U is for Umbrella
(image flikr/creative commons via photopin)
U is for Umbrella.
I was struggling for a U word, spent quite a lot of time thumbing through the dictionary. And then, I happened upon umbrella. Writers love words with more than one meaning, so I was ready to explore the world of the umbrella.
The umbrella (or parasol) appeared in sculptures of ancient Mesopotamia. The first text to refer to the umbrella dates from 2400 years ago in China. The word umbrella comes from the Latin umbra and French elle, meaning little, to form umbrella: little shadow. Cute, huh?
As I mentioned, umbrella has several meanings. 1. It is the physical construction that shields one from rain and sun. 2. It is the bowl of a jellyfish. 3. It means to protect.
(image flikr/creative commons via photopin)
Here are some jellyfish with their colorful umbrella bowls.
I love the song by the group Train and the sense of protection in the lyrics: “Now that it’s raining more than ever/Know that we’ll still have each other/You can stand under my umbrella.”
You can listen to the umbrella song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H5SqsM3iVk
Umbrellas figure prominently in art. My favorite artist EVER, Rene Magritte, depicts surreal umbrella scenes in his paintings. Here he is standing in front of one.
(photo Steve Schapiro via WikiArt)
To get your umbrella fix in film, there’s Singin’ in the Rain with Debbie Reynolds and Gene Kelly and Mary Poppins with Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke.
In literature, check out the poignant literary story “San” by Lan Samantha Chang. San is a Chinese character that means umbrella. At the other end of the spectrum, I invite you to enjoy paranormal romance Soulless by Gail Carriger. (If you recall, for the letter S I was bemoaning cliched sex scenes. Soulless is delightful fun with playful, fresh love interludes.)
As you can see, she has her trusty umbrella, which she has fashioned into a handy weapon.
And finally, a definition not mentioned in the dictionary–umbrella as symbol.
Last year we witnessed the birth of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong in which students protested restrictive voting measures. The students wanted the world to know. The umbrellas were used as protection against police pepper spray and as a symbol of the people’s quest for freedom. Now the umbrella has come full circle from its historic beginnings in ancient China to a modern role in Hong Kong politics.
2 thoughts on “U is for Umbrella”
I’ve been seeing a zillion of those jelly fish umbrellas, dead unfortunately, as I’ve walked along the ocean these last few weeks of vacation. I love that you looked at the Latin and French roots of the word umbrella. By the way, in Spanish there are two words for umbrella: parasol (to stop the sun) and paraguas (to stop the water/rain).
Dead jellyfish…so sad! They are so beautiful though I would not want to meet one in the water. I did read that urinating on a sting is an ineffective wives’ tale. I’m jealous that you get to walk along the ocean; that’s my favorite thing to do.