Once upon a wonderful time, I frequented a place perfectly named Armadillo World Headquarters. It was sort of a cross between Woodstock and your neighborhood block party. If you scan the list of artists (and if you're old enough) you'll see that some of the greatest names of the Rock'nRoll era also frequented the place. This army of musicians created harmonies that still waft around in my head today. AWHQ only lasted a decade, but what a decade it was!
But this is a blog about words, right? Alrighty then, let's go back to that first paragraph and find a family of words to work with. How about these: armadillo, army, artist, harmony. To that list we could add arthritis and aristocracy. Pretty diverse family, eh?
What do these words all have in common? Let's start with our mascot, the armadillo. I've caught a couple of these suckers in the wild. Trust me, it isn't easy and holding onto them is almost as tough as catching them. Armadilloes have a shell-like armature (hmmm) that fully protects them when they roll up into a defensive ball. I would imagine that getting the design just right took a lot of work. If any piece of the shell doesn't fit perfectly, it could be pretty uncomfortable in there. And that's the key: fit.
Our IE root today is ar - to fit. Armadilloes have an armature that fits. If you are in the army, you'd better have good fitting armor which you pick up at the armory*. An artist fits sounds or colors or shapes together in some sort of harmonious way. Our joints are where our body parts fit together and where arthritis can develop. Aristocracy? Oh I don't know, I guess they think they are the only ones who fit in!
I'd like to list a few more words, but right now I'm going back to the AWHQ artist list and continue my walk down memory lane. Maybe I'll find additions to my greatest songs list.
* When I started this post, I had no idea that AWHQ found its residence in a former armory. Note this from the wiki article on AWHQ: The name for Armadillo World Headquarters was inspired by the use of armadillos by a local poster artist and from the building itself. In choosing the mascot for the new venture, the founder and his partners wanted an "armored" animal since the building was an old armory. The nine-banded armadillo was chosen because of its hard shell that looks like armor.
But this is a blog about words, right? Alrighty then, let's go back to that first paragraph and find a family of words to work with. How about these: armadillo, army, artist, harmony. To that list we could add arthritis and aristocracy. Pretty diverse family, eh?
Our IE root today is ar - to fit. Armadilloes have an armature that fits. If you are in the army, you'd better have good fitting armor which you pick up at the armory*. An artist fits sounds or colors or shapes together in some sort of harmonious way. Our joints are where our body parts fit together and where arthritis can develop. Aristocracy? Oh I don't know, I guess they think they are the only ones who fit in!
I'd like to list a few more words, but right now I'm going back to the AWHQ artist list and continue my walk down memory lane. Maybe I'll find additions to my greatest songs list.
* When I started this post, I had no idea that AWHQ found its residence in a former armory. Note this from the wiki article on AWHQ: The name for Armadillo World Headquarters was inspired by the use of armadillos by a local poster artist and from the building itself. In choosing the mascot for the new venture, the founder and his partners wanted an "armored" animal since the building was an old armory. The nine-banded armadillo was chosen because of its hard shell that looks like armor.
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