by Kevin Burton
It takes a little work to make a vacation happen doesn’t it? You don’t just up and go.
You have to make sure everything is taken care of. Animals, if you have them. The homestead. Plus you have to arrange for accommodations on the road.
But there comes a time when all the calls have been made and is squared away, and that feels fantastic!
I even have a go-to vacation song, “Jazzman” by Carole King.
“Lift me won’t you lift me, above the old routine,” King sings. And isn’t that what Getaway Day is all about?
On Jazzman we get some of the most righteous, wailing sax playing of the 70s, performed by Tom Scott.
That song takes me away. So relaxing.
That feeling may well be beyond words, but we will try to apply some words today, courtesy of our friends at Merriam-Webster. These are words for trips and getaways of various kinds.
These are the kinds of words you can deploy if you, like Bonnie Raitt can sing, “the road’s my middle name.”
Jaunt
Today we use jaunt to mean a short trip taken for pleasure, as in “a weekend jaunt to the lake.” But jaunts weren’t always about pleasure. Originally the word, which was sometimes rendered as jaunce, was for a trip or activity that left you tired or sore:
The origin of jaunt is unknown. And while there might be a temptation to connect the noun to the adjective jaunty (meaning “sprightly in manner or appearance”), that word is actually a modification of the French gentil, which once meant “noble.”
Sortie
Sortie is a word most often found in military contexts, referring to a sudden issuing of troops from a defensive position or an air attack by a single plane.
In French-speaking countries, you might see the word SORTIE on signs that denote exits. It derives from the Middle French verb sortir, meaning “to go out” or “to leave.” Occasionally English use of the noun emphasizes the notion of going out for a journey intended for adventure or to achieve a task:
Sojourn
A sojourn is a temporary stay, though the length of that stay can vary considerably:
The etymology of sojourn points to a particular length of time. The Anglo-French verb sujurner derives from a Vulgar Latin verb that combined the Latin sub (“under, during”) with the Late Latin diurnum, meaning “day.” The noun journey took a similar route through the Anglo-French noun jur, also meaning “day.”
Holiday
The most well-known sense of holiday in the US is for a day designated for a celebration or reflection, such as Christmas or Thanksgiving Day. The Old English hāligdæg means “holy day,” as early holidays were intended for religious observance.
Although found frequently enough in American English, the use of holiday to mean “vacation” has a British pedigree:
Junket
A junket can be any trip or journey, but it is used more specifically to refer to a trip taken at the expense of another (such as an employer). You might hear of an actor going on a press junket to promote a movie, for example.
Junket was once a popular term for any sweet dish. William Adlington’s sixteenth-century translation of The Golden Ass of Apuleius (1566) lists a few examples: “Bread pasties, tartes, custardes and other delicate ionckettes dipped in honie.” So how did a word for a food become a word for a trip?
The Latin noun juncus referred to a rush (a marsh plant used in the making of mats and baskets). The name junket (likely derived from the Italian giuncata) was used for a kind of cream cheese stored in a container made from this material. From there the word came to refer to the dessert, then a pleasurable outing or feast at which such a dish might be served.
Sabbatical
A sabbatical is a leave granted to someone (such as a professor) so that time can be devoted to research, writing, or some other project apart from their regular teaching job. Traditionally, a sabbatical is offered every seventh year of a teaching career and can last for an entire academic year.
Sabbatical is related to Sabbath, which also has to do with sevens as the Biblical day of rest after six days of labor. We trace the origins of both sabbatical and Sabbath to the Greek word sabbaton. Sabbaton itself traces to the Hebrew word shabbāth, meaning “rest.”
Staycation
A recent coinage, staycation is a portmanteau of stay and vacation. It’s a perfect word to describe a time away from responsibilities that doesn’t involve traveling to distant places, whether due to financial limitations or simply a desire to stay home.
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