From: "Michael Justice" <cmichaelj_at_home.com> > Sometime ago I read from someone I think it was Matt, a definition for > clapotis. It is not in my dictionary and a search on the web turned up some > resorts in France so.......... I am wondering where the word came from and who > was it that brought it into our usage? > Since I'm three-quarters French by blood, I suppose I should try this. It is a French word and according to the Dictionnaire de L'Académie française, 6th Edition, 1835 (online at http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/dicos/) it is defined as: "CLAPOTAGE ou CLAPOTIS. s. m. T. de Marine: Agitation légère des vagues, qui se croisent et s'entrechoquent dans tous les sens." Which could be translated as: Light agitation of waves, which are crossing themselves and are banging themselves together in all directions. The pronunciation in French would be roughly "clap owe tee", with no syllable getting any particular stress (well, maybe the first). In Quebec it might be pronounced more like "clap owe tsee" by some. I've been pronouncing it as if it were French since I first read it. I'm not even certain what the proper English pronounciation is! Mike *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Fri Jun 01 2001 - 18:23:43 PDT
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