May 06, 2023
Today's puzzler is a very interesting puzzler!
So, you know how we always use the term 'quasi-automotive' on our show?
As you all know, we took the term 'Quasimodo' and made it our own by turning it into 'quasi automotive' for our own purposes. And as we all know, Quasimodo was the name of a very sad character in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
So, looking into the origins of this word, 'Quasimodo', with our limited Latin vocabulary, we get the following.
Quasi means 'as if' or 'alike' or 'almost'.
And modo is the Latin word for 'merely' or 'only'.
What we could not fathom is the connection between these words, 'quasi' and 'modo' and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
Because the words 'quasi moto' translate roughly to 'almost only.'
So here is the question. What is the link between these words and the literature? How did Quasimodo get his name? Quasimodo was that poor, deformed hunchback, left on the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral.
Where did he get his name?
Answer time for the quasi puzzler.
The question was, if the words words 'quasi moto' translate roughly to 'almost only,' then how did the character of Quasimodo get his name in The Hunchback of Notre Dame?
Quasi means 'as if' or 'alike' or 'almost'.
And modo is the Latin word for 'merely' or 'only'.
So, here is the answer.
After some hours of research, or a quick google search if you cheated, we found that the Sunday after Easter is known as Quasimodo Sunday. The beginning of the mass on that day starts with these words, 'quasi modo geniti infantes,' which translates roughly to 'Like just born infants.'
And upon rereading Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, I discovered the following entry. "One fine morning, it was quasimodo Sunday. A living creature had been deposited after mass in the Church of Notre Dame in the wooden bed, sealed in the pavement on the left hand side of the entrance."
And the, it made sense the hunchback Quasimodo was named for the holy day on which he was discovered.
Good one, I think.
