In July and Augustof last year I shared some of my favorite rarely used words. Having recently watched the movie version of My Fair Lady I was inspired to do so again. If you are wondering what MFL has to do with words you have not seen the musical or read Pygmalion. Rather than explain this to you I suggest you check out one or the other. Personally I recommend Shaw despite the great words and music of Lerner and Loewe. I provide a taste at the end of the post.
On to the words (definitions from Dictionary.com):
- interlocution. conversation; dialogue
- nuncio. a diplomatic representative of the pope at a foreign court or capital: equal in status to an ambassador
- succour. help; relief; aid; assistance
- obfuscate. to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy
- panoply. A splendid or striking array: Ceremonial attire with all accessories: Something that covers and protects
- protean. readily assuming different forms or characters; versatile
- brining. a salt and water solution for pickling
Now enjoy the following excerpts from My Fair Lady. The first version is performed by the incomparable Julie Andrews who was a hit as Eliza at age 20 on Broadway but passed over for the movie version so that a luminous Audrey Hepburn could star. However Audrey wasn’t much of a singer so Marnie Nixon, the singing voice for all non-singing actresses in movie musicals. The second version is from the movie but with Audrey’s voice not Marnie’s. All I can say is that Julie was robbed.
January 31, 2008 at 2:17 am |
Well, Audrey has the grace, but Julie has the voice…
January 31, 2008 at 9:28 pm |
Cardel, Maybe that explains My Fair Lady but Julie Andrews also starred in Camelot on Broadway and yet some other non-singer was given the movie role.
Thanks for the comment.