Word(s) of the Week
by Guest Blogger M.O.M.
In honor of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada (and yes, MLCWO, Vancouver is in Canada – British Columbia to be exact. On the west coast, just above Washington State) here are some words you don’t get to hear very often (usually every 4 years) and what they refer to.
Luge
noun ~ A light toboggan for one or two people, that is ridden in a sitting or supine (lying looking up) position.• a sport in which competitors make a timed descent of a course riding such toboggans.
verb [ intrans. ] ~ ride on a luge.
ORIGIN late 19th cent. (as a verb): from Swiss French.
Curling
noun ~ a game played on ice, esp. in Scotland and Canada, in which large, round, flat stones are slid across the surface toward a mark. Members of a team use brooms to sweep the surface of the ice in the path of the stone to control its speed and direction. There are two types of broom. The most common is a brush or “push broom”. The other is a corn/straw/Canadian broom, which with long bristles, looks much like a normal broom.
Salchow
noun
Figure Skatinga jump in figure skating with a backward takeoff from the backward inside edge of one skate to the backward outside edge of the other, with one or more full turns in the air.
ORIGIN early 20th cent.: named after Ulrich Salchow (1877–1949), Swedish skater.
