How do you feel about chemistry? I’m not talking about that between people but that of the periodic tables in your former classrooms. As uncomfortable as I do? I have to admit that I had to look this one up because I knew it was on that table but never had to deal with it. […]
Let’s Talk! – Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
“What’s wrong with gentle?” was my first thought upon reading today’s conversation prompt that popped up in my friend Tyrean Martinson’s book “A Pocket-Sized Jumble of 500 + Writing Prompts.” What context does this line come from? Though well-read, other than “Under Milkwood” and “A Child’s Christmas in Wales”, I can’t remember anything that I […]
Across the Fence: Gesundheit
What do you say when somebody sneezes? Some of you may say “God bless you”. Others will use the Germanism “Gesundheit!” (pronounce: ga-‘zoont-hite), which means health and is a kind wish on the sneezer. How this word made it into American English? Because of the vast numbers of German immigrants, of course. Don’t ask me […]
Let’s Talk! – Watch for Me by Moonlight
What a tricky prompt Tyrean Martinson’s book gave us for today’s conversation topic … My first train of thought was “person, moonlight, danger”, and I ended up with werewolf! Now, I could make up a story of me turning into a werewolf, of course. Is the female form “werewolverine”, by the way? Knowing my friend, […]
Across the Fence: Hamster
We all have encountered this Germanism during the Corona virus pandemic – hamster (pronounce hum-stah). Indeed, the English version of the noun and verb is identical in its unconjugated or undeclined form whereas the German infinitive adds an “n”, hamstern. As a linguist, I’m thrilled of course, to find that word, although allegedly derived from […]
In the Book Nook with … D.L. Fowler
Author D.L. Fowler from Gig Harbor, WA, a former investment manager and tax accountant, began writing in about 2007 and published his first novel in 2011. “The Turn: a bond that shaped history” was a finalist in several competitions and won first place in historical fiction in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association literary contest. His […]
Let’s Talk! – Walk the Red Carpet
Red carpets are always related to a special event. After the 19th century’s Industrial Revolution, red carpets were apparently associated with power and wealth. Train companies started using them for their clients to board trains. Hotels spread them at their entrances. One of my first children’s books was by German author James Krüss; it told […]
Across the Fence: Hosenrolle
How often have we laughed about the situations created on stage or in films when a woman is cross-dressing as a male and gets mistaken for one or makes the oddest mistakes BECAUSE she is a woman? Think, for example, of Shakespeare’s comedy “As You Like It” in which Lady Rosalind dresses as a man […]
In the Book Nook with … Janet McGiffin
Author Janet McGiffin lives in Tacoma, WA, just down the hill from her son and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren, after living some time in Lakewood, WA, Greece, and New York City. She used to work for the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Health Department, was a press officer for the Washington State Senate in Olympia, and worked in […]