pavane
/pəˈvan,pəˈvɑːn/
noun
noun: pavan
- a stately dance in slow duple time, popular in the 16th and 17th centuries and performed in elaborate clothing.
Oh! How I would love to amuse my dear readers with the fascinating etymological history, the musical derivations and geographic variations of the word and the dance! But, alas, this time I must restrict myself to the one and only Hungarian derivation, inadvertently coined by our resourceful prime minister, Mr. Orban, based on a misunderstanding and some deceptions. Mr. Orban somehow understood, mistakenly, that the mating dance of the peacock, that is to say stepping forth, than stepping back, is an apt description of how he is dealing with political obligations that he is going to ignore and will not carry out, no matter what, but for the sake of appearances he and his government are willing to pretend to try; and he named this elaborate, deceptive dance of forward and backward steps the ” peacock dance,” in short: pavane.
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