Gravel/etymology

Famous quotes containing the words gravel and/or etymology:

    ‘Lay me a green sod under my head,
    And another at my feet;
    And lay my bent bow at my side,
    Which was my music sweet;
    And make my grave of gravel and green,
    Which is most right and meet.
    —Unknown. Robin Hood’s Death (l. 65–70)

    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)