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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| Whensday While I was in a days, I thought we should talk of Whensday too. I mean, if that's not the time to ponder on time, then I don't know when is. Perhaps all appointments should be reserved for Whensday. It would certainly make remembering that much easier. |
| Chewsday It's Chewsday again. And, appropriately enough, Andrea just placed a piece of chocolate within reach on my desk. We should make this a tradition. |
| Strange Animals We are strange creatures. Not content with having water to drink, we adulterate it with something to make it taste like something, or anything, else. Still unsatisfied, we infuse it with bubbles of carbon dioxide to further alter it, as though intent on transforming water into wine. Plants go to enormous trouble inventing seedpods protected by substances intended to repel us with tastes that burn our mouths. What do we do? Decide we like the sensation and flavour foods with the very thing meant as a repellant. Like all animals, we enjoy rest. But it’s not enough for us. To keep us interested while resting, we invent entertainment that shows us other people exerting themselves. Only the old do the sensible thing and fall asleep in front of the television. We are strange animals. Word count: 134 |
| Ailments Today I thought of listing all my ailments. Partly because there are some that I don't think about and these tend to get left out when comparing troubles with other old people, but mostly because I think it would be quite an impressive list. First one down would be age itself, of course. Which would lead to several ailments common to most old fogies. These are the ones most often left off lists, thanks to their being so common and accepted as almost normal. Then there are the ones that my generation suffers in particular, due to our similar lifestyles and preferences, particularly in the food realm. These are usually included as the stars in any list, being a sort of badge of honour that identifies us as the bright-eyed children of the sixties and seventies (how fitting that those numbers should also describe our ages now). And finally, there are the special ones, those odd ailments that fate has inflicted on me alone. Or seemingly so. These are probably the scariest because you have to go to a doctor to find out what names they might have. That is necessary if you're to do any research on them. Even though they're mostly minor and unthreatening things. Anyway, I pondered on creating this list. And then decided not to. Why dwell on such morbid matters after all? |
| Ides Today would be the ides of August, if only the Romans hadn't decided that just March, May, July and October should have their ides on the 15th. The other months have ides on the 13th of the month. So the ides of August have already passed us by without notice. It seems reasonable to assume that "ides" has something to do with the middle of the month, but that would mean the months with the 13th as their ides would only be 26 days long. The matter is complicated by the full moon having some influence, apparently, and then there's the adding to the Roman calendar of two more months to really confuse the whole thing. Which probably explains why we take absolutely no notice of the business. |
| Aardvarks Afrikaans is the language of the Dutch settlers in South Africa, the people known as the Boers (which means "farmers"). You may not realise it, but you actually know some Afrikaans. Everyone knows the word "aardvark," because it's so useful in word games (it's that double-A that does it). And "aardvark" is an Afrikaans word meaning "ant-pig." The language is very descriptive, as you can see. Aardvarks look like pigs but they eat ants. Then there is the aardwolf - no prizes for translating that one. And yes, it looks like a wolf but eats ants (termites actually but who cares?). Its closest relative is the hyena but it has the most amazing mane. There's a photo below to support that. There are other words too. Any fan of Star Trek knows one - "trek" is an Afrikaans word meaning to take a long journey. And many of us have a stoep (Afrikaans word meaning "porch") attached to our houses. These are just a few that come to mind without doing any research. I find it interesting to know something about the many languages that have infiltrated and affected English. And if I need an excuse to write about it in my blog, shouldn't all writers be interested in words and where they come from? QED (Quite Easily Done) Word count: 219  |
| Joker The Question of the Day today concerns our favourite joke. It’s an odd question really, because jokes are ten a penny and few recommend themselves as somehow better than all the others. So we answer the question with the one that pops immediately to mind - usually one that we’ve heard recently and so remember. But most of us have a store of a few jokes that, for some reason have stuck and been remembered through the years. There are jokes that I remember from very early in my school career, for instance. And they’re all pretty weak and probably don’t deserve retaining. So undiscerning is the memory. I do, however, have one joke that is a treasured friend and was often hauled out to regale friends with at a party. It is unconscionably long and repetitive (what used to be called “a shaggy dog story” in fact) and I tell it because it’s an opportunity to use my admittedly atrocious American accent (southern of course - it’s the easiest to mangle). As a result, it could be regarded as a favourite. Now that I am in America, I seldom tell the joke, mainly because Andrea pointed out that I was seriously mispronouncing a certain word. I dare say that there are many other hopelessly mispronounced words in my repertoire but this one is particularly close to my heart. Andrea is bound to be right and the correct pronunciation of the word “mountain” in Hillbilly is “mount’n,” but it’s not nearly as funny as saying it as “moun-TAIN.” With a suitable twang, of course. It’s like the question, “What’s the definition of ‘bison’ in Birmingham (England)?” The answer is “Something you wash your hands in.” It’s the way you say the word that is funny. And that’s why I enjoy the joke and telling it in my bogus American accent. It’s funny and if it includes all sorts of mispronunciations, why, that makes it even funnier. And that’s all I have to say on the subject. If you want to read the joke, head on over to QOTD. Word count: 346 |
| Another Thought We know that "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same thing, but have we ever considered that the word "spare" has two opposite meanings? spare - additional to what is required for ordinary use. spare - with no excess fat; thin. |
| More Semantics I don't suppose it means anything but has anyone ever noticed that the word "therapist" can be pronounced as "the rapist"? |
| Motor Racing Musing I can’t help it - much of my thinking time is (and always has been) taken up with pondering on the form of motor sport known as F1. I try to keep this fact out of my utterings in other areas as I have no desire to bore readers to death. But, occasionally, there’s an excuse for a sort of crossover. And this is my latest: Much has been said and argued about the matter of overtaking in F1. There’s not enough of it, or there’s too much, and should we use artificial means (for the initiated, here I’m talking about DRS) of encouraging it, these are the eternal debates. My take on it is skewed by my writing persona. I can’t help looking at that word “overtaking.” And that means I see other ways of interpreting it. It could, for instance be read as “overt-aking.” How appropriate in this day when so many of the driver’s comments to the pit crew over that radio connection are broadcast. That may seen incomprehensible until one considers the character so many of the drivers reveal in these utterances. Far too many of them sound like spoilt teenagers with their complaints and excuses. My misconception of the overtaking word is indeed appropriate, especially if I make it a bit easier by spelling it “overt-aching.” But I don’t want to leave you with the wrong impression of F1 drivers through this. There are also the grown-up ones like Valtteri (probably the Finnish for “Walter”) Bottas. In a race in which he’d performed wonders by getting from last to second place, he responded to instructions to let his team mate past with these words: “Copy.” Not a moan or a protest, just that one word meaning message received and order will be carried out. No wonder they call the Finns icemen. Word count: 305 |
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