In a recent blog (Ferly is not necessarily feral but fairly close.) I closed with this question: “What are some other words that you know or have used in the past, only to find they don’t actually meant what you first thought they meant?”
Well today I thought I would start the ball rolling with one of my own. Another that I have long known and long erroneously believed I knew what it meant when I didn’t.
Of course I could legitimately use the argument that I had only ever heard the word pronounced and not written down. Because although Milquetoast is in fact pronounced “Milk- toast” it is both not milk toast, nor is it edible.
In fact Milquetoast, the Word of the Day for Sunday, October 9, 2011, actually means: A very timid, unassertive, spineless person, especially one who is easily dominated or intimidated.
And originates from the character of Caspar Milquetoast, a character in The Timid Soul, comic strip by H. T. Webster, an American cartoonist (1885-1952).
So there you are, that is another example of familiar words having different meanings than originally thought. Over to you now for some more examples please?
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Ferly is not necessarily feral but fairly close.
The first time I ever heard ferly used was in a song by an American singer, and I assumed (incorrectly) that it was the American version or our term “Feral” (for wild and uncouth people. {Oft times now called Bogans too!})
Thus I was somewhat surprised when reading the Word of the Day for Sunday, October 23, 2011, to find that Ferly had both a different, (although somewhat similar) meaning and a long and proud history tracing back to both Old English and German
Thus, ferly, pronounced “FER-lee”, means,
1. Something unusual, strange, or causing wonder or terror.
2. Astonishment; wonder.
Or something::
1. Unexpected; strange; unusual.
Thus Ferly, instead of being the latest Hip word of our generation, is in fact derived from Old English fǣrlīc meaning fǣr (fear) and -līc (-ly). It is related to the German gefährlich meaning dangerous.
So again now you know both what ferly means and what it doesn’t mean.
What are some other words that you know or have used in the past, only to find they don’t actually meant what you first thought they meant?
Thus I was somewhat surprised when reading the Word of the Day for Sunday, October 23, 2011, to find that Ferly had both a different, (although somewhat similar) meaning and a long and proud history tracing back to both Old English and German
Thus, ferly, pronounced “FER-lee”, means,
1. Something unusual, strange, or causing wonder or terror.
2. Astonishment; wonder.
Or something::
1. Unexpected; strange; unusual.
Thus Ferly, instead of being the latest Hip word of our generation, is in fact derived from Old English fǣrlīc meaning fǣr (fear) and -līc (-ly). It is related to the German gefährlich meaning dangerous.
So again now you know both what ferly means and what it doesn’t mean.
What are some other words that you know or have used in the past, only to find they don’t actually meant what you first thought they meant?
Sunday, October 23, 2011
When Culture costs lives it is time to change Culture don’t you think?
Was saddened to read in an on--line Newspaper item that in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, (where we lived and worked for nearly 12 years), 40 young men in the prime of their lives had died and another 150 roughly, were injured, from botched circumcisms in the Xhosa coming of age ritual.
What is really sad is that these are roughly the same numbers form botched right of age circumcisms for young Xhosa men as there from were ten years ago when we were still there!
Yes in all that time still nothing effective has happened to prevent these unnecessary deaths and mutilations, although even then people were concerned at the rising death rate and were trying to do something about it, even to trying to change culture and have the actual circumcisms done in hospitals by trained medical staff and under the supervision of trained Nursing staff! But as most of these nursing staff were women, this sensible safety change was frowned upon because women are banned from the whole circumcism event which takes a couple of weeks to be completed. A couple of weeks where many young men in their prime are killed or maimed for life because of unsafe medical applications and follow up.
Call me crazy if you like, but I for one think it is time this stupidity is stopped for good if they are not prepared to modify the unnecessary health risk parts of the event?
Of course the real question for us though is, what about us? Yes what cultural customs that we hold onto, even cling to, that need changing, or at least modifying now?
Again something for you to think about now. Yes, even if there is nothing you or I can effectively do tocChange or modify the Xhosa right of Circumcism, surly we can do something to change or modify the dangerous or unhelpful, if not downright unhealthy cultural habits of our own? Again, what say you now?
What is really sad is that these are roughly the same numbers form botched right of age circumcisms for young Xhosa men as there from were ten years ago when we were still there!
Yes in all that time still nothing effective has happened to prevent these unnecessary deaths and mutilations, although even then people were concerned at the rising death rate and were trying to do something about it, even to trying to change culture and have the actual circumcisms done in hospitals by trained medical staff and under the supervision of trained Nursing staff! But as most of these nursing staff were women, this sensible safety change was frowned upon because women are banned from the whole circumcism event which takes a couple of weeks to be completed. A couple of weeks where many young men in their prime are killed or maimed for life because of unsafe medical applications and follow up.
Call me crazy if you like, but I for one think it is time this stupidity is stopped for good if they are not prepared to modify the unnecessary health risk parts of the event?
Of course the real question for us though is, what about us? Yes what cultural customs that we hold onto, even cling to, that need changing, or at least modifying now?
Again something for you to think about now. Yes, even if there is nothing you or I can effectively do tocChange or modify the Xhosa right of Circumcism, surly we can do something to change or modify the dangerous or unhelpful, if not downright unhealthy cultural habits of our own? Again, what say you now?
Monday, October 10, 2011
One way to handle difficult projects
Recently had the opportunity to play a very small role in a major project. A friend of a friend decided that this mutual friend really needed a more reliable car than the one she had for her Christian ministry, but also knew that she could / would never be able to do so on her present limited income. So he decided to do something to help, but didn’t have the resources himself to fully do so. However, knowing that our mutual friend had lots of friends who would probably only be too happy to help, he came up with the goal of trying to collect $7,000, to help our friend purchase a more reliable vehicle.
So he set up a Facebook account especially for the project and contacted various friends that he knew of, or could get the names of, and approached them to be a small part of this larger project, and then set up a bank account to hold the collection till ready to distribute to said friend.
The goal was to try and enlist one hundred friends to donate just $70 each if they could. However knowing that even this amount would be hard to find in one hit, he decided to ask people whether they could contribute just $10 a week for just 7 weeks and then set a reasonable date for all the money to come in, if it was going to. Well the other day a large group of us had the privilege of meeting at Lilydale Lake, after our respective Church services had finished, and were able to watch this enterprising young man hand over a giant cheque, not for $7,000, but for $7,200. Plus another $90, that came in after the cheque was made up.
I was impressed by his initiative to try and do something to help someone in need, even though initially and individually, it was beyond his power and resources. But by breaking it down into small, and then even smaller pieces, and encouraging and entrusting others to help out, the project was born, and through his report backs and follow ups, the project was both successful and successful beyond its original target. Praise God.
So the moral here is, if you want to do something to help someone and feel strongly enough about it, you probably can do it too; if you are prepared to enlist others and to break it down into doable pieces and give yourself sufficient time, and without trying to do the whole thing yourself and at once.
By the way, do you know how to eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time!
So by all means go out there ready to eat your elephant, but be prepared to also eat it at only one mouthful at a time! And to share it with others too!
So he set up a Facebook account especially for the project and contacted various friends that he knew of, or could get the names of, and approached them to be a small part of this larger project, and then set up a bank account to hold the collection till ready to distribute to said friend.
The goal was to try and enlist one hundred friends to donate just $70 each if they could. However knowing that even this amount would be hard to find in one hit, he decided to ask people whether they could contribute just $10 a week for just 7 weeks and then set a reasonable date for all the money to come in, if it was going to. Well the other day a large group of us had the privilege of meeting at Lilydale Lake, after our respective Church services had finished, and were able to watch this enterprising young man hand over a giant cheque, not for $7,000, but for $7,200. Plus another $90, that came in after the cheque was made up.
I was impressed by his initiative to try and do something to help someone in need, even though initially and individually, it was beyond his power and resources. But by breaking it down into small, and then even smaller pieces, and encouraging and entrusting others to help out, the project was born, and through his report backs and follow ups, the project was both successful and successful beyond its original target. Praise God.
So the moral here is, if you want to do something to help someone and feel strongly enough about it, you probably can do it too; if you are prepared to enlist others and to break it down into doable pieces and give yourself sufficient time, and without trying to do the whole thing yourself and at once.
By the way, do you know how to eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time!
So by all means go out there ready to eat your elephant, but be prepared to also eat it at only one mouthful at a time! And to share it with others too!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Who doesn’t use relaxed pronunciation now?
The following is taken largely from “The Hot Word” Blog site and is about the relaxed usage of some English words to the point that they almost become a spelling of their own. Thus”
“Didja ever think that there are ways of speaking that feel perfectly comfortable that would seem wrong if you wrote them down? Sorta like the way this sentence is written. Lemme tell you ‘bout this very phenomenon, relaxed pronunciation.
Pronunciation is defined as “the conventional patterns of treatment of the sound and stress patterns of a syllable or word.” Relaxed pronunciation, also called word slurring or condensed pronunciation, happens when those syllables are phonetically melded together to create a shortened form of a word or phrase.
Yes, this is similar to a contraction. The difference is, contractions such as “could’ve” and “should’ve” are considered part of informal written and spoken language; relaxed pronunciation such as “coulda” and “shoulda,” while part of informal speech, has no standard written form.
Common trends of relaxed pronunciation include replacing “you” with “ya” or “ja” as in “d’ya” (did you) and “wouldja” (would you). Another common practice is to substitute “of,” “to”, and “have” with a schwa, a mid-central vowel sound that occurs from an unstressed syllable, as in “kinda,” “outta,” and “sorta.”
The writer William Burroughs famously called language “a virus.” One way to understand his pronouncement is that, as people use a language, it evolves. Some uses of English that are considered correct today were once frowned upon. Who knows what usage will be acceptable in 100 years? Do you think relaxed pronunciation is ever an acceptable form of speech?”
I found the above interesting especially as how we now see texting taking off and text talk often coming into other written forms too. What are some other relaxed pronunciations that you know and use, and are relaxed enough about, to share with us here?
“Didja ever think that there are ways of speaking that feel perfectly comfortable that would seem wrong if you wrote them down? Sorta like the way this sentence is written. Lemme tell you ‘bout this very phenomenon, relaxed pronunciation.
Pronunciation is defined as “the conventional patterns of treatment of the sound and stress patterns of a syllable or word.” Relaxed pronunciation, also called word slurring or condensed pronunciation, happens when those syllables are phonetically melded together to create a shortened form of a word or phrase.
Yes, this is similar to a contraction. The difference is, contractions such as “could’ve” and “should’ve” are considered part of informal written and spoken language; relaxed pronunciation such as “coulda” and “shoulda,” while part of informal speech, has no standard written form.
Common trends of relaxed pronunciation include replacing “you” with “ya” or “ja” as in “d’ya” (did you) and “wouldja” (would you). Another common practice is to substitute “of,” “to”, and “have” with a schwa, a mid-central vowel sound that occurs from an unstressed syllable, as in “kinda,” “outta,” and “sorta.”
The writer William Burroughs famously called language “a virus.” One way to understand his pronouncement is that, as people use a language, it evolves. Some uses of English that are considered correct today were once frowned upon. Who knows what usage will be acceptable in 100 years? Do you think relaxed pronunciation is ever an acceptable form of speech?”
I found the above interesting especially as how we now see texting taking off and text talk often coming into other written forms too. What are some other relaxed pronunciations that you know and use, and are relaxed enough about, to share with us here?
Friday, September 9, 2011
Do you teach or bore when you Inculcate?
Yes, inculcate, the Word of the Day for Thursday, September 8, 2011, is another of those words that describe an action that can either be productive or counterproductive. Depending both on how you do it and on how the listener perceives it!
Inculcate, is a transitive verb that means to teach and impress by frequent repetition or instruction. And again many people only learn by repetition and thus it is both necessary and needed at times. But like in most things, there is a fine line between inculcating and just plain boring people, isn’t there. So, please, whenever you find yourself in a situation where you need to inculcate anyone, make sure that you do inculcate them and not just bore them to distraction!
I once did a Computer Course at the then Footscray Institute of Technology, way back in the early 80’s, and we had a lecturer for the theory part who was obviously absolutely brilliant on his subject, but sadly, could not pass that vast knowledge on in his teachings. And so instead of inculcating us, he just bored us all to distraction. So please, do not be like that. And if my blogs are more boring than inculcating, please don’t hesitate to tell me so. Please and thank you.
Inculcate, is a transitive verb that means to teach and impress by frequent repetition or instruction. And again many people only learn by repetition and thus it is both necessary and needed at times. But like in most things, there is a fine line between inculcating and just plain boring people, isn’t there. So, please, whenever you find yourself in a situation where you need to inculcate anyone, make sure that you do inculcate them and not just bore them to distraction!
I once did a Computer Course at the then Footscray Institute of Technology, way back in the early 80’s, and we had a lecturer for the theory part who was obviously absolutely brilliant on his subject, but sadly, could not pass that vast knowledge on in his teachings. And so instead of inculcating us, he just bored us all to distraction. So please, do not be like that. And if my blogs are more boring than inculcating, please don’t hesitate to tell me so. Please and thank you.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Do you feign to Know?
Now the word of the Day for Friday, July 22, 2011, was feign, which I’m pretty sure you all know, means:
1. To represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of.
2. To invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse.
3. To make believe; pretend.
Again, a pretty straightforward and common word and meaning, I believe. So today I’m not asking if you know what it means, but rather if you do it more than you should?
Yes, sometimes it can be helpful to feign or pretend you know or understand something. But quite often that can also lead to disastrous consequences when you are left to do so, and not only can’t, but muck it up badly in the trying!
This is becoming more noticeable to me as my hearing starts to go in the lower ranges and I am often tempted to feign understanding, even when I don’t always hear what was being said. However I have learnt that often what I think I have heard, is not what was actually said, but something of my own imagination. Thus I have found it much wiser and safer, not to feign understanding, and not to be embarrassed to ask them to explain themselves again. And even again if necessary!
So, if you are ever in a situation, whether like that or not, but one where you are tempted to feign understanding or knowledge that you don’t really have, please don’t!
Again, if you don’t really know what is going on, don’t feign knowledge or understanding that you don’t have, but check it out fully and do things properly. Or else, leave it for someone who can! What say you?
1. To represent fictitiously; put on an appearance of.
2. To invent fictitiously or deceptively, as a story or an excuse.
3. To make believe; pretend.
Again, a pretty straightforward and common word and meaning, I believe. So today I’m not asking if you know what it means, but rather if you do it more than you should?
Yes, sometimes it can be helpful to feign or pretend you know or understand something. But quite often that can also lead to disastrous consequences when you are left to do so, and not only can’t, but muck it up badly in the trying!
This is becoming more noticeable to me as my hearing starts to go in the lower ranges and I am often tempted to feign understanding, even when I don’t always hear what was being said. However I have learnt that often what I think I have heard, is not what was actually said, but something of my own imagination. Thus I have found it much wiser and safer, not to feign understanding, and not to be embarrassed to ask them to explain themselves again. And even again if necessary!
So, if you are ever in a situation, whether like that or not, but one where you are tempted to feign understanding or knowledge that you don’t really have, please don’t!
Again, if you don’t really know what is going on, don’t feign knowledge or understanding that you don’t have, but check it out fully and do things properly. Or else, leave it for someone who can! What say you?
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