Still with categories we were playing it in class, practising for the language olympics with different categories. The category that came up was "people who wear a uniform".

One girl came up with "sommelier" which she mispelled but knew the meaning of. Clearly her parents take her to slightly posher restaurants than McDonald's

I've told this story to at least twenty people so far- most of them English teachers - and so far only one other has known the meaning of it (naturally I knew ).
Surely it's not that obscure?

I had to look it up.

quote:

sommelier

I don't think I've ever eaten at a French restaurant, and if I had, I didn't drink any wine. I've certainly never been at a restaurant with a sommelier.

I think the problem with the English teachers is less with their lexicons, and more with their being "uncultured".

quote:

Originally posted by Seanahan:

I've certainly never been at a restaurant with a sommelier.

Nor indeed have I. I have on the other hand read loads of books and the people in the books (James Bond for one) have been to restaurants with a sommelier. I'd expect other English teachers to be as widely read as I am.

I really didn't consider the word to be obscure. Uncommon yes, obscure no.

Sommelier has an interesting etymology. In Old French it means 'officer in charge of provisions, pack-animal driver' (alter. of sommerier) < sommier 'beast of burden' < Vulgar Latin *saumarius < 'pack-animal' < Late Latin sagmarius 'packhorse' < sagma 'packsaddle'. Cf. English summer 'supporting beam; lintel'.

Now what is the name of the flat, silver tasting cup that the sommlerier wears on a chain around his neck? A napier. Related to the English words: apron, mop, nappe, napkin, naperer, and napery. A naperer is a person in charge of the household linen. From Latin mappa 'napkin; cloth', whence also English map < Latin mappa mundi. Pehaps from the Punic (Phoenician) root npy 'to sift'.

BH,
I learned the word ... not from books or college... but from working at a 5-star resort on the coast during my college years. I don't think it's obscure or uncommon. See what college doesn't teach you!

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I'd expect other English teachers to be as widely read as I am.

I don't know that knowing one word is an indication of being widely read. Heck, were that so, think of how widely read everyone must think I am, what with knowing about epicaricacy and all! Seriously, though, I think Sean makes a good point when he says it's more the English teachers' experiences than their being well-read. (I would hesitate to say that one is "cultured" merely because he/she has been to restaurants that have a sommelier. I have seen some highly ignorant people who have eaten in fine restaurants!)

BTW, is a sommelier the same as a wine steward? I've been to restaurants with the latter, but not the former.

Zmj, that etymology got me curious, and I found that "summer" can also mean a heavy piece of lumber that serves as a support beam. I didn't know that...though I am assuming you more "widely read" wordcrafters probably do!

quote:

I have on the other hand read loads of books and the people in the books (James Bond for one) have been to restaurants with a sommelier. I'd expect other English teachers to be as widely read as I am.

I think you are implying that I'm not very well read.... : )

I've never read Fleming, although my English teacher father has, so he wouldn't be a fair person to ask if he knew sommelier. Besides, I'm not entirely certain what "well-read" means. Most Americans in my generation haven't read Fleming. I had a British ling professor who was shocked most of the class hadn't read "Through the Looking Glass". I think the difference is that was is considered "well-read" doesn't mean the same thing everywhere.

I certainly haven't read as many authors from Britain and France as I have from America. Perhaps it is the genre of books I tend to read, or maybe I just shy away from the type of book where characters go to French restaurants.

The first place I ever saw the word sommelier was in MAD magazine, when I was about ten. It was a parody of advertisements for themed summer camps for kids, in this case a camp for ultra-rich. At the bottom of the ad it said "William M. Gaines, sommelier. I had to look it up. MAD introduced me to lots of things: West Side Story, the writings of Robert Burns, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert W. Service, and Eugene O'Neill spring to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Seanahan:

I think you are implying that I'm not very well read.... : )

And I thought you were implying I was uncultured.

quote:

I had a British ling professor who was shocked most of the class hadn't read "Through the Looking Glass".

Shocked!
You're lucky he was only shocked. I'd've expelled you.

quote:

I think the difference is that was is considered "well-read" doesn't mean the same thing everywhere.

I agree. "Widely read" on the other hand...

quote:

or maybe I just shy away from the type of book where characters go to French restaurants.

Wow! A whole new genre opens up, apparently including Ian Fleming, Agatha Christie and (see above) MAD magazine.

I would venture to say that most English Teachers would be hard pressed to be able to afford fancy restaurants where sommeliers work! It's not a matter of them being uncultured so much as being underpaid.

More and more, being "well read" is no longer so easy to define. There are so many books out there these days - what would you consider to be the most important things a person should read, say, by the time he's 20? 30? And although classics are certainly important, don't you think a knowledge of newer works of fiction is important as well?

OOh - I'm going to start some new threads from this . . .

Isn't a sommelier the guy that sniffs the cork to see if the wine's good?

Tinman