Tuesday 29 January 2019

Art, Albumen and Aeroplanes

One consequence of being overtired is the inability to concentrate for long periods. If I lounge on the sofa, intending to listen to The Archers after the 7pm news, I am usually asleep before Front Row starts - then have to use catchup facilities later to find out what has happened [plotlines are all a bit silly at the minute anyway imho]
And I cannot manage to read a book properly either. 
So my reading is all short articles, mostly informative non fiction stuff, or cryptic crossword clues. This week I have learned three new words.
baren - this comes from the art world- it is a flat round device used for ensuring a crisp application of iink when you are printing/making linocuts etc. If you haven't got a traditional oriental one, or a modern plastic device, you can use a wooden spoon. Not to be confused with baron - a member of the aristocracy.
glair- this is the artists word for albumen, or for the preparation they make from the eggwhite- it is used for binding paint, and also as a size, when applying gold. It can be stored, but may start to smell. Not to be confused with glare - fierce stare, or dazzling light [nouns or verbs]
flygskam - a Swedish word meaning fly-shame. This is the guilt travellers experience, when they board a plane and realise how much they are contributing to climate change. In Germany, they called it flugscham. In Holland it is vliegschaamte. This strikes me as a good thing, people ought to think about the impact of their actions on the planet. Not to be confused with flycam - which is a device for stabilising your camera tripod.  
What I find really sad is that there is no equivalent word for flygskam, this conscience-pricking-emotion, in English!

2 comments:

  1. Lots of new words! Thank you for sharing these new words with us!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was JUST thinking that it is bad we don't have a worn for Flying shame- I always feel that when I fly- generally I try not to fly more than once a year- if we can get a train or boat, we do!x

    ReplyDelete

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