Complex Numbers

Pas de Cheval

Summer solstice today, for those of us in the One True Hemisphere (so of course it's cloudy all day here), and another entry for "Journalistic Intentions"  [18+] that has nothing to do with axial tilt:

Pas de cheval

Those are all really simple French words, and they're once again in the Dance section of this month's prompt list, but I'm at a loss when it comes to understanding how it could have anything to do with dancing. So, in honor of nothing in particular, I'm going to do something different this time, and look it up.

Hey, look! It's a song by Panic! At The Disco



You know, I probably should have given that band a fair shot. But once, long ago, someone sent me a link to a song of theirs that I hated. This one's actually pretty good.

It is, however, one of those songs where the title doesn't show up anywhere in the lyrics. Like Baba O'Riley or Bohemian Rhapsody. Which means I still have no idea what the phrase is all about.

...Oh. Nothing to do with the French negative, but a step. Horse step. Step of horse. I should have guessed that. You know, sometimes, words have two meanings (that's a line from Stairway to Heaven, which is a title included in the song's lyrics).

I wonder if we got "paw" from "pas," though, or vice-versa, so I'm taking another detour.  

Nope.

You know what English word it is related to, though? Pace. And now things are starting to make sense, which is weird, because most things, once you really look at them, don't make sense. Sense is, in fact, overrated. And the word has at least two meanings.

Dance is, ultimately, about movement. But you know what solstice means? Literally, "sun stopped." Kind of the opposite of movement. Wow, so I was able to relate the subject to today's astronomical significance after all.

Sure, it was a stretch. But one needs to stretch if one is to practice ballet.