[Fictionary] samson post results

[Hutch]

On Wed, Jan 18, 2012 at 8:52 PM, Ranjit Bhatnagar <ranjit at moonmilk.com> wrote:
[snip]
> HUTCH -- 1 + 2 pts for guess
> samson post, n. (fr. Basque) An isolated natural spire, tower, or obelisk,
> esp. one which leans as if it had been a projectile; hoodoo
>
> Joe: Not sure I like this definition, but I like the idea of samson having
> derived from some Basque word.  1 point
> Nicolas: I don't know enough about Basque to see if this is a believable
> word.
> Jean-Joseph: Not clear how this would come from Basque, unless it's a
> hobson-jobson, but then I would have expected more detail about the Basque
> word.
> Elliott: This one comes out of the blue for me.  Basque?  Shot-looking rock
> formation?
[snip]

According to Wikipedia
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_references_to_Samson)

There is an elaboration of the biblical character in Basque mythology
which differs in its features from the original. Quite paradoxically,
the Basque Samson does not stand for Christian values, but it is
represented as a giant living in the mountains far from other
inhabitants of the villages and the valley, he is a jentil or Basque
pagan of the forest. As told in many folk accounts, endowed with might
as he is, he launches rocks that lie at the origin of different
prominences and hills all over the Basque Country, especially on the
west, while on the east the preferred character to account for similar
phenomena is the Medieval hero Roland, Errolan in Basque.

Not a shot, but a stone javelin is what I was thinking of. I was
thinking of this Basque giant throwing his rock spears and them
sticking into the earth at odd angles.

BB,
Hutch

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