." SignatureTony Cooper - Orlando, Florida > Thanks. I found out it IS true that king cobras can climb trees, > though one doesn't often hear of their doing so, somehow. In nature > documentaries, I think, one is more likely to see mambas doing that. OED's entry leaves the nymph connection to the imagination, but contains an anecdote: < 2. Zool. a. A large, very venomous, hooded serpent of India (Naja hamadryas, or Hamadryas (Ophiophagus) elaps), allied to the cobra. 1863 WOOD Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 140 The Serpent-eating Hamadryas.. feeds almost wholly on reptiles. 1894 Daily News 4 June 7/5 When the Zoological Gardens were first opened, a hamadryad, imported with a selection of cobras, ate up fifty pounds' worth of the latter before its nature was discovered.> OED also records that a few months later, The Daily News was using "hamadryad" for a kind of baboon. SignatureMike. >Thanks. I found out it IS true that king cobras can climb trees, >though one doesn't often hear of their doing so, somehow. In nature >documentaries, I think, one is more likely to see mambas doing that. Green mambas, perhaps, not black ones. And, of course, the boomslang, as its name suggests. SignatureSteve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/stevesig.htm Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk >>Thanks. I found out it IS true that king cobras can climb trees, >>though one doesn't often hear of their doing so, somehow. In nature >>documentaries, I think, one is more likely to see mambas doing that. > >Green mambas, perhaps, not black ones. Racist! |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.