Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Pas de commentaires parfum de moi



Yesterday I wore two scents I had never tried before. I adored one of them, but it was fleeting, lasting only forty five minutes, at best, on my skin. The other, I didn't like at all, and it lingers still. No, it was not a sick-making scent that caused me to run to the sink and scrub, but I shall never try it again.

I haven't told you the names of these scents to prove a point: I am not a reviewer. When I write about fragrance, it is because I am "having an experience" of some sort. A scent may evoke a memory or it might delight me to the point of feeling near obligated to sit down and sing its praises. Or it may be so wretched or interesting that I need to analyze it.

Yesterday's fragrances did none of those things. So, I say nothing. What's the point? I am not writing to convince anyone of trying any perfume, nor am I any sort of authority and I certainly don't want to steer anyone away from a fragrance that may be what my grandmother called the "bee's knees" for them.

Why am I writing this? Just to remind you.

Idiom note on the Bee's Knees:

1. alt.usage.net
A bee's "corbiculae", or pollen-baskets, are located on its
tibiae (midsegments of its legs). The phrase "the bee's knees",
meaning "the height of excellence", became popular in the U.S. in
the 1920s, along with "the cat's whiskers" (possibly from the use
of these in radio crystal sets), "the cat's pajamas" (pyjamas were
still new enough to be daring), and similar phrases which made less
sense and didn't endure: "the eel's ankle", "the elephant's
instep", "the snake's hip". Stories in circulation about the
phrase's origin include: "b's and e's", short for "be-alls and
end-alls"; and a corruption of "business".

2.The San Diego Bee's Knees (I don't even know what that is)
The Bee's Knees" is a term indicating excellence - the highest quality.
Because bees carry pollen back to the hive in sacs on their legs. The allusion is to the concentrated goodness to be found around the bee's knee.

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