Note 275 – Dos-à-dos, dosado and do-si-do

Dos-à-dos is French for ‘back-to-back’.  Although I seem to remember this as a dance step from my younger days, I wasn’t entirely sure of the spelling – I probably would have said that it was spelled do-si-do or something similar.  According to Wikipedia, dosado (a corrupted spelling of dos-à-dos) is a basic dance move, that can also be known as do-sa-do, do-si-do or dos-a-dos depending on the type of dance e.g. do-si-do is the name for a contra dance. 

Merriam-Webster.com online dictionary defines the noun dos-à-dos as “a figure in which the dancers pass each other right shoulder to right shoulder and circle each other back to back”.  The first known use of the word is listed as 1926.  The Free Dictionary.com also explains that it is “a call given to signal such a movement”.

Dos-à-dos binding

This is a binding structure dating back to the 16th century, where two books are made into one volume (as in the image below).

Dos-à-dos binding. Image via Wikipedia. Original image by Emma Jane Hogbin, Flickr.

Dogcarts

Dos-à-dos is also a type of carriage or 4 wheel dogcart with back to back seats.  Some drawings of these dogcarts can be found on Wikipedia. 

That’s all for today.  If you know of any other meanings or spellings, please leave me a comment.

Until tomorrow…

Sandra
Freelance Writer
www.sandramadeira.com