h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Is the corn dolly a sort of scaled down Wicker Man - the miniaturised Palm Pilot version?

I don't really know, Wicker man does ring a bell, but right now, I can't recall what exactly it is. And I've never heard of a Palm Pilot.

Apologies

Just trying to be clever... a Wicker Man,as in the writings of Caesar and in the better film of the same name*, is a huge construction made in the shape of a man and used for ritual sacrifice by burning.

I was thinking like Terry Pratchett, but I don't have his gift with words... Pratchett starts with the idea of stone circles being seen as "primitive computers" and takes it to its ridiculous extreme, ie pebble circles glued to a board that rests on the operator's knees like a lap-top Stonehenge.

I'd heard (I think this is American usage) that something called a "palm pilot" is a computer that fits into the palm of the hand and is the last word in miniaturisation. Is this a "Blackberry" in GB?

So a la Pratchett, I thought of the corn dolly - six inches tall, but made of the same material as a fifty-foot tall Wicker Man, and wondered if this was the same process of miniaturisation for the busy druid on the move... perhaps ideal for a sacrifice asking for a very small increment in next year's crops, maybe.

And I know a joke is never funny if you have to explain it...


Great article, by the way!

And the "*" meant - out of two films called "the Wicker Man", spit on and renounce utterly the American remake of 2006.

Accept only the British original from 1967, which has a very good bit where Britt Ekland is performing a fertility dance.

Perhaps burn the American version as a sacrifice to the gods of cinema, in the hope the next remake is better...

Thank you very much, and thanks for taking the time to explain. I think a Blackberry ( http://www.netlingo.com/lookup.cfm?term=BlackBerry ) is a simple from of PDA
http://www.onelook.com/?w=PDA&ls=a

But I'm not really sure. .

I think if I was English or American, I'd probably have understood your joke, but I'm not, so haven't read Pratchett (although I think I should do), and haven't seen the film you mention. Never mind, it's great to have feedback

Isn't there a link between wicker and wicca in this instance?

Well done B'el for a good article

Thanks, Vestboy.
I've looked into my dictionary, which dosn't know the wicker man, but says that wicker is a slender flexible twig or shoot, esp. of a willow. This word derives from Old Norse, whereas wicca (witch, sorcerer) derives from Old English.

Ok, just to clarify your etymology with the old Norse/ old English comment... Both words are old English, what with Old English being a cross over between nordic languages and anglo saxon. Wicca is of anglo saxon derivation, probably being the feminine of the word wic meaning man who bends or manipulates, wicker refers to work done with willow branches. However, it has just occured to me that a wicca could be a woman who bends or manipulates willow branches to make wicker work... The two languages are indo european, and there were many similarities between anglosaxon and nordic cultures... hmmm. Sorry about that, am a pedant. Will also mention that the wicker refering to those structures is a touch inaccurate 'cos an archeologist once told me they were normally made of hazel wood. She could have been wrong though.

Oh, that's fine by me, I was merely quoting from my Collins Concise Dictionary. And I don't agree that Old Norse and Old English are tone and the same, because Old English had many influences Old Norse didn't have.
But my dictionary doesn't go further than giving the different derivations, I guess I'd need to have a dictionary of etymology.

cool, sorry bout that, English Language A Level... Affects the brain, hurts the soul....

All this talk reminds me of that old joke:

A Philosophy professor and a History professor attend a nudist colony, and are having a deep debate.

The Philosophy professor asks" Have you read Marx?"

The History professor replies, "Yes. It's these wicker chairs."