Hope in the Dark

You’re listening to A Way with Words, the show about language and how we use it. I’m Grant Barrett.

And I’m Martha Barnette. The Old English word galan means to call or to sing enchantments.

And you don’t see that root in very many English words. There’s some really, really old words like galder, which is a charm or incantation. But there is a familiar word that you’ll see it in, and that word is nightingale.

It’s a bird noted for the melodious song, which is heard at night as well as during the day. It’s literally a night singer from Old English galant, meaning to call or sing enchantments.

And I was reminded of this in a tweet by writer Robert McFarlane, who mentioned the etymology and described the nightingale as, quote, a tiny bird of exquisite voice, the sound of hope in the dark.

Isn’t that lovely?

It is lovely.

And it’s better than I usually expect on Twitter.

Right?

Yeah.

But I think Twitter gives you back what you cultivate, doesn’t it?

Oh, it certainly does.

You follow the right people, you get beauty like that.

Yeah.

Give us that quote again.

A tiny bird of exquisite voice, the sound of hope in the dark.

Oh, that is very good.

I like that.

Isn’t that nice?

And they are. They’re lovely little things.

If you’ve never seen a picture, look them up on the internet. They’re just gorgeous little things.

Yeah, and I just love the idea of them singing through the night.

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