Length Of The Word Concertina

[david_boveri]

sometimes i get impatient, being the brash youth i am, and want to shorten concertina to one or two syllables. i think 'tina is ok written, but i dont like to say it, and i don't prefer writing it. i wish i could call it a box, but thats more an accordion thing.

 

i was trying to figure out what the concertina would be called in chinese, and it took me a while, because it is not a common instrument in china (or anywhere else, for that matter), and searching for concertina brought up nothing.

 

i knew i couldnt ask anyone, because they wouldnt know what one was or was called, so i had to go about finding out the hard way. i tracked down the word for accordion, and derived from there. i thought it might be called a "small accordion", or "type of accordion" (as i have found it in another language). but, sadly it was not so simple. it may be hard to believe, but i checked it and cross referenced it many times; the characters typed into google bring up sites about concertinas, and even a chinese encyclopedia-britannica article about charles wheatstone.

 

since most people's computers probably could not view it, i typed it into a jpeg:

 

 

it is pretty terrifying, but gets more so, if you dont know that each character is one word, not sounds or letters like in most languages.

 

it is pronounced: liu jiao xing shou feng qin. (something like: lee-oh jow shing shoh fuhng chin)

 

it means: hexagon accordion, or six angle shape hand wind qin (qin being a chinese instrument / a generic term for stringed instruments).

 

i think it is fitting that the word for our six-sided friend is six words in chinese.

 

so needless to say, i no longer think that "concertina" is such a mouthful! i am quite happy with our one word term.

Edited March 18, 2006 by david_boveri

[Alan Day]

Does that come with Sweet and Sour Sauce?

 

I suppose you could always concertina Concertina

 

C<>A if it really annoys you.

 

Al

[Samantha]

I quite like the Russian word for "squeezebox" - garmoshka. but I always say and write "concertina".

Samantha

[david_boveri]

I quite like the Russian word for "squeezebox" - garmoshka. but I always say and write "concertina".

Samantha

 

i like it! do you write it in cyrillic, and do you say it as in english, or do you change it for russian vowel / consonant sounds. do they differentiate between concertinas and accordians?

 

i meant to ask this in my original post, but i forgot. what are some of the words for concertina that are found all over the world? it seems if there are so many styles, there might be different names, too. does anyone know the irish name?

 

Does that come with Sweet and Sour Sauce?

 

I suppose you could always concertina Concertina

 

C<>A if it really annoys you.

 

Al

 

yes, sweet when you push, sour when you pull. for english concertinas, sweet and sour both ways, but if you work the bellows right, you can isolate the tastes in each direction.

 

i like c<>a. looks like little bellows between it, and its easy to type. i dont think it would be too well understood, although i dont think many chinese would understand their word, either. i wont use it here, but i'll use it in IM or email, just to annoy people.

Edited March 19, 2006 by david_boveri

[Samantha]

I quite like the Russian word for "squeezebox" - garmoshka. but I always say and write "concertina".

Samantha

 

i like it! do you write it in cyrillic, and do you say it as in english, or do you change it for russian vowel / consonant sounds. do they differentiate between concertinas and accordians?

...

 

I have written it as it is pronounced, in cyrillic it looks like this "гармошка". Concertinas were quite widespread as music teaching aids in Russia for a while and are called "концертина" (concertina) in Russian. The Russians also have a whole raft of different bellows driven free reed instruments of their own, different regions having their own variant. "Garmoshka" is best translated as "squeezebox" since it is an informal term for anything like that. It is a diminutive of "garmon'", which perhaps you can see comes from the same root as "harmonica" ...

Samantha

[gretchen]

i meant to ask this in my original post, but i forgot. what are some of the words for concertina that are found all over the world? it seems if there are so many styles, there might be different names, too. does anyone know the irish name?

 

"consairtín" is concertina in irish.

[David Barnert]

i wish i could call it a box, but thats more an accordion thing.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss "box." While it usually seems to be used for "melodeon" or "diatonic button accordion," I think it's appropriate for any squeezebox.

 

I have to relate this story, which I have told before, many years ago, either here or on rec.music.makers.squeezebox.

 

My morris dance team had invited the Greenwich Morris Men from New York City to come up to Albany and spend a September weekend with us touring the Helderbergs, just west of here. We agreed to meet early Saturday morning at a particular convenience store on Route 20 in Guilderland. As we arrived and began to gather in the parking lot, one or two of us at a time went inside for cups of coffee or hot chocolate (it was a very chilly morning).

 

When it was my turn, I went inside, placed my order, and when it came time to pay, I put my concertina (in its case) down on the counter next to the cash register and fished my wallet out of my pocket. The transaction complete, I went back outside with my drink and my wallet.

 

The cashier came out right after me and said "Mister, you forgot your box." She held my concertina in her outstretched hands.

 

"Thank you," I said, as I thought "How neat, she's referring to my concertina as a 'box.' " Then I realised she had no idea what was in the case. She wasn't talking about the concertina. She was talking about the box.

 

[edited for typo--and yes, I am previewing my posts, but they're getting past me anyway.]

Edited March 19, 2006 by David Barnert

[Jerome C]

i was trying to figure out what the concertina would be called in chinese, and it took me a while, because it is not a common instrument in china (or anywhere else, for that matter), and searching for concertina brought up nothing.

 

If you want to know what a concertina is called in Chinese, why not write to one of the companies in China that produces CSOs (see Mr. Tedrow's page on VSOs)? One such outfit is Yangzhong Musical Instrument Co., maker of the Yingjie. Or you might want to contact Gary Liang ("Microscope City") at microscopecity at aol dot com.

[John Wild]

C<>A if it really annoys you.

 

According to the number of bellow folds, could that be:

 

c<llll> or

c<llllll>

 

but then that is almost as long as concertina

 

- John Wild

[JimLucas]

C<>A if it really annoys you.

I sort of like C/\/\/\/\A

 

According to the number of bellow folds, could that be:

 

c<llll> or

c<llllll> ?

If we're not sure, maybe it's an uncertina.

[JimLucas]

[as someone whois trying to revive backslang.icall the concertina antirecnoc...

Hmm. If I backslang your backslang, I get "conceritna".

...... Wazzat?

[JimLucas]

[as someone whois trying to revive backslang.icall the concertina antirecnoc...

Hmm. If I backslang your backslang, I get "conceritna".

...... Wazzat?

[well backslang is really a spoken languageand is adapted for ease of speech.it was used in the buthchering trade.my family were all butchers. ...

Ah, that explains why you constantly butcher the quoting here on the Forum!

[david_boveri]

i wish i could call it a box, but thats more an accordion thing.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss "box." While it usually seems to be used for "melodeon" or "diatonic button accordion," I think it's appropriate for any squeezebox.

 

I have to relate this story, which I have told before, many years ago, either here or on rec.music.makers.squeezebox.

 

My morris dance team had invited the Greenwich Morris Men from New York City to come up to Albany and spend a September weekend with us touring the Helderbergs, just west of here. We agreed to meet early Saturday morning at a particular convenience store on Route 20 in Guilderland. As we arrived and began to gather in the parking lot, one or two of us at a time went inside for cups of coffee or hot chocolate (it was a very chilly morning).

 

When it was my turn, I went inside, placed my order, and when it came time to pay, I put my concertina (in its case) down on the counter next to the cash register and fished my wallet out of my pocket. The transaction complete, I went back outside with my drink and my wallet.

 

The cashier came out right after me and said "Mister, you forgot your box." She held my concertina in her outstretched hands.

 

"Thank you," I said, as I thought "How neat, she's referring to my concertina as a 'box.' " Then I realised she had no idea what was in the case. She wasn't talking about the concertina. She was talking about the box.

 

[edited for typo--and yes, I am previewing my posts, but they're getting past me anyway.]

i might use box, if it is considered acceptable. i was considering hex, but that might be too cryptic.

 

thats so disappointing! i know if i were you, i would have been so touched that she called it a box and it would have taken me a while to realize it was just a coincidence.

 

If you want to know what a concertina is called in Chinese, why not write to one of the companies in China that produces CSOs (see Mr. Tedrow's page on VSOs)? One such outfit is Yangzhong Musical Instrument Co., maker of the Yingjie. Or you might want to contact Gary Liang ("Microscope City") at microscopecity at aol dot com.

 

well, too late for that now. well, i could ask them to find out if they have a short term for it. who is gary liang?