The Spanish word for straw is paja. In Italian, it’s paglia, which also gives us the name of the opera Il Pagliacci, the Italian word for clowns. In the past, clown costumes were made of the same fabric used to cover straw mattresses. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Straw-Related Etymologies”
Earlier, we were talking about the term palette, meaning like bedding.
An informal bed that you put on the floor.
Yeah, yeah.
It’s a pile of blankets and pillows.
Yes.
And you mentioned how it came from a French word for straw.
Yeah, P-A-I-L-L-E with a diminutive suffix that makes it like a small, cute straw or something.
Yeah, yeah.
I was reminded of the fact that the word for straw in Spanish is paja, related to that.
And in Italian, it’s palia, like Camille Palia, the writer.
P-A-G-L-I-A.
Yeah.
And the opera Pagliacci, which is about a clown, and the traditional Italian character’s outfit for a clown was made out of the same fabric that they used to cover straw mattresses.
How cool is that?
So all these connections.
Yeah, all these connections.
Hiding there in plain sight.
Yeah, hiding there in plain sight.
Gotta love it.
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