Problem with vocabulary

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Tomasz Dryjanski - 22 Mar 2006 17:39 GMT

Hi All,
I'm reading the "What is a Youth" lyrics, from the "Romeo and Juliet"
movie by Franco Zeffirelli.
I've faced some problems with vocabulary:

"The world wags on"
The only meaning for "to wag" I could find in my dictionary was that
"the dog wagged its tail". It doesn't match the context well...
I guess this means "The world just goes on", but I'm not sure.

"others will tease and tarry"
What does "to tarry" mean?

"Mine is the very best parry"
I only know "to parry", it does not make much sense here.

and

"Love is a task and it never will pall"
What's so exciting about tasks to speak about them in this
context?

I'd very much appreciate your help.

And the complete lyrics:

"What is a Youth"
music by Nino Rota, words by Eugene Walter

What is a youth? Impetuous fire.
What is a maid? Ice and desire.
The world wags on,
a rose will bloom....
It then will fade:
so does a youth,
so does the fairest maid.
Comes a time when one sweet smile
has its season for a while....
Then love's in love with me.
Some they think only to marry,
others will tease and tarry.
Mine is the very best parry.
Cupid he rules us all.
Caper the cape, but sing me the song,
Death will come soon to hush us along.
Sweeter than honey... and bitter as gall,
Love is a task and it never will pall.
Sweeter than honey and bitter as gall.
Cupid he rules us all.

T. D.

PS. Please correct any language mistakes, and clumsiness,
in what I wrote. I'll be grateful. :)

Reply to this Message

John Ramsay - 23 Mar 2006 03:51 GMT

> Hi All,
> I'm reading the "What is a Youth" lyrics, from the "Romeo and Juliet"
> movie by Franco Zeffirelli.
> I've faced some problems with vocabulary:
>
> "The world wags on"
> The only meaning for "to wag" I could find in my dictionary was that
> "the dog wagged its tail". It doesn't match the context well...
> I guess this means "The world just goes on", but I'm not sure.

An old meaning of wag is to go clumsily, so you're right.

>
> "others will tease and tarry"
> What does "to tarry" mean?

tarry means to stay a while but not forever

>
> "Mine is the very best parry"
> I only know "to parry", it does not make much sense here.

parry means to block or turn aside an attack in fencing,
also applies to a verbal attack

>
> and
>
> "Love is a task and it never will pall"
> What's so exciting about tasks to speak about them in this
> context?

Love is a task means it's real work,
not magic.

Overall it's not that good a set of lyrics. That scene was a
weak point in an otherwise pretty good film.

>
> I'd very much appreciate your help.
>
> And the complete lyrics:
>
> "What is a Youth"
> music by Nino Rota, words by Eugene Walter
>
> What is a youth? Impetuous fire.
> What is a maid? Ice and desire.
> The world wags on,
> a rose will bloom....
> It then will fade:
> so does a youth,
> so does the fairest maid.
> Comes a time when one sweet smile
> has its season for a while....
> Then love's in love with me.
> Some they think only to marry,
> others will tease and tarry.
> Mine is the very best parry.
> Cupid he rules us all.
> Caper the cape, but sing me the song,
> Death will come soon to hush us along.
> Sweeter than honey... and bitter as gall,
> Love is a task and it never will pall.
> Sweeter than honey and bitter as gall.
> Cupid he rules us all.
>
> T. D.
>
> PS. Please correct any language mistakes, and clumsiness,
> in what I wrote. I'll be grateful. :)

Reply to this Message

Tomasz Dryjanski - 23 Mar 2006 10:38 GMT

> Overall it's not that good a set of lyrics. That scene was a
> weak point in an otherwise pretty good film.

In my opinion, Juliet also used to cry too much,
and the cry was exaggerated. But the film is
pretty good indeed. :)

Many thanks for your help.

BTW. Are the words I asked about outdated? I wonder
why I was unable to find them in my dictionary.
(This is Collins, edited and printed in Poland, 1996)

T. D.

PS. Please correct any language mistakes, and clumsiness, etc.
This is a very good occassion for me to learn.

Reply to this Message

John Ramsay - 23 Mar 2006 13:04 GMT

>> Overall it's not that good a set of lyrics. That scene was a
>> weak point in an otherwise pretty good film.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> PS. Please correct any language mistakes, and clumsiness, etc.
> This is a very good occassion for me to learn.

Your Collins dictionary is a concise one. It can't define every
meaning of every word in the English language.

For that you need the 12 volume OED which is expensive.

A large dictionary - free and online - is the American
Heritage Dictionary of English.

Do a web search for it and bookmark it
for words beyond your own dictionary.

It does give a definition of'wag' that fits
the lyrics of the song.

Reply to this Message

Tomasz Dryjanski - 23 Mar 2006 19:26 GMT

> A large dictionary - free and online - is the American
> Heritage Dictionary of English.

It's great indeed. Both literally, and not.
Many thanks again!

T. D.

Reply to this Message

Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / March 2006

Problem with vocabulary