Stew, Strew

“This is not that, and that is certainly not this, and at the same time an oyster stew is not stewed, and although they are made of the same things and even cooked almost the same way, an oyster soup should never be called a stew, nor stew soup.” –M. F. K. Fisher

Do you like stew or broth or soup?

Stew functions as a noun and verb; and it has two distinct meanings.

Stew is a dish.

Stew is a dish made of meat and vegetables by stewing.

Stew is cooked slowly in a liquid (sometimes wine is added) in a closed pan or dish such as lamb stew, beef stew.

Some people like stew stewed with wine.

Stew is an agitation as a result of worry, fretting about this or that, a state of anxiety or panic, wrought up for one or the other reason, flustered, swithered or lathered.

Many people stew (verb: cook slowly, and for a long time) the stew (noun) with meat and vegetables.

Stew is derived from the French word ‘estuve’ or ‘etuve’ which in fact comes from Latin and which in fact comes from Greek.

There are idioms formed out of stew: stew in one’s juices or stew in one’s own broth or stew in one’s own grease (alone and absorbed in one’s problems created by oneself), Stew is also a diminutive of the name ‘Stewart’.

Some people strew things all over the places.

Strew is a verb meaning something spread out, dispersed, scattered all over, covered with something because of dispersal or scattering.

Strew is an irregular verb: its past tense and past participle are strewed/strew and strewed/strewn: strew–strewed or strew–strewed or strewn.

When a mango tree has fruits that ripen on it, the fruits can be seen strewn underneath it; and naturally ripened fruits are sought after for they are chemical-free.

“Life is strewn with so many dangers, and can be the source of so many misfortunes, that death is not the greatest of them.” –Napoleon Bonaparte

Indian roads are strewn with dangers: potholes crying for the attention of civic or municipal authorities, cows or buffaloes (cattle) crossing the roads, and lack of proper pavements for pedestrians.

Strewing and strewings are nouns meaning something scattered, the act of scatterings; anything that is strewn.

The archaic forms are strewment or strewments referring to the decorative pattern of flowers.

Scenes of strewings in unnatural condition or unnatural happening invariably get the attention of photojournalists.

Come autumn, there will be leaves strewn on the ground (if there are trees in humans’ habitations).

By: Kovuuri G Reddy