Nymph/etymology

Famous quotes containing the words nymph and/or etymology:

    O ruddier than the cherry,
    O sweeter than the berry,
    O Nymph more bright
    Than moonshine night,
    Like kidlings blithe and merry.
    Ripe as the melting cluster,
    No lily has such lustre,
    Yet hard to tame,
    As raging flame,
    And fierce as storms that bluster.
    John Gay (1685–1732)

    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)