Weird Words, Part 4
Posted: Monday, February 22, 2010
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
Piaffe
And no, it isn't edible and I haven't forgotten how to spell (the French seem to have a much harder time spelling than I do). You are probably thinking of "pilaf" and it usually has the word "rice" in front of it.
The horse world is just chock full of weird words. Many of them are French if you are working in dressage. It looks like pee-affy, but that is not how it is said. I shouldn't really get down on the French and their spelling, after all we have words like knight and caught and limb. And we don't say k-niggit, k-ow-g-t, or lim-b.
Piaffe is basically a trot in place where the horse makes exaggerated movements of the front legs. There should be lots of bend in the front and the opposite rear leg should come off of the ground at the same time. The step (I don't think you can really call it a gait because the horse does not cover any ground) was originally used to keep a horse warmed up and focused before battle. It's kind of like how a city jogger will jog in place at a red traffic signal.
I've seen a lot of pictures from horse shows with riders in their shadbellies and top hats sitting on horses performing the Piaffe and it is quite impressive. The horse manages to look very elegant. As for the riders, I've no quarrel with top hats, but those coats gotta go.
I like to include, here, words that I have personally used. I have not yet used Piaffe in the course of a normal conversation, but I have used "shadbelly" (don't even ask). You will never catch me wearing a shadbelly, of this I can assure you.
Shadbelly
Remember those old black and white movies that they only show late at night when only the insomniacs are awake? All the people talk kind of funny and the women run around in fancy gowns with cigarettes in long holders while the men wear those funny long-tailed tuxedo coats and smoke cigars. Those odd tuxedo coats that stop at the waist with a Weskit hem (if you draw a line along the bottom of a Weskit hem, it would make a "w") and have the long, split tails hanging down the back are basically shadbellies.
It is a sad fact, but true, that not all riders are slim and fit. In my experience (oh, the poor horse) quite a few are overweight with bulging stomachs. It just seems to me that a standard show coat (looks a lot like a black blazer with a short slit in the back) would be much more esthetic. I'm not saying overweight people shouldn't ride horses (oh boy, I'm probably getting myself in trouble here), just that they shouldn't wear shadbellies. I guess there's no way for me express this opinion without being politically incorrect. Oh! I know.
The owner of the horse I ride has told me that because I weigh so little, he doesn't really know I'm there and that I have to constantly remind him I'm sitting on him. A heavy person doesn't have this problem. And, believe me, it can be a problem. How's that? No? I'll have to work on my diplomacy. Didn't get that particular gene from my mother.
Top Hat
Most of us know what a top hat looks like. Thankfully, the horse show top hats are not nearly as tall as the classic top hat, otherwise they might provide too high of a profile and fly off the rider's head during a speedy canter around the arena. Actually, I've no idea what keeps a rider's top hat on his/her head. There are no straps visibly going under the chin as in the schooling and show helmets. But why are they called top hats?
The word top is defined as highest point, summit or crest. Your head certainly is the highest point on your body (as long as you are standing up, if you are lying down that could conceivably be your belly; I seem to be a bit fixated here). But wouldn't that make every hat a top hat? I mean, you are not going to wear a hat on your shoulder, are you? Ooh! New fashion trend shoulder hats we could call them sha okay, maybe not.
All I could find out about it (okay, so I only searched for a couple of minutes) said that the term dated from 1881 and is related to topper, which means the best of anything (first recorded in slang in 1709). Personally, I don't see that a top hat is better than any other type of hat. Actually, they are inferior if the point is to keep your head comfortable in cold weather, though they would do a good job of keeping the sun off. Oh wait, here's an idea and really, it just now popped into my head. Maybe they were worn to make a man appear taller because taller has always been associated with greater power and success in males. Now that makes sense to me. Top that!
As always, I'd be delighted to hear about any "weird words" that you know of or use regularly. Right now, I am reading Stephen King's "Lisey's Story" and in it he talks about the language of love. He doesn't mean that mushy stuff that newly love-struck couples say to one another. He means the words that they use in their own and unique ways on a daily basis; things that only they will understand. These can even be made up words. Bernd and I have one or two well okay, more than that. What are yours?
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)You are a strange childHi Paul.Coming from you, that's a high compliment indeed.Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
I'm a big scrabble player Dianne so keep the wierd words coming. I can hardly wait to use piaffe next time I play my husband. :)Hi Brianna.I'll do my best!Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
Strange and delightful.Hi Chad.I always was a strange child. Guess it carried over into adulthood. But at least you also found it delightful. For that, I am grateful. :)Thanks for reading and commenting.Dianne
I love the weird words as I too use them at scrabble! Also, the French have a hard time spelling because they are too busy talking out of both sides of their mouth (come to our country to visit, don't come you arrogant pigs; we will fight to the end, we give up instantly, etc.). Nicely done.Hi Michael.I've said it before, but as writers, I think we all love words. For me, the weirder the better. As for the French, when I hear French spoken, it sounds like they are talking with a mouth full of marbles. Bernd didn't get it, so I demonstrated for him. He had to laugh and allow as I had a point. Oh and it isn't just the words that get me going, but the crazy and interesting ways in which we use them; take "allow as" for an example. Bernd and I haven't played Scrabble in a while, but between you and Brianna, maybe we'll have to break out the board and have a go at it.As always, thanks for reading and for commenting.Dianne
This is the first article of yours I read and I thoroughly enjoyed it! I always wanted a horse but living in a town, it isn't practical. I love to watch the horses doing dressage--I'm always amazed that you can train them to do such intricate movements. And I do love words-I'm a crosswords fan. Thanks for writing this!Hi Terri.Guess I responded to these in the wrong order.It always amazes me that the horses cooperate. I mean, they don't really have to. That bit in their mouths isn't really all that persuasive. The horse I ride has proven that to me on numerous occasions. :) But in general, he does like the partnership we have forged.I'm lucky to live where I do and not in the city. We have lots of empty tracts of land nearby and lots of people keep horses. It's great!Thanks again,Dianne
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