In article , Dave Plowman (News)
wrote:
In article , Eiron
wrote:
Very odd you want 'respect' shown to fiddle players regardless, but
are happy to slag off every other trade. Are you a frustrated fiddle
player?

The OED says "Now only in familiar or contemptuous use".

It's what a pro musician friend of mine calls his. ;-)

By co-incidence I was at a (social) meeting yesterday where one of the
people was a viola/violin player and teacher we know and someone else was a
Gaelic speaker from Harris. One of the questions he raised was wrt what was
the 'difference' (if any) between a Violin and a Fiddle. This was in the
context of it being called a 'fiddle' in terms of Scots/Gaelic
folk/traditional music but a 'violin' for classical. Certainly not a
'contemptuous' term for the traditional players, etc. So 'familiar' may
cover it.

The view was that there wasn't necessarily any specific inherent difference
required between the instruments to which the terms were applied. But there
could be in terms of the way it was played or perhaps 'set up'.

Jim

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