Burgos–Santander rutadera

rutadera

rutadera: from rutar, defined on the same page as 'zumbar, hacer ruido sordo; hablar entre dientes, murmurar' — to buzz, to make a dull noise, to mutter.

A dictionary is sometimes all that survives of an instrument. Compiling the village speech of Burgos and Santander in 1921, Gabriel María Vergara Martín set down rutadera: a little board of wood which, tied to a cord and made to spin fast, makes a noise. The next entry on the page gives the verb it comes from — rutar, to buzz, to make a dull sound, to talk between the teeth, to grumble. The board is named after a mutter.

Particulars

Object

Small wooden board tied to a cord and rapidly rotated.

Function

Whirled rapidly to make noise.