On Jul 31, 2012, at 5:33 AM, David van Ooijen wrote: > I found my looking glass, sorely needed for the 'compact' edition of > the OED
If you're really using a looking glass, you're really doing it the hard way. "Looking glass" is a synonym for "mirror," not "magnifying glass." > (nothing compact about that except the size of the letters > ..), I was 18 when I got mine, and could read it without the magnifying glass that came with it. Now it's hard to read *with* the magnifier. > and am bedazzled with the many meanings of the word 'toy'. Any > meaning in particular that I should think of when talking about the > frivolous, diminutive, caressing lute compositions from the English > Renaissance? I'd go with the "abstract sense" definitions that begin the entries. All of them, including the specifically musical ones. They give a collective sense of something witty and fun without being very profound. I think the modern sense of "plaything" is a little misleading. If you're really into the question you can go to www.rhymezone.com/shakespeare/ and search for all the uses of "toy" in Shakespeare. Some of them are not in the OED. The editor of the edition I have says it means "rumor" in this line from Philip the Bastard in King John, toward the end of Act I scene 1: James, There's toys abroad: anon I'll tell thee more. Complicated subject. -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html
