Mystery

 

The mystery of the locked room
Photo: PxHere

Today, I think the first association people have with "mystery" is as a fiction genre in books and movies. In its earlier usages, it was more "mystical."

In Middle English, it had more of a sense of a mystic presence and was associated with hidden religious symbolism - "the "mysteries of the faith." The even earlier Old French form, mistere, or Latin mysterium came from the Greek mustērion.

That earlier religious meaning survives both in the sense of a mystery being something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. In its earliest usage, the secret rites of Greek and Roman pagan religions, or of any ancient or tribal religion, were mysteries known only to accepted initiates. This survives in "secret" societies such as the Masons.

Sometimes the practices or the skills of an activity that seem to be unknowable to most people are regarded as mysteries. Neuroscience and lots of technologies are mysteries to most people. Do you actually know how a movie "magically" appears on your TV screen or how your smartphone works?

When I was a youngster and getting some Catholic education, there were the mysteries of the faith that could only be understood through divine revelations. Otherwise, they were regarded as beyond human understanding.

The word is now used for many hidden or unsolved things, from the mysteries of the universe to a puzzle, riddle, or unsolved problem. These things are not unknowable, just unknown to some or unknown at this time. When you read that someone's financial records are "shrouded in mystery," at least that someone knows the answer to the mystery.

Ad-lib and Improvise

I'm sure you've heard the expression "ad-lib." To ad-lib (verb) means "to improvise" or "to deliver spontaneously and the noun form is what is produced in that way. 

It is most commonly used with acting. That makes sense because ad-lib is a shortening of the Latin ad libitum, which means "in accordance with one's wishes." In its earliest usage, ad libitum referred to acting and any activity where the performer was free to do whatever they liked for as long as desired. 

The term was extended beyond performance to drawing, public speaking, singing or playing an instrument, playing a sport, doing an experiment, making a repair and many other situations. 

In performance, "improvisation" is a similar term and used more often than ad-lib. To improvise is to create and perform (particularly music or drama) spontaneously, without preparation or script or sheet music.

Improv or ad-lib?

The two terms are not exactly the same. I think of a performer such as Robin Williams. He was known for his improvisation. Was he sometimes ad-libbing? I learned that he often used bits that he had done before but it seemed like an ad-lib to audiences because it might be in a new context. Improvisation suggests something new, but you could ad-lib lyrics to a song if you forgot the actual lyrics or wanted to extend it.

Indian Summer, gossamer and Goose Summer

Image by Peter Rufi  Public Domain, Link

Recently, I saw this warm period of summerish weather in late October that I'm experiencing referred to as a "Goose Summer." It's a term I never heard before. "Indian Summer" is the more common expression in my experience. So, I went looking online.

The trail leads back to the word "gossamer" which means extremely light, delicate, or sometimes tenuous. You might refer to clouds as being gossamer if they are thin and light. The wings of angels or dragonflies might be seen as gossamer. 

The Goose Summer goes back to Middle English. A period of mild weather in late autumn or early winter was sometimes called a gossomer, which literally means "goose summer." My first thought was that it was because this was when geese were flying to warmer climates, but perhaps that's more of an American occurrence. The explanation I found was that October and November were the months when people felt that geese were at their best for eating. 

The word gossomer was also used in Middle English for filmy cobwebs floating through the air in calm, clear weather. The thought is that they resembled the down of a goose. 

The term "Indian Summer" is an American expression to describe a spell of warm, hazy autumn weather that feels more like summer than fall. The origin isn't known. One thought is that that kind of weather allowed Native American Indians to continue hunting before winter. 

A more specific definition is that it is a warm, tranquil spell of weather after a frost or period of abnormally cold weather - a kind of reprieve from early winter. The term originated in the United States and came into use in about 1778.

If "Indian Summer" seems inappropriate or politically incorrect, an earlier term in America for such weather was "second summer" and I found online other possibilities including badger summer and quince summer.