Here is an inn sign from Mold in
North Wales. It is, as you will have
gathered, in Welsh. y Pentan translates as the pentane. But what, I hear many of you ask, is pentane?
Pentane is ‘any of
three known isomeric, colorless alkanes, CH, occurring in petroleum, etc.: used
as a solvent, in low-temperature thermometers, etc.’
However, the real translation of y
Pentan is an ingle-nook or fireside.
That’s a far more sensible name for an inn but it still doesn’t explain
to me why we have a late Victorian or early Edwardian gentleman’s face on the sign!
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Perhaps he's the kind of traveler they want you to think you will meet at their fireside if you stop in. He certainly would make a respectable customer.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the inn's name really is about the alkane, and the gentleman was a scientist who did something or discovered something special about pentane.
ReplyDeleteMy immediate thoughts echoed Meike's.
ReplyDelete