Word for the Wise : Gopher
March 9th, 2010
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Author: Folks in the community of Viola, Minnesota mark the 125th anniversary of the original Viola Gopher Count on June 17th, 1999. It was on that date in 1874 that Violans first took to their fields and tried to capture every one of those pesky rodents whose burrowing and munching was damaging the crops. The 1999 Viola Gopher Count takes the form of a community festival. Our take on the action involves burrowing into our books and digging up some dirt about the pugnacious critters.
For starters, no one knows exactly how the thickset rodents, native to North and Central America, came by their name. According to one theory, gopher is a shortening of me gopher. According to another theory, the word comes from gaufre ("honeycomb"
For starters, no one knows exactly how the thickset rodents, native to North and Central America, came by their name. According to one theory, gopher is a shortening of me gopher. According to another theory, the word comes from gaufre ("honeycomb"
in French), because the gopher's subterranean tunnels resemble a honeycomb.
What we do know is that the word gopher has been around for more than 200; it first appeared in print in 1791. We also know that gopher is applied to many animals, from a burrowing land tortoise whose scientific name is Gopher us Polyphemus to a pocket gopher, whose fur-lined cheek pouches open externally. It is also used for ground squirrels and the prairie dog found throughout Minnesota and the western plains.
Can you guess which state counts gopher as a traditional nickname for its residents? That's right: Minnesota, in recognition of the large prairie mole native to that state.
If you have a question you want to ask, "gopher" it; we'll ferret out the answer. Our e-mail address is wftw@aol.com. Our street address is Word for the Wise, 318 Central Avenue, Albany, New York 12206.
Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and CD's including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.
What we do know is that the word gopher has been around for more than 200; it first appeared in print in 1791. We also know that gopher is applied to many animals, from a burrowing land tortoise whose scientific name is Gopher us Polyphemus to a pocket gopher, whose fur-lined cheek pouches open externally. It is also used for ground squirrels and the prairie dog found throughout Minnesota and the western plains.
Can you guess which state counts gopher as a traditional nickname for its residents? That's right: Minnesota, in recognition of the large prairie mole native to that state.
If you have a question you want to ask, "gopher" it; we'll ferret out the answer. Our e-mail address is wftw@aol.com. Our street address is Word for the Wise, 318 Central Avenue, Albany, New York 12206.
Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and CD's including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition.
Posted in Dictionary
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Tags: damaging the crops, Gopher, pesky rodents, Violans first took, Word For The Wise