Your space

[Millymollymandy]

Well you have piqued my interest!

[boboff]

What about the gardening?

Milly & Jerry sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G.......

Sorry.

[Millymollymandy]

Oy! I did a smiley, not a smiley!

[oldjerry]

What about the gardening?

Milly & Jerry sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G.......

Sorry.

Well apart from the fact that my knees preclude tree-climbing,when I looked up 'piqued' in the dictionary it said '' to affect with sharp irritation,and resentment..'' ..so perhaps not...!

[Millymollymandy]

Oh well that wasn't how I meant it!

I meant it this way

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/dict ... sh/pique_6

not as in "in fit of pique".



You see, you have piqued my curiosity over this word. In fact, I used it as a verb, in which case, it means the following.

1. arouse, excite, stir, spur, stimulate, provoke, rouse, goad, whet, kindle, galvanize This phenomenon piqued Dr. Morris' interest

Which is quite different from its meaning when used as a noun.

resentment, offence, irritation, annoyance, huff, displeasure, umbrage, hurt feelings, vexation, wounded pride In a fit of pique, he threw down his bag.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/pique

[boboff]

So Jerry was Piqued at your Piqueness, so to speak.

Love and Hate, see opposite sides of the self same coin.

[oldjerry]

I bow to you both, in awe of your wordsmithery..........

[MKG]

MMM, of course, should have known that the word is derived from French - piquer, now reflexive in the form se piquer (basically, to prick, to annoy). In its earliest forms, it was not used as a "pleasant" word, but more recently has taken on that connotation via such concepts as "goading an interest" - at one time, annoying someone to such an extent that they took an interest, but now merely saying something interesting.

So there you go. My thanks go to the OED, my Granny, and the Norman Conquest.

Mike

[Millymollymandy]

I bow to your superior knowledge Mike. I know the word here as meaning a sting from an insect, a jab from a doctor, or to steal (nick, pinch) something!

However we digress from the original, far more interesting, topic.

[boboff]

You started it!

[Millymollymandy]

What about the gardening?

Milly & Jerry sitting in a tree, K I S S I N G.......

Sorry.

No, YOU bloody started it!

[boboff]

Ok Ok, I know better than to argue now, sorry.....

[Millymollymandy]

This is a very interesting article, written from a North American point of view, so damning a lot of our (European) native wild plants which have been introduced there.

http://nativeplantwildlifegarden.com/po ... ve-plants/

[oldjerry]

Hmm.. I think she puts the case far better than I have.

I may have found the subject I've been looking for to study in my enforced retirement.

[boboff]

STood at the back door this morning looking at my Dry Stone Walls it struck me they are a much more vibrant living space than rendered walls.

We have birds, insects, mice, voles, snakes all living in and around the 17th Century stone walls around the place, and a rendered shed which is a desert in comparison.

Anyway, thats my thought for the day.