{"id":6950,"date":"2025-06-05T02:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-05T02:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/?p=6950"},"modified":"2025-06-05T02:40:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T02:40:12","slug":"word-of-the-day-ensorcell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/2025\/06\/05\/word-of-the-day-ensorcell\/","title":{"rendered":"Word of the Day: Ensorcell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today\u2019s word of the day, again thanks to Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary<\/a>), is ensorcell<\/em>. Ensorcell<\/em> is a verb that means \u201cto bewitch\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/ensorcell<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Etymonline.com, the word appears in English first in the \u201c1540s, from French ensorceller<\/em>, from Old French ensorceler<\/em>, a dissimilation of ensorcerer<\/em> from en-<\/em> (see en-<\/strong><\/a> (1)) + verb from sorcier<\/em> \u2018sorcerer, wizard\u2019 (see sorcery<\/strong><\/a>)\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/search?q=ensorcell<\/a>). The website continues, \u201cA rare word in English until Richard Burton took it for The Tale of the Ensorcelled Prince,<\/em> a translation of a title of one of the Arabian Nights tales (1885). The word had been used in an earlier (1838) partial translation, \u2018The Book of The Thousand Nights and One Night,\u2019 by Henry Torrens, whose book Burton knew and admired. It turns up, once, in George Puttenham’s \u2018Arte of English Poesie\u2019 (1589), which was reprinted in the early 19th century. Perhaps Torrens saw it there\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The root word sorcery<\/em> appears in English \u201cc. 1300, sorcerie<\/em>, \u2018witchcraft, magic, enchantment; act or instance of sorcery; supernatural state of affairs; seemingly magical works,\u2019 from Old French sorcerie<\/em>, from sorcier<\/em> \u2018sorcerer, wizard,\u2019 from Medieval Latin sortiarius<\/em> \u2018teller of fortunes by lot; sorcerer,\u2019 literally \u2018one who influences fate or fortune,\u2019 from Latin sors<\/em> (genitive sortis<\/em>) \u2018lot, fate, fortune\u2019\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/sorcery). The en- is a word forming element that is \u201cused with native and imported elements to form verbs from nouns and adjectives, with a sense \u2018put in or on\u2019 (encircle<\/em>), also \u2018cause to be, make into\u2019 (endear<\/em>), and used as an intensive (enclose<\/em>)\u201d (https:\/\/www.etymonline.com\/word\/en-#etymonline_v_8621<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this date in 60 years ago, according to On This Day, the hit song \u201cWooly Bully,\u201d by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs, hit number #2 on the American Billboard Hot 100. It was kept out of the #1 spot by \u201cHelp Me, Rhonda\u201d by the Beach Boys (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wooly_Bully<\/a>). It was \u201cthe first American record to sell a million copies during the British Invasion<\/a> and was influenced by the British rock sound which was mixed with traditional Mexican-American conjunto<\/a> rhythms\u201d (ibid.).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sam the Sham was Domingo Samudio (b.1937). Samudio\u2019s family lived and worked in Texas, having fled the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), and while most sources say that he was of Mexican heritage, \u201ca 1998 article by the Chicago Tribune described Samudio as being of Basque\/Apache descent\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sam_the_Sham<\/a>). He took up the guitar as a youth and formed his first group with some friends in school, one of whom was Trini Lopez, known as a popular singer himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn Dallas<\/a> in 1961, Samudio formed the Pharaohs, the name inspired from the costumes in Yul Brynner<\/a>‘s portrayal as pharaoh in the 1956 film The Ten Commandments<\/a><\/em>\u201d (ibid.). That version of the Pharaohs didn\u2019t last very long, and he next joined a group called Andy and the Nightriders, but that group didn\u2019t last very long either. When the Nightriders split up, Samudio and another member gathered a couple more musicians and changed the name to Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs. In Memphis, they got picked up by a small music label, and they recorded their first hit, \u201cWooly Bully,\u201d in late 1965. The group was then picked up by MGM, and they promoted the song to get it on the charts. The song \u201cstayed in the Hot 100 for 18 weeks, the longest time for any song in 1965, and was nominated for a Grammy Award<\/a>. It was named Billboard<\/a>‘s<\/em> number-one song of the year<\/a> despite never reaching No. 1 on a weekly Hot 100,\u201d a feat achieved by very few songs (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wooly_Bully<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Genius.com, the song was \u201cOriginally based on lyrics from \u2018The Hully Gully\u2019 and intended to have the same title, MGM Records told them they couldn\u2019t use the title. Sam changed it to \u2018Wooly Bully,\u2019 which was the name of his cat\u201d (https:\/\/genius.com\/Sam-the-sham-and-the-pharaohs-wooly-bully-lyrics<\/a>). \u201cThe lyrics of \u2018Wooly Bully\u2019 were hard to understand, in consequence, some radio stations banned the song\u201d (https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wooly_Bully<\/a>). So, in case you are now listening to the song and trying to figure out what in the world is going on, here are the lyrics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Intro]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uno, dos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One, two, tres, cuatro<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, Wooly Bully<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch it now, watch it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here he come, here he come<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch it now, he git ya<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Verse 1]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matty told Hatty about a thing she saw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had two big horns and a wooly jaw<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, yeah, drive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Verse 2]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hatty told Matty, “Let’s don’t take no chance<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let’s not be L-seven, come and learn to dance”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Bridge]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch it now, watch it, watch it, watch it<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah, drive, drive, drive<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Verse 3]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matty told Hatty, “That’s the thing to do<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get you someone really pull the wool with you”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully, Wooly Bully<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Outro]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch it now, watch it, here he come<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You got it, you got it (https:\/\/genius.com\/Sam-the-sham-and-the-pharaohs-wooly-bully-lyrics<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, reading the lyrics like this doesn\u2019t give you a feeling for the song at all, but you can see Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs here: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=qCoUmMDiEhs<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the way, \u201cLet\u2019s not be L-seven\u201d is a way of saying \u201clet\u2019s not be square\u201d (L7).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s a bit of a personal side to this story as well. My wife and I started graduate school in 1979. My wife was working toward her Ph.D. in Accounting, and I was making an ill-fated effort to get an MBA, so we were both in the business school. The business school secretary, an older woman who told us she didn\u2019t think we would \u201cmake it,\u201d was named Mrs. Wooly. Whenever we had to go see her, as soon as we left the building I would launch into \u201cWooly Bully.\u201d Now, all these years later, my wife thinks it\u2019s funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there is something about the song, besides the nonsensical lyrics. I\u2019m sure it has something to do with the rhythm, but it really ensorcelled my generation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s image is Sam The Sham & The Pharaohs LP Wooly Bully 1965 CAPITOL RECORD CLUB ISSUE (https:\/\/www.worthpoint.com\/worthopedia\/sam-sham-pharaohs-lp-wooly-bully-1965-4644051165<\/a>). But you don\u2019t have to buy the album when you can listen to the song for free on YouTube.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s word of the day, again thanks to Words Coach (https:\/\/www.wordscoach.com\/dictionary), is ensorcell. Ensorcell is a verb that means \u201cto bewitch\u201d (https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/ensorcell). According to Etymonline.com, the word appears in English […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[238,780,395,284,781],"class_list":["post-6950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-of-the-day","tag-dictionary","tag-ensorcell","tag-etymology","tag-linguistics","tag-wooly-bully","clearfix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6950"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6952,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950\/revisions\/6952"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6951"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.freedomshillprimer.com\/institute\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}