[Artemisia] Smalls vs. ???

[rayzentz at aim.com]

Your Ladyship, with all due respect, please do not tell me I can't refer to MY children in a certain way.?? I most courteously allow you to use the language you choose.?? I expect the same in return.

That said, Pictsies has, at least to my knowledge, only been used to refer to the legions of children living in the lands of Arrows' Flight.?? As I recall, and I do , Lady Aurora, at middle eastern war last spring, jokingly called our newly armored host of children a "Horde of little Picts", since their helmets, shields, and armor were all blue.?? It wasn't much of a stretch (at least for us) to take that to "Pict"sie, which?becomes a diminuative version of pict.?? There is no relationship to the word pixie, at all, except for the "purely coincidental" pronunciation similarities, which, incidentally, HE Casamira seems to like ('s called a pun).?? 

In fact, we in Arrows' Flight are very careful to differentiate between these two?words as we speak.?? (We would never refer to our children as little mythical, mischievious?fairies!?? Oh no, not us! )? The tongue aspirates quite differently. In "pixie", there is a "k" sound that is aspirates in the back of the throat, and then is followed immediately by the hiss of the "s", which occurs in the center of the hard palate.?? In "pictsie", the "k" sound is not aspirated, but stopped, and is then followed by what would be referred to in german as an "S Set" sound, which is a stopped "T", followed immediately by the hiss of the "S" sound ("tsee - pronounced like "tea", with an s between the initial consonant, and the vowel).?? You see? ?Completely different!

Now, the fact that the word didn't exist before we used it should not bother you in the least.?? People invent words all the time, and it is a perfectly period activity.?? Shakespeare himself invented over 1500 words, many of which we still use today.

We in Arrows' Flight began using the word PICTSIEs to refer to OUR little horde (not of course referring to a small horde, but rather the large horde..., wait, they aren't large either, uuh...,big horde..., no, that doesn't work..., oh, never mind) ?of SMALLS.?? We can hardly be responsible for the action of others, who, lacking the creativity of the denizons of the southern part of the kingdom, borrowed our term and started applying it to their own SMALLS (personally, I don't use the word "smalls" to refer to my wee bairns, either.?? Not because I fear it will scar them psychologically, but simply because I prefer more creative terms).

However, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and if others are now referring to their children as "Pictsies", well to them I say, "Thank you!"

Padruig McTavish
Bard of Arrows' Flight


Sometimes kids are "brats".  But really, I would like for everyone to please 
stop call them "pictsies".  I'd like to see documentation for that!!!  I think 
what you are going for is the mystical pixie.
   
  Megen




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