My Science School

This phrase describes a view that is seen as a bird might see it, from an elevated perspective. For example, when flying in an airplane you get a bird’s-eye view of the towns and cities below you. Climbing up a tall tower affords you the same perspective.

The phrase can also be used in a more figurative sense; when someone steps back and looks at the entire situation from a more distant perspective, it can be said that they are seeing it from a bird’s-eye view.

This expression comes from the literal imagery of seeing things the way birds do: from up high.

The terms aerial view and aerial viewpoint are also sometimes used synonymous with bird's-eye view. The term aerial view can refer to any view from a great height, even at a wide angle, as for example when looking sideways from an airplane window or from a mountain top. Overhead view is fairly synonymous with bird's-eye view but tends to imply a less lofty vantage point than the latter term. For example, in computer and video games, an "overhead view" of a character or situation often places the vantage point only a few feet (a meter or two) above human height. 

 

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The term chicken-hearted refers to someone who is easily scared or cowardly in nature. It is typically used as an insult and generally has a negative connotation. This term derives from the idiomatic meaning of the word chicken in English, which also refers to someone who is cowardly.

Chicken-hearted was first used during the late 17th century, although there is little information regarding its first use in print. This idiom is similar to faint-hearted and faint of heart, both of which have the same meaning in English.

The idiomatic noun form of chicken was first used in this context in Shakespeare’s play, Kempe’s Nine Days’ Wonder, written in 1600. Chicken was first used in the same context in verb form around the early 20th century.

The English phrase chicken-hearted refers to someone who is cowardly in nature or easily scared. It is most commonly used as an insult, but it can also be used in playful banter.

 

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Have you heard the phrase “any x, y, and z”as in“I don’t have to worry about every x, y or z?

We use these last three letters of the alphabet when we want to refer to some unknown people. Though these are merely letters, they stand for people. We use these three alphabets in maths, in algebraic equations. Where did they come from? How did they become important?

The origin of x

Some people think that the letter X is used to represent the unknown in both English and Mathematics because the letter has had to struggle to establish its identity. Interesting theory, right?

X is derived from the Phenician letter samekh, meaning “fish.” It was used by the Phoenicians to represent the /s/ consonant (denoting a hard S sound), the Greeks borrowed the samekh around 900 BC and named it Chi.

Once they became masters of the arts, the ancient Greeks set about to simplify the digraph (“a pair of letters representing a single speech sound”) /ks/, which is used most prominently throughout the western regions of Greece. So the X was born.

The Romans later adopted the X sound from the Chalcidian alphabet, a non-ionic Greek alphabet. They borrowed the Chi symbol, consisting of two diagonally crossed strokes, from the Greek alphabet to denote the letter. This symbol also represents the Roman numeral X or “10”.

In other words, the Romans took the /x/ sound from one alphabet (Chalcidian) and combined it with the Chi symbol from another alphabet (Greek) and thus X was born.

The X has been around for ages and has had different stories and sounds associated with it. It can mean Christ, like the X in Xmas, stand for a chromosome, and even show up in friendly letter writing (XOXO).

How to say x

In its pronunciation, the letter X has been compared to a chameleon. For example, X is used to establish the /ks/ sound (called “voiceless velar fricative”), as in wax and fox. To get this sound, you place the back of the tongue at the soft palate. You do the same for X’s/ gz/ sound, as in auxiliary and exhaust. X can also take on the /z/ sound as in xylophone and Xanadu, the hard /k/ sound as in excite, and /kzh/ as in luxury. The X can also be silent as in Sioux (Falls), and the French loan-word faux.

The origin of y

Y came in late to join the English alphabet. It was called ipsilon in German, upsilon in Greek, but we do not clearly know what it was called in English. The Y sound as in yard, yes, yield is from Old English words with initial g- as in got and y- as in yet, which were considered the same sound. These were written as 3, known as yogh. The system was altered by French scribes, who continued with the way Europe used –g- and from the early 1200 s used –y- and sometimes –gh- to replace3.

This is how it was formed.

Y started its journey in Classical Greek as –ik (os) and went to Classical Latin –ic (us). In Old English, it was recognised as –ig and in Middle English it became –y.

Y, as you know, is used to make adjectives from nouns. Example: Snow – snowy. Having, full of, or characterized by: dirty, healthy rather, somewhat: yellowy, chilly, dusky inclined or tending to: drowsy, sticky suggestive of, somewhat like: wavy fit or suitable for: Christmassy quality or condition: jealousy, zoanthropy a shop or goods of a (specified) kind: coopery a collective body of a (specified)kind: soldiery It is there for terms of endearment – for “little dear.” [kitty, Billy, daddy]

The origin of Z

Z’s history includes a time when it was used so rarely that it was removed from the alphabet altogether.

Where did Z come from?

The Greek zeta is the origin of the letter Z. The Phoenician glyph zayin, meaning “weapon,” had a long vertical line capped at both ends with shorter horizontal lines and modern capital I.

Then it evolved into the Greek zeta. The top and bottom lines became elongated, and the vertical line got slanted, connecting to the horizontal lines at the top right and the bottom left. It finally looked like what we call Z today.

Why did Z get removed from the alphabet?

Around 300 BC, the Roman Censor Officer Appius Claudius Caeus removed Z from the alphabet. He pronounced the letter Z as archaic (old-fashioned.) He said the pronunciation of /z/ had became /r/ by a process called rhotacism, rendering the letter Z useless.

How did Z get added back?

Two hundred years after Appius Claudius Caecus threw the letter Z out, Z was reintroduced to the Latin alphabet. At the time, it was used only in words taken from Greek. Because of its absence and reintroduction, zeta is one of the only two letters to enter the Latin alphabet directly from Greek and not Etruscan.

Z was not always the final letter of the modern English alphabet, although it has always been in the 26th position. For years the & symbol (now known as the ampersand) was placed at the end, When pronounced “and.” When people recited the alphabet, Z was said with the Latin “per se,” meaning “by itself.” The position and pronunciation eventually got clubbed together: “X, Y, Z, and per se and” became “X, Y, Z, and ampersand.”

These days Z is the least used letter in the alphabet, though American English uses it more often than British English. Early English did not have a Z but used s for both voiced and unvoiced soft consonant sounds (sibilants). Words in English that originated as loan words from French and Latin are more likely to be spelled with a Z than an S, such as blazon or buzzard. Also, American standardization modified /z/ suffixes to more accurately reflect their pronunciation, changing –ise and –isation to –ize and -ization.

 

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Once in my twelfth standard class, I watched students cry when I read the poem “Home they brought the warrior dead,” I am sure you giggled, yawned, listened with rapt attention, dreamed or clapped in the end – while listening to poem being read to you. Was that the power of the words? Was it the way it was read? Both?

Many things contribute to the “enjoyment” of poetry. Sometimes it is the depth of the thought. Sometimes it is the impression the words leave with you.

Sometimes it is because it is the kind of poem you like. Sometimes it is the way the words are arranged, the imagery you get. It is also possible that you are not impressed at all! But you try to understand the poem, see how you feel about the thoughts expressed. You are expected to “react” to a poem, not analyse it. If you are not sure about the poem’s meaning and the poet’s intent, you read it again and again till you are able to assess your feelings towards what the poet says.

Keep these in mind, when you start reading a poem.

[1] The title: Sure, a poem’s title may not always be of significance. It may not appeal to you. But some certainly draw you to explore the contents. Examples: Paradise Lost, Do Not Go Gentle Into The Night, The Road Not Taken. It is true that sometimes the title does not say much (The Snow Man by William Blake), but most reveal a hint. Read on, and then ask yourself; Does the title reflect the true meaning of the poem?

[2] Words/Phrases: Ask: Why has the poet chosen this word/phrase? Why did Wordsworth write”Ten thousand saw I” not “Ten thousand I saw”? Why are some words repeated (Of the bells, Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bell by Edgar Allan Poe)? Which word/phrase stands out? (“Men may come....forever” – The Brook by Tennyson.) Is there a word/phrase that has more than one meaning? Are there words which convey opposite thoughts (“Darkness visible” – John Milton, Paradise Lost)?

[3] Style/Diction: Is the poem in an elaborate style, with a lot of descriptive lines? Is it a simple or a dense one in meaning? Is it formal, conversational, abstract, descriptive? How would you describe the language and vocabulary (register): informal, formal, common, casual, neutral, mixed?

[4] Tone: What seems to be attitude of the poet towards his audience? Does he speak directly (‘Tell me not, in mournful numbers”)? What is his attitude towards the subject of the poem? Is the tone serious, ironic, argumentative, somebre, abrupt, playful, cheerful, sad, or a mix of one or more of these? Does it keep changing? Is it clear/unclear?

[5] Word Order: What is special about the way the words are arranges? What effect does it bring? How is “Her arms across her chest she laid” different from “She laid her arms across chest”? Are the lines made of long sentences or fragmented phrases? Does it jump around before flowing smoothly?

[6] Punctuation: Punctuation in poems is often different from the punctuation in prose. Poems are made of lines and not sentences, so they stop abruptly, have dashes or commas to mark the end of a line. Punctuation is often used to create rhythm. Sometimes the lines stop without punctuation and the thought continues in the next line. So check out: Is the punctuation unusual? Does it add to the beauty of the poem?

[7] Figures of speech: Poets use figurative language to present their ideas in condensed form. There are similes and metaphors, alliteration, repetition, personification and onomatopoeia. Most of all, there is imagery – word pictures that bring the description alive. Here is an example from the poem “Egret Rising.”

Like a phoenix rising not from flames but watery reeds,

The egret flapped its wings and gracefully rose up from the weeds.

The flash of white feathers shone against green leaves and clear blue sky,

The majestic bird set a course unknown and swiftly away did fly.

So, look for exaggeration (hyberbole: “Ten thousand saw I at a glance”), metaphors and unusual construction of lines.

Hope is the thing with feathers –

That perches in the soul –

And sings the tune without the words –

And never stops at all –

From Hpoe Is The Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson

[8] Rhythm and Meter: The first poems you read had a regular beat and a rhyme scheme. This was to help you memories the poem. Remember “Twinkle, twinkle little star?” Poems are musical. So look for the rhythmic patterns.

“Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright

In the forests of the night

What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?”

Read the poem aloud, and the beat becomes very clear.

[9] Speaker/Narrator: Who is the speaker? Is he talking to the reader?  Is he a narrator telling a story? [Read The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.] Ask: What is happening in the poem? Is is action? Drama? Who tells the story of The Ancient Mariner by Coleridge?

[10] Time/ Setting: These are important to understand in a narrative poem. What was the World understand in a narrative poem. What was the world like when the poet wrote these lines? Is a sense of place clear (urban, pastoral, forest, desert, beach, etc.), or does the poem seem to occupy an abstract time and place (such as mental or emotional state)?

 

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