Busk

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Dr. Goodword
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Busk

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sat Sep 20, 2014 10:40 pm

• busk •

Pronunciation: bêsk • Hear!

Part of Speech: Verb, intransitive

Meaning: 1. To perform in public places for donations from passers-by who stop to listen or watch. 2. (Sailing) To ramble about the seas, weathering storms, looking for easy money.

Notes: We all have enjoyed buskers in big cities: in the subway, in parks, along the street—well, I have. Some play us unexpected music while others perform various acrobatic and miming routines. Someone who busks is a busker, known for his or her busking. It bears no spelling or pronunciation traps.

In Play: We are all drawn by the romance and freedom associated with these (usually) poor but footloose artists: "Toots Pfeiffer and his flute busked their way through Europe before Toots took on a permanent position with the Philadelphia Symphony." Of course freedom carries with it certain risks: "Amanda Lynn was arrested in Europe for busking out of key outside the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris."

Word History: Today's Good Word originally was a verb meaning "to go about seeking, cruise piratically", from an obsolete French verb busquer "to prowl" from Italian buscare, both related to Spanish buscar "to seek, look up". Buskers do tend to be seekers in some sense of the word. We can only guess at its origin: it probably originated as a verb meaning "to hunt", derived from the same root in Italian bosco, Portuguese bosque, or French bosquet "woods, forest, grove", but we have no written evidence of such a verb. These words come from Late Latin boscus "woods", which probably comes from the same source as English bush. Today boscus in French is bois "woods, forest". (The suggestion of today's word also comes from a mysterious source, Kathleen McCune of Norway, now living in Sweden, always the seeker of fascinating words.)
• The Good Dr. Goodword

cfz3
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Re: Busk

Postby cfz3 » Sun Sep 21, 2014 2:31 pm

A couple of years ago I read an anecdote about Joshua Bell, perhaps the premiere cellist in the world today. One morning during rush hour he set up near a busy Washington, D.C. Metro (subway) exit and played on his $1M+ Stradivarius cello for about an hour, as a busker. It was amazing how many people were in too much of a hurry to stop and listen, for FREE, this exclusive one-man concert!

C Freund

Perry Lassiter
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Re: Busk

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sun Sep 21, 2014 8:26 pm

New Orleans is a great place for street musicians. I remember one night in particular walking down Pirate's Alley between the St Louis Cathedral and the Cabildo. Beneath a street light on the quiet street stood an alto sax player wailing the blues. In NOLA you never know what's around the next corner.
pl

LukeJavan8
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Re: Busk

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue Sep 23, 2014 11:54 am

I've seen some truly great buskers as well
in Europe, all over the place.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----


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