I went to visit my grandmother last weekend in Port Colborne, Ontario. I mention the city, because I believe it to be quite unique. It is situated on "Lake Erie" at one end of the "Welland Canal". There is also an island within the city limits. Off the Canal, there is a second body of water that has always been referred to as "The Weir". I always thought it referred to the waterway as a second canal off the first, which formed the island, yet in looking up the definition of weir, I find it means a damn!

So my post here has two questions:

1) How many other water words can we come up with?

2) Can someone help me understand weir?

Morgan, I haven't heard of "Weir", but everything I consulted seemed to indicate it is a dam.

Other words, though I am sure there are hundreds:
H2O, agua, ocean, creek, pond, rainwater, flood, bathe, baptize, aqueous, river.

[This message was edited by Kalleh on Sun Jul 6th, 2003 at 6:38.]

Another weird word, diaphragm
By a stretch could be called a dagm,
But one thing is clear:
It's not called a weir,
Nor is "dam" always spelled "damn."

A weir is an old English word that means either a dam or a compound created in a stream to trap fish.

I suspect that the name may well stick to a stretch of water long after the dam or trap has disappeared. It is quite commonly used here.

Richard English

quote:

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Nor is "dam" always spelled "damn"

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Of course you're right, Jerry. I edited "damn" to "dam." Sorry!

I just found a water word in the Grandiloquent Dictionary that I had not heard of: interamnian - Being between rivers

[This message was edited by Kalleh on Sun Jul 6th, 2003 at 7:09.]

interamnian - Being between rivers
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Oh, the Latin rendering of mesopotamian.
More water words: Fluvial, riparian, and lacustrine.

I also had thought of a weir as a net or trap, but that's the third definition in the dictionary closest to hand. It further states that in British parlance, it's a means of controling a stream's flow, as with a levee or embankment.

Definitions, Asa? Not all of those are familiar to me.

Concerning dams, I direct your attention to a letter and response, summarized here.

quote:

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Initial letter, from the government: "It has come to the attention of the Department of Environmental Quality that there has been ...the following unauthorized activity: Construction and maintenance of two wood debris dams across the outlet stream of Spring Pond." (etc.)

Response: "I am the legal owner and a couple of beavers are in the (State unauthorized) process of constructing and maintaining two wood "debris" dams across the outlet stream of my Spring Pond. While I did not pay for, nor authorize their dam project, I think they would be highly offended you call their skillful use of natural building materials "debris." I would like to challenge you to attempt to emulate their dam project any dam time and/or any dam place you choose."

And continuing from there to ever-increasing levels of hilarity.

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You'll enjoy the full texts.

and for additional remarks on the same subject, check out

http://www.snopes.com/humor/letters/dammed.htm

Definitions, Asa? Not all of those are familiar to me.
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Oh, drat, you mean I have to go look them up? I just heard 'em on a show about water, so how would I know! Nevertheless, here's my best guess:

Fluvial, from Latin fluvia, river, thus pertaining to rivers.

Riparian: Of or about river banks, from Latin ripari, river bank dwellers. (I really DID have to look up the etymology on this one!)

Lacustrine: Pertaining to lakes, from Latin lacus, lake.

quote:

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and for additional remarks on the same subject, check out

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Oh, Haberdasher, thanks! That is wonderful.