Man, that's deep

November 26, 2005 6:54 PM

I never saw a Purple Cow,
I never hope to see one;
But I can tell you, anyhow,
I'd rather see than be one.
By Mr. Gelett Burgess
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies (20 comments total)

posted by ab'd al'Hazred at 7:06 PM on November 26, 2005

That's a purple horse.
posted by dhartung at 7:09 PM on November 26, 2005

Purple heart bandaid
posted by Balisong at 7:19 PM on November 26, 2005

Purple Nurple.
posted by kosem at 7:21 PM on November 26, 2005

The "anyhow" link leads to an article about the Purple Gang in Detroit that was very interesting.

Oh, and don't leave out Purple Microdot. (maybe some NSFW ads)
posted by marxchivist at 7:36 PM on November 26, 2005

Oh, yes, and PRUPLE FROST.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:38 PM on November 26, 2005

She should have put that purple heart bandaid on her other chin.
posted by super_not at 7:38 PM on November 26, 2005

The Purple Cow
posted by amber_dale at 8:07 PM on November 26, 2005

That's a purple drag queen--total man hands.
posted by amberglow at 8:09 PM on November 26, 2005

the purple shaft
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 8:31 PM on November 26, 2005

Williams College Purple Cows
posted by cpchester at 8:39 PM on November 26, 2005

When I was 7 years old I had to memorize a poem to recite for my English class. I chose the Purple Cow. At the time it seemed like memorizing the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. I wish I would have known about the Edgar Allen Poe parody back then - it would've gone over better with the class. Nice post.
posted by stevis at 9:24 PM on November 26, 2005

Ah, Yes! I Wrote the "Purple Cow"—
I'm Sorry, now, I Wrote it!
But I can Tell you Anyhow,
I'll Kill you if you Quote it!
—By Mr. Gelett Burgess

posted by dilettanti at 10:04 PM on November 26, 2005

Gelett Burgess (1866-1951)

I'm not terribly worried....
posted by DeepFriedTwinkies at 2:36 AM on November 27, 2005

"What is light urple?"
posted by spiderskull at 3:16 AM on November 27, 2005

Violet and friends. [embedded qt]
posted by milquetoast at 4:04 AM on November 27, 2005

You beat me to it, dilettanti! I guess I'll just have to quote the OED etymology for orchil instead:

[< middle french, french em>orseille (c1460; attested earlier in Middle French as orsolle, oursolle (both a1425); Littré (1868) also records the form orchel, describing it as ‘synonyme vieilli d'orseille’) < catalan em>orxella (1271), perh. < arabic em>urjāla, urjālla (982 in a Spanish Arabic source attributed to Ibn Juljul; however, this may itself be a borrowing < a romance language), of uncertain origin: see note. cf. italian em>oricello (a1347; also as orcello (1598 in Florio)), Spanish urchilla (1400), orchilla (1495; > ORCHILLA n.), Portuguese urchilha, urzela. Cf. ARCHIL n., ORELL n.
  Littré erroneously derives the word from the name of Federigo Ruccelai or Oricellari, a member of a wealthy Tuscan family who, he claims, introduced the use of this dye into Italy in c1300. In fact the reverse is true: the Oricellari family (afterwards Ruccellari or Rucellai) took their surname from the name of the lichen; cf. Gamurrini Istoria Genealogica delle Famiglie Nobili della Toscana (1668) I. 274, Giornale de' Letterati d'Italia (1721) 33 231-2. According to the second of these, Federigo, on noticing the properties of the plant in the Levant, ‘intesi chiamarsi Respio in quella parte, Orciglio in Ispagna’. Cf. also the following:
1863 ‘G. ELIOT’ Romola II. xviii. 210 By bringing the excellent secret of this dye, called oricello, from the Levant to Florence, a certain merchant.. won for himself and his descendants much wealth, and the pleasantly-suggestive surname of Oricellari, or Roccellari, which on Tuscan tongues speedily became Rucellai.]

Great post!
posted by languagehat at 4:11 AM on November 27, 2005

Don't know what happened to the HTML in there. Ah well, it's all purple.
posted by languagehat at 4:12 AM on November 27, 2005

Great, now I have Purple Rain stuck in my head. Great post.
posted by allen.spaulding at 6:13 AM on November 27, 2005

...
but from the milk we're getting now
there certainly must be one.
posted by matildaben at 11:06 AM on November 27, 2005