Dear Frank, Willy et al, Surely the Dutch word zonnewijzer is similar to the English word waywiser, which is a device used to measure distances along roads. The derivation, according to the Shorter OED, is from the German wegweiser, compounded from weg=way and weiser, from weisen=to show, being an agent that shows. Thus, a waywiser is an agent for showing the length of a way.
So, surely a zonnewijzer is a device to show the time from the sun. Jumping from "wijzer" to "wise owl" seems to me far fetched, though fun. Best wishes to all, Chris ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frank King" <[email protected]> To: "John Carmichael" <[email protected]> Cc: "'Sundial Mailing List'" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, November 20, 2010 9:18 AM Subject: Re: FW: Sundial Information > Dear John (and Willy, Aleks, Wolfgang, et al), > > I have greatly enjoyed the all the answers > to your question about Owls and Sundials... > > Willy Leenders tells us that the Dutch word > zonnewijzer really means "wiser sun". How > many of us knew that? > > Aleks has sent us a nice illustration of a > sundial with a carved owl on the side with > the caption "Greek Sundial". > > Wolfgang Dick referred us to the German > trickster Till Eulenspiegel. > > I have been waiting for someone to remind us > of the German translation of "carrying coals to > Newcastle" which is "Eulen nach Athen tragen". > This, literally, is "to bear owls to Athens". > > In recent times Germans have, instead, been > shipping Euros to Athens (by the shed load). > Maybe it would be wiser to send some Owls? > > For reasons I don't understand, Greece seems > to have surprisingly few sundials given the > plethora of sundials there in classical times. > > I suggest that the Greeks should be sent a > bulk shipment of sundials Made in Germany > to the same specification as Aleks's sundial. > > The locals can then ponder the owl, and wonder > about their lost sundial heritage and even > their lost Euros. > > All the best > > Frank > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > --------------------------------------------------- https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial
