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  • Mayday!

    From Ross Clark@21:1/5 to All on Thu May 1 23:16:52 2025
    Yes, of course it's a big holiday, known as Labo(u)r Day in about 30
    countries on my list.
    "For most countries, "Labour Day" is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May."
    See this article for a number of countries which celebrate "Labo(u)r
    Day" at completely different times of year.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Day

    This observance is of late 19th century origin:

    "The International Workers Congress held in Paris in 1889 established
    the Second International for labor, socialist, and Marxist parties. It
    adopted a resolution for a "great international demonstration" in
    support of working-class demands for the eight-hour day. The date was
    chosen by the American Federation of Labor to commemorate a general
    strike in the United States, which had begun on 1 May 1886 and
    culminated in the Haymarket affair on 4 May."

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day

    But May 1 is "Spring Day" in Estonia, and "Vappu" in Finland. And this
    brings us to a much older holiday, in honour of the beginning of summer
    or of St.Walpurga (who was English!).

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walpurgis_Night

    Ob/sci.lang

    "Mayday!" is an international radio distress signal.
    It comes, we are told, from French "m'aidez!" (help me).
    But we were taught in school that, while the object pronoun (me) is
    normally proclitic to the verb, in the imperative it must follow it (aidez-moi!). The use as a distress call dates back only to the 1920s,
    so I don't think we can appeal to some earlier stage of the language to
    justify "m'aidez". The other possibility is that it's really "m'aider",
    which (OED suggests) could be either short for "venez m'aider" (come and
    help me!), or perhaps the "imperative infinitive". This expression gave
    me pause. I think I have encountered French infinitives used with
    imperative force, but my experience doesn't tell me what contexts they
    are used in and with what pragmatic force. Of course you would get the infinitive with "veuillez..." or "voulez-vous..." (kindly, would you
    please), but those do not have the urgency appropriate to a distress call.

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  • From Adam Funk@21:1/5 to Ross Clark on Thu May 1 13:58:09 2025
    On 2025-05-01, Ross Clark wrote:

    Yes, of course it's a big holiday, known as Labo(u)r Day in about 30 countries on my list.
    "For most countries, "Labour Day" is synonymous with, or linked with, International Workers' Day, which occurs on 1 May."
    See this article for a number of countries which celebrate "Labo(u)r
    Day" at completely different times of year.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labour_Day

    It's also Beltane.

    And a good day for a wicker man.


    --
    Well, in this world of basic stereotyping, give a guy a big nose and
    some weird hair and he is capable of anything. ---Frank Zappa

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  • From Christian Weisgerber@21:1/5 to Ross Clark on Thu May 1 14:06:50 2025
    On 2025-05-01, Ross Clark <benlizro@ihug.co.nz> wrote:

    "Mayday!" is an international radio distress signal.
    It comes, we are told, from French "m'aidez!" (help me).

    Or more likely not. Nobody has managed to suggest a convincing
    derivation from French.

    But we were taught in school that, while the object pronoun (me) is
    normally proclitic to the verb, in the imperative it must follow it (aidez-moi!).

    When somebody starts with "we were taught in school", I always
    expect the next part to explain how that was incomplete if not
    outright wrong. But here it is correct. For the affirmative
    imperative, the object pronoun is attached to the end of the verb.

    A prime exhibit is the colloquial French phrase "t'inquiète!", which
    means 'don't worry', although a surface analysis would suggest just
    the opposite. But it's shortened from the negative imperative
    "(ne) t'inquiète pas", and although the whole negation has been elided,
    the word order keeps it distinct from "inquiète-toi" 'do worry!'.

    The use as a distress call dates back only to the 1920s,
    so I don't think we can appeal to some earlier stage of the language to justify "m'aidez".

    There is no such earlier stage anyway. Object pronoun enclisis
    with affirmative imperatives is a pan-Romance feature.

    The other possibility is that it's really "m'aider",
    which (OED suggests) could be either short for "venez m'aider" (come and

    Another problem is that none of those phrases are like an idiomatic
    French call for help, which would be "au secours!" or "à l'aide!".

    help me!), or perhaps the "imperative infinitive". This expression gave
    me pause. I think I have encountered French infinitives used with
    imperative force, but my experience doesn't tell me what contexts they
    are used in and with what pragmatic force.

    Cooking recipes come to mind.

    --
    Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

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