Re: The fairy of F&Z
Sundeep Dougal (holden@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in)
Fri, 19 Nov 1999 08:07:39 +0530
> I asked an Iranian friend of mine of Pari, and he said (apart from
"everyone
> I knew in Iran has fled the country") that "pari" meant "fairy" in
Persian.
> Which, in my ears, sounded just right.
This has had me kicking myself (well, only metaphorically). How
obvious, in hindsight, and how easy to be seduced by the confusion
with 'Paris'. I should have known this, because Persian 'pari' (in
this case rhymes with 'hurry' - well, sort of, i.e. with a short 'a')
is very much a part of daily Hindi/Urdu vocabulory we all use in these
parts -- more accurately, it would be an 'angel' though perhaps a
'fairy' is as good a usage as any -- so much so that it never occurred
to me even once that etymologically the word is actually Persian.
I remember vaguely wondering why an Iranian adaptation of F&Z was
called after a French city and, yes. TLM it makes a lotta sense.
Sonny