Sorry, I've gotten
absorbed in The Times of India this morning. I love the writing style.
Cynosure. It has never in my life occurred to me to use that word.
cy·no·sure...
1. something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance, interest, etc.: the cynosure of all eyes....
cynosure
1590s, from M.Fr. cynosure (16c.), from L. Cynosura, lit. "dog's tail," the constellation (now Ursa Minor) containing the North Star, the focus of navigation, from Gk. kynosoura, lit. "dog's tail," from kyon (gen. kynos; see canine) + oura "tail."
Her belly is the dog's tail of all eyes. What a melee of body parts!
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12 comments:
Hooray for Bollywood!
They hire ladies whose physiques look good ...
Word verification: baicefen.
The writing style owes a lot to the old British way to expressing one's self, I presume. All the Limey rags sound American.
Ann Althouse said...
I've gotten absorbed in The Times of India this morning.
I was about to note that today's theme seems to be Inja.
WV "demarias" What B. S. Pully liked best about opera.
Not a word in my collection, but after finding out the "cyn" is pronounced as sign not sin, I like the sound of it. Otherwise it seemed too close to censure.
Can a blog can be the cynosure of eyes and the dog's tail too?
Switching blog for belly yields this compliment:
"Her blog is the dog's tail of all eyes. What a melee of body parts!"
What's an "item girl"? Is it like a bold face name?.....Words don't always mean what you think. I would have considered cynosure as some type of strongly held cynical belief. Perhaps "item girl" is a shop assistant who dresses provocatively.
@William, learn to use Wikipedia.
"Item number" is a term commonly used in the Indian film industries to describe a catchy, upbeat, often sexually provocative dance sequence for a song in a movie that usually has no relevance to the plot of the film.
...
The "item number" would feature an "item girl" who appeared in the film as a dancer, usually in a bar or nightclub, and was only in the film for the length of that song. ... Today, it is a commonly used term with hardly any negative connotations to it.
I have no idea why Bollywood thinks it has discovered the sexiness of the female belly button. Britney Spears and other pop tarts of a few years ago showed off their belly buttons to take one's mind off the fact that they could neither sing nor act nor dance complicated steps.
Sorry I can't stop miss...I’m off to India. Having tea with the Maharaja!
Cheerio! link
Lionel Jeffries in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Bang
I think Titus would approve.
Ah, the venerable Times of India. I grew up in India, reading the Times with my dad- guess I learnt the English language mostly from reading that rag. :)
Also, in Bollywood's polyglot slang, "item girl" would translate to the term "fly 'ho" in modern American slang
What the heck is an "item girl"?
"I have no idea why Bollywood thinks it has discovered the sexiness of the female belly button."
The article seems so odd. The girl seems really excited about getting her great tummy and seems comfortable saying how provocative that is and then goes on to say that she's not going to do it again for a very long time.
So the sexiness of the song and the girl and the *bellybutton* in that particular film is enhanced by the idea that you've been given a special and rare treat.
I think that what seems odd is that in the article there doesn't seem to be the feeling that the extra midriff being shown off is *naughty*.
But if it's not naughty, why cover it up again?
Bollywood is supposed to be so prudish. But there isn't any way to guess by reading that, what motivates the prudishness.
I'm Curious Ann. Did you know the meaning (even roughly) of "cynosure"?
I myself know a whole mess of words, but cynosure was new to me.
Sin? Oh, sure!
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