carnation

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skinem
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carnation

Postby skinem » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:13 am

Carnation
car·na·tion
Pronunciation: kär-'nA-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French, from Old Italian carnagione, from carne flesh, from Latin carn-, caro
1 a (1) : the variable color of human flesh (2) : a pale to grayish yellow b : a moderate red
2 : a plant of any of numerous often cultivated and usually double-flowered varieties or subspecies of an Old World pink (Dianthus caryophyllus) originally flesh-colored but now found in many color variations

I looked this up when I saw carnation used as a descriptor of skin. I had never seen this word used except in reference to the flower, and was surprised to see definition #1.

Skinem-not a hot-house plant.

Perry
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Postby Perry » Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:21 am

I never thought about it either. But it seems that the first definition leads us to incarnation, reincarnationand carnal. Flesh is the connection accross these terms.
Last edited by Perry on Sat Aug 12, 2006 8:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bailey
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Postby Bailey » Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:32 am

Interesting, I saw the title of this thread and immediatly saw something I'd never noticed, a flower with a fleshy name. I thought to myself carne, hmmm I never realized this. That they are Dianrthus-also called pinks makes sense. Because now there are lots of colors of Dianthus, but are known in the vernacular as pinks, makes the carne [flesh] a natural progression of the name carnation. Now there is a difference between dianthus and carnations, as carnation are bigger blooms. We put in both this year, Did I tell you my home name? Manuel Labor


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gailr
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Postby gailr » Sat Aug 12, 2006 7:48 pm

Interesting that both carnations and orchids are the classic choices for a corsage.

-gailr


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