[TPIN] Re: Word of the Day, Nov.12 '06

[Rob Alley]

Merriam Webster's Word of the Day for Nov. 12, 2006:

tantara • \tan-TAIR-uh\  • noun 
: the blare of a trumpet or horn

Example sentence:
"But hardly had we sat down ere we heard the tom-toming of the kettledrum and tantara of 
trumpets and clash of cymbals. . . ." (Sir Richard Burton, translator, The Arabian Nights)

Did you know?
"Tantara" is a shortening of the Latin "taratantara," an onomatopoetic word that in ancient 
times that evoked the terrible sound of the war-trumpet. When "tantara" entered English in 
the 16th century, the sound it evoked was a merry one. "Tantara, tantara, the trumpets 
sound, / Which makes our hearte with joy abound," wrote Humphrey Gifford in 1580. 
Today, "tantara" is sometimes used as a synonym of "fanfare," a word for a short, lively 
sound of trumpets that may also be onomatopoetic in origin.