Happy July Fourth from Figuratively Speaking
The story goes that Francis Scott Key looked overhead and saw the tattered flag that survived a night of battle, and felt so moved that he penned the words to our National Anthem.
Key was a lawyer who in 1814 witnessed the survival of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Md. Leave it to a lawyer to give his poem the dull, but specific, title “Defense of Fort M’Henry.” No room for misinterpretation there.
Someone realized the offense of that title and replaced it with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In 1931 it was made the official U.S. theme song.
Now, what about this word, spangled?
Noun: A spangle is a small, thin piece of glittery material, often used to ornament a dress. A synonym is sequin. A spangle is also a small sparkling object.
Verb: Here’s where things become relevant to us, or rather, to U.S.
The transitive verb to spangle means to cover with spangles or other small sparking objects. Most often, the past participle form is used as an adjective … well, you know the word … spangled … As in A spangled Christmas tree.
Believe it or not, there is also an adjective spangly
The word derived from the late Middle English word spang which was a glittering ornament.
That word came from our Dutch friends’ archaic word spange which meant buckle.
Fortunately for us, our beloved flag has neither buckles nor sequins, and we can safely call it merely starry.
So from Fiction Dailyland, here’s wishing you a most generously spangled flag … and day.
Tags: Figuratively Speaking, U.S. national anthem, word origins
