THE DANDELION CLOCK
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Definitely a dandelion clock.
Don't American children "tell the time" with them? Interestingly, if you look on the Wikipedia clock disambiguation page - I was looking for "stocking clocks" for you - they give dandelion clocks as one of the options. No, as Anonymous noted below, the North American game is to see if you can blow them all off in one breath very hard to do!
What does "telling time" entail? The other dandelion game that was popular in the schoolyard when I Canadian, late 20s was a small child was to use a flowering dandelion to tell if someone liked butter. You'd hold the dandelion under their chin, and if the yellow color reflected back onto their chin, then it was said they liked butter. Why anyone would care to divine another person's preference for butter remains a mystery: My town possibly just the neighborhood kids my mother played with and now us kids call dandelion puffs foo-ty foos.
Minding the dandelion clocks
Foo pronounced like the band Foo Fighters. Have no idea where it came from and haven't heard anyone else refer to it as that. Also, I always have a hard time explaining to people what I mean when I say that.
I usually say something like "oh you know the old dandelions that you can blow on". Redboots - no, American children try to blow all the white things off in one breath. How did you tell the time in the US before mechanical clocks? Oh, hang on, there wasn't a US then, was there? Wikipedia suggests the mechanical clock was invented in China around AD So yes, there was no US at the time.
Neither was there a unified England, the island of Great Britain being divided among the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy and various Celtic kingdoms. There were a very few early mechanical clocks in China, but they were so complex and rare that they no longer worked by the time the Mongols showed up.
Mechanical clocks as we know them date from around the early 14th century. On the other hand, there were water clocks and sundials before that, but those didn't have faces. Wikipedia says the common dandelion was imported into North America from Europe, but I guess dandelion clocks didn't make the trip. The phrase "dandelion clock" was certainly known in the US at one time.
The citation given on the Wiktionary page linked by Lynne , from , is from a US source. Looking at it today, I notice the Wiktionary entry has been nominated for deletion. Perhaps if any readers of this blog have authority to edit there, they should intervene? Btw, the reference in The Song of Hiawatha is actually to the Prairie Dandelion , nothocalais cuspidata , aka the False Dandelion or Wavyleaf Dandelion, which is indigenous to North America, unlike its close relative the Common Dandelion, which was introduced.
The Prairie Dandelion has seedheads which are similar to, but not the same as dandelion clocks, the achenes having thicker tufts pictures at the link. If you try and stop dandelions taking over your lawn by plucking the flowers before they seed the roots are almost impossible to pull up , you can't leave them to rot where they fall, as they still go to seed unattached. If you dispose of them in compost, they will germinate and start growing, but as long as you exclude light they will eventually die. You don't need authority, Zouk. What you do is go to Requests for deletion and click on, in this case, 7.
The Dandelion Clock Florist in The Mayfield Valley, Fulwood Sheffield. Order flowers online or call before 2pm for same day delivery. We deliver. dandelion clock (plural dandelion clocks). A single stem of a dandelion in its post -flowering state with the downy covering of its head intact. The term is applied.
If you haven't subscribed, it's an easy process — you don't need to profess any authority. The next words after 'dandelion clock' in the US source is "Pray what are they? The first OED citation is from a British magazine, and presents it as if people know what they are.
It is the kind of phrase that is likely to have more spoken currency than written, but there isn't much indication here that it ever had much spoken currency in the US. Google books has one 19th century example that I can see.
From an London-published collection of songs and stories, The Dandelion Clock. Zouk, as well as adding a couple of comments at the Request for deletion page, I've now altered the entry a little. Let's see if anybody undoes my alteration. It really is all democratic — you should consider trying it. David Thanks for the info, but I'd be very diffident about editing on such a site, given the number of mistakes I make as evidenced in my comments to this blog!
I'm not sure what amendment you made, but I see you've referenced this blogpost in arguing for non-deletion. I'm not at all sure that "game" is really the word to describe the practice of "telling the time" by dandelion clocks, so I'm dubious about the second definition, but perhaps my sense of the word's meaning is too narrow? Lynne - the US source is from a magazine aimed at children. So I agree it doesn't show that the phrase was necessary a matter of common knowledge, but it suggests that it would not have been unknown to adults. Idly googling "dandelion clock", I found the following story by the Victorian writer Mrs Ewing.
Vp Thanks for that nugget Alerted by Zouk's observation, I been arguing in Wiktionary that dandelion clock should not be deleted as a discrete entry. The definition had numerous faults, and as I powered on how to make improvements I realised that the professional lexicographers at OUP hadn't really cracked it to my satisfaction. In fact Grover did a better job than the dictionaries! She captured several truths Well, I think they're true that are ignored or obscured by the lexicographers, both amateur and professional. A dandelion clock comprises the stem as well as the head.
It's only one stem. The association with time-telling is integral.
dandelion clock - Wiktionary
The state of the head is not a separable concept. In an attempt to emulate Grover, I've altered the Wiktionary entry. Let's see if it's accepted by the community. The white seed head of a dandelion after flowering. A children's amusement in which the number of puffs needed to blow the filamentous achenes from a dandelion is supposed to tell the time.
The downy seed head of a dandelion after flowering, as used in the children's game described below. The term is used when the flower is used, or is thought of as suitable for use, in a children's pastime by which the number of puffs needed to blow the filamentous achenes from a dandelion is supposed to tell the time.
But was David, who'd admitted his homosexuality when asked, just being a good Samaritan or were his motives suspect? And why had Rob left home? Paperback , pages. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Dandelion Clock , please sign up.
Lists with This Book. Apr 14, PaperMoon rated it it was amazing Shelves: Whenever I need some light and calm gay-themed reading material to soothe the fevered brow, I go back to my tried and tested copy of Mandal's The Dandelion Clock ; not a fast paced action read with lots of hawt M-on-M action romance.
A warmly engaging reading experience. The story has two main arcs, part one where David meets Whenever I need some light and calm gay-themed reading material to soothe the fevered brow, I go back to my tried and tested copy of Mandal's The Dandelion Clock ; not a fast paced action read with lots of hawt M-on-M action romance. The story has two main arcs, part one where David meets Rob at the train station and brings home a lost waif and part two, where David and Rob has to overcome a multitude of internal obstacles and barriers to find the strength to love. Mandal explores the inner thoughts and struggles of each of these two main protagonists so well, the dialogue and interactions never fails to move me emotionally the ending of the plot part one leaves me feeling bereft each time.
Sometimes the POV switches unexpected and without warning but this is a minor quibble. View all 5 comments.
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Jan 04, Lauren Kolozak rated it really liked it. A beautiful love story.
Jul 12, Jeremy rated it liked it. The Dandelion Clock is Jay Mandal's low key exploration of love between two men, one older and steadfast, the other younger and overcoming trauma. Set in the mid 's, amid the AIDS crisis though mentioned quite frequently, it never plays out in the narrative , David meets Rob in Waterloo Station one evening when his train is delayed. They strike up a friendly conversation, within the course of it David discovers that Rob is living on the streets. Without quite understanding why, David invite The Dandelion Clock is Jay Mandal's low key exploration of love between two men, one older and steadfast, the other younger and overcoming trauma.
Without quite understanding why, David invites Rob to stay with him for a few days while Rob figures things out.
The Dandelion Clock
Soon Rob moves in full time even though it's David's parents' house but don't worry, they are on an extended stay in America , and David falls in love with him, but keeps his feelings to himself, not sure what Rob thinks or wants. From there the story develops as many romance stories do; secrets are kept, feelings are hurt, no one truly expresses themselves, that is until they do, and everything turns out all right in the end. Mandal doesn't raise the stakes too much on David and Rob's dance of hearts, which is oddly endearing, that is until the second half when Rob's trauma is told, but it only raises its pulse slightly, which robs it of its tension to be truly heart-shattering, which is felt.
What Mandal does get so right is that feeling you get when you meet someone and are so totally affected by them, beyond any fathomable reason, that your whole life is turned upside down. The title seems to refer to watching love bloom in a place where you wouldn't think possible, finding the hour for when it is right. Oct 28, Benjamin rated it liked it Shelves: David, in his late twenties, first spots teenage Rob while waiting for his train at Waterloo station.
They get talking and when David learns that Rob has just run away from home and is sleeping rough he offers him a bed for the night. After some doubts, only increased when in response to Rob's question David admits that he is gay, Rob accepts - but keeps his room locked at night. As it turn out Rob stays for more than the night, the two get on well but Rob begins to realise that David is falling David, in his late twenties, first spots teenage Rob while waiting for his train at Waterloo station.
As it turn out Rob stays for more than the night, the two get on well but Rob begins to realise that David is falling in love with him, so determines to find a place of his own and eventually moves out. David is devastated - but all is not as it seems, and maybe David has not seen the last of Rob.
Blackkeys77 rated it liked it Jan 26, Sarah Knapp 25 October, Gifts and box sets Penguin Shop Flipper gift picker. A trivial name for the pappus of the dandelion or similar composite flower. I was looking for images for the post last week about mindfulness and a beautiful dandelion photo popped up. Btw, the reference in The Song of Hiawatha is actually to the Prairie Dandelion , nothocalais cuspidata , aka the False Dandelion or Wavyleaf Dandelion, which is indigenous to North America, unlike its close relative the Common Dandelion, which was introduced. Interestingly, if you look on the Wikipedia clock disambiguation page - I was looking for "stocking clocks" for you - they give dandelion clocks as one of the options.
The Dandelion Clock is undoubtedly a lovely story with two very appealing main characters: However the story is let down by the somewhat dispassionate, reportage writing; it lacks involvement, and so misses out on the real potential for a what could have been heartrending, moving account. It is still a pleasant read, unnecessarily too coy at times - one has to use ones imagination to join up to dots on occasions; but there are some nice touches of humour especially shared between David and Rob; but it is far from great writing.
Aug 08, Suki Fleet rated it really liked it Shelves: Very sweet and slow love story, kinda hurts too. I can't put my finger on quite what it is about this book but I read it a long time ago and I still find myself thinking about aspects of it now. My only reservation is in places I found the detailing of everyday life made it a little too slow.
Nov 16, Antonella rated it really liked it. It has a certain pleasant quietness. The POV switches were a bit annoying though: