Constable/etymology

Famous quotes containing the words constable and/or etymology:

    I did not know that thou wert dead before;
    I did not feel the grief I did sustain;
    The greater stroke astonisheth the more;
    Astonishment takes from us sense of pain.
    I stood amazed when other’s tears begun,
    And now begin to weep when they have done.
    —Henry Constable (1562–1613)

    Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.
    Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)