Friday, June 06, 2008

The more you know...

Main Entry:
1pil·lion
Pronunciation:
\ˈpil-yən\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Scottish Gaelic or Irish; Scottish Gaelic pillean, diminutive of peall covering, couch; Irish pillín, diminutive of peall covering, couch
Date:
1503
1 a: a light saddle for women consisting chiefly of a cushion b: a pad or cushion put on behind a man's saddle chiefly for a woman to ride on 2 chiefly British : a motorcycle or bicycle saddle for a passenger

Main Entry:
2pillion
Function:
adverb
Date:
1926
chiefly British : on or as if on a pillion "ride pillion"


That's the whole post, right there. A dictionary definition. Your homework is to learn this word. Use this word. Love this word. Teach this word to other people. Because I am *sick* of being asked what it means when I use it in conversation. It's not a hard word. It's a great word, in fact. It's ever so much more convenient to say "She rode pillion" than "She was the other rider... you know... the seat behind the driver." And yet no one has ever heard it before. It got so bad that I had to look it up to make sure I wasn't just imagining a new term.

So there's the proof. The word exists and I'm going to keep using it. Be warned.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, entertaining and educational.

My turn. Just to give your brain more info.

http://home.messiah.edu/~gdaub/armor/picgloss.htm

Anonymous said...

hmmm; are we talking motorcycles or scooters here in your usage of the moment?

meleemistress said...

Brace yourself...

We're talking about a Kawasaki Ninja 250. It's a motorcycle, but it's really small and well built. Basically, it's the motorcycle version of my civic. It looks really sporty but it's not actually powerful enough to get into really big trouble.