I is for Interesting British Words

In honour of the Royal Wedding in England, Merrian-Webster has created its "Top 10 British Words."  Although Merriam-Webster is a dictionary of American English, it contains a range of words rarely heard outside Britain. Here are some of our favourites.

#1  Prat:  a stupid or foolish person; probably comes from the 16th century prat meaning "buttocks."  The original 'pratfall' was a fall on the buttocks.

#2 Twee:  affectedly or excessively dainty, delicate, cute, or quaint; a baby-talk alteration of the word 'sweet.'  It first appeared in print in a 1905 issue of the British magazine Punch.

#3 Knackered:  tired, exhausted; the slang knackered means to 'kill or tire.'  Etymologists cannot be sure if there is a link between the adjective and the word that means 'horse-slaughter.' 

#4 Jiggery-Pokery:  dishonest or suspicious activity, nonsense; it is an alteration of 'joukery-pawkery.'  Both joukery and pawkery are English regionalisms for 'trickery.'

#5 Plonk:  cheap or inferior wine; is a shortening of the earlier plink-plonk and may be a modification of 'vin blanc' which means "white wine" in French. 

#6 Chunter: to talk in a low inarticulate way, mutter; is sometimes used as a synonym of "complain."  The word is probably imitative in origin, when people are chutering and sounds a bit like "chunter chunter" (or mutter). 

#7 Whinge:  to complain fretfully or whine; the Old English ancestor meant "to moan." 

#8 Gormless:  lacking intelligence, stupid; the word 'guam' exists in some English dialects and means "attention or understanding."  Someone without 'guam' lacks understanding.

#9 Boffin: a scientific expert and especially one involved in technological research; dates back t0 1945.  Although its origin remains a mystery, it may have originated with scientists engaged in wartime efforts.

#10 Pukka: genuine, authentic, first-class; Chef Jamie Oliver rejuvenated 'pukka' with his BBC series 'Pukka Tukka.'  That's fitting since pukka comes from the Hindi and Urdu words for "cooked" and "solid." 

H is for Happy Holidays

I have always loved holidays.  Thanksgiving is my favorite.  However, I love them all.  I love the food, decorating, friends, family and time off.  Here are some graphics to share the holidays with you.

Hoppy Easter.  Spring, flowers blooming, birds chirping, spring colors, outdoors, and daylight savings time.  Growing up in South Florida, we did not have seasons.  We had a few weeks of really cold weather and the rest of the year was Summertime.  Living in Colorado, we enjoy the change of seasons.  We  love snow but we enjoy the Spring.

Happy Valentine's Day

July 4th - Independence Day. 
Thank you to the veterans (including my daughter).
The land of the free and home of the brave.

Halloween.  We start decorating mid-October and my kids like to add all the scary decorations, spiders on the roof, ghosts in the trees, put on scary music, and even dress up the dogs. We usually dress up at work and then we stay in costume and greet the trick or treaters in costume.  After Halloween, we merge the decorations into fall and Thanksgiving.  Multi-purpose (recycle-reuse...)  We love the fall in Colorado.  The leaves change color and the weather cools down.  And, of course, did I say, FOOTBALL.

Thanksgiving.  My favorite holiday.  Even when I was young and there were only four of us in the family, my mother made a huge feast.  We had a 20 pound turkey, homemade stuffing, lots of fresh veggies, breads, desserts.  My husband and I always have a great feast and invite lots of our friends to share dinner (and football) with us. We then cook another turkey on Friday and start putting up our Christmas tree and decorations.  (Did I say watch football).

Christmas.  When I was growing up, my mother always made lots of food for Christmas.  We made dozens of different kinds of cookies, candies, breads, and other goodies.  We set up extra tables to place everything on.  During the Christmas and New Years holidays, friends and family would come to visit and eat lots!!!

G is for Gabriel's Grandmother

What an honor and privilege it is to be a Grandmother.  I never understood what it was all about until my little Gabriel was born.  I actually was in the delivery room and saw him enter the world.  Here are some funnies and thoughts to share with you.  Cheers to all of you with Grandchildren.  What a joy and blessing. 

The reason grandchildren and grandparents get along so well is that
they have a common enemy.  ~Sam Levenson

Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting.  ~Author Unknown

What a bargain grandchildren are!  I give them my loose change, and they give me a million dollars' worth of pleasure.  ~Gene Perret

It's one of nature's way that we often feel closer to distant generations than to the generation immediately preceding us.  ~Igor Stravinsky

To become a grandparent is to enjoy one of the few pleasures in life for which the consequences have already been paid.  ~Robert Brault       

    

Grandparents bestow upon
their grandchildren

The strength and wisdom that time

And experience have given them.

Grandchildren bless their Grandparents
With a youthful vitality and innocence
That help them stay young at heart forever.

Together they create a chain of love
Linking the past with the future.

The chain may lengthen,
But it will never part....

- Author Unknown

F is for FEW moments from Star Trek

We were recently discussing famous movie and television quotes.  It is hard to narrow down a few quotes from some of our favorite shows.  Star Trek ranks as one of the most culturally influential television shows of all time and clearly the most influential science fiction TV show of all time. The original series, which aired on the NBC network from 1966 to 1969, has spawned four successor shows starting in the 1980s and ten movies. Countless toys, books, and other products have been marketed by Paramount, the company that owns the Star Trek "franchise." But the show's cultural influence goes far beyond its ability to replicate itself and make money for its owners.

The original series and cast were the best. 

Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its 5-year mission:  to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.    (James T. Kirk)

Beam me up, Scotty.

She cannae take any more, Cap'n!

I'm a doctor, not a (you name it, McCoy said it.)  "Bricklayer, engineer...."

Live long and prosper.

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Ensign Ricky are beaming down to the planet.  Guess who's not coming back.

Expendability.

Trouble with Tribbles.

[asking about the tribbles]
Capt. Kirk: Scott, you didn't transport them into space did you?
Scotty: Captain Kirk, that'd be inhuman.
Capt. Kirk: Well, where are they?
Scotty: I gave them a very good home, sir.
Capt. Kirk: WHERE?
Scotty: I gave 'em to the Klingons, sir.
Capt. Kirk: You gave them to the Klingons?
Scotty: Aye, sir. Before they went into warp, I transported the whole kit'n kaboodle into their engine room, where they'll be nay tribble at all.

As in the Star Trek movie, V'Ger was searching for the "Creator"

Creator, Gene Roddenberry and his wife (Majel Barrett).  Majel was Nurse Christine Chapel in the original Star Trek series;  the voice of most onboard computer interfaces throughout the series; and Lwaxana Troi  (Deanna Troi's mother in Next Generation).
  

Next Generation.

Space... The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It's continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.  (Jean Luc-Picard)

Make it so.  Engage.
Tea, Earl Grey, hot.

Freedom is irrelevant.  Resistance is futile.

You have the Bridge, Number One.



 Locutus, the Borg. 

And more . . .
We could go on about all the various movies and other series such as Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise.  All well done.  However, I will end with a photo of the new Star Trek movie.  Wow.  Well done in selecting the cast and historical content.  I look forward to seeing more . . .

Live long and prosper!!

E for the English are Coming

or whatever he really said.  Most people remember him for his famed midnight ride, which took place 236 years ago this evening. But there's a lot more to the story of Paul Revere, from his dabbling in dentistry to his dismissal from the military. Find out 12 things you may not know about Paul Revere at 12 Things You May Not Know About Paul Revere.

D is for Daughter

My baby daugher is having a birthday this week.  Since before she was born, I prayed for her.  I continue to thank God and pray for her daily.  However, this little girl has grown into a woman.  It amazes me how time flies by when one minute she was this little girl laughing, playing, being under foot and now she is driving off to work or college, running out the door.   Turn around you are two, turn around you are four, turn around and I watch you walk out the door.  I love you my sweet.

An Angel Left Her Wings

© Tina M. Marascia

I have this little angel. For me she left her wings.
She has no idea how much happiness she truly brings.
She brightens up my days with her smiles and her laughs.
She helps me to remember all the blessings that I have.

Her face, it is so perfect, she's sweet and soft and pure.
Sometimes she can be willful and sometimes she is demure.
She tries her very hardest to please and do what's right.
She gives the greatest hugs from morning until night.

Every person that has known her sees this light within her soul
I know that in this whole great world, she has a special role.
She's helpful and considerate to everyone she knows
This light in her shines brighter as my angel grows.

When she sees someone is sad, it opens up her heart.
She wants to do all that she can; she wants to do her part.
She'll squeeze away the sorrow and make me forget about my pain.
She shows me where the sun is when we're hiding from the rain.

I know that God must love me, He showed me with His Grace
I knew just how completely when I saw my angel's face.
And in that very moment when she came into my world,
I knew that she was so much more than just my baby girl.

She would be my sunshine, with a sweetness that won't end.
And when she grows up one day she would be my closest friend.
She would be the reason I would always try my best.
For my little angel baby girl would be my greatest test.

When God entrusts to you an angel, who has left her wings for you.
Encircle her with love with everything you do.
Let her know God made her, and that He trusts you with her care.
Be sure to make time for special moments with her to share.

And when at night she finally says her prayers and goes to sleep
I Thank Him for my angel, and ask for him to always keep
A watchful eye and hand to protect her from this world.
Protect my little angel; protect my baby girl.

C is for Columbia - Space Shuttle

 It was 30 years ago this week that NASA ushered in a new era of spaceflight with the inaugural launch of space shuttle Columbia on April 12, 1981, setting the pace for three decades of monumental leaps in environmental and space science achievements.

Thirty years and 133 missions later, NASA is winding down the space shuttle program, with the three remaining shuttle orbiters and the prototype shuttle Enterprise slated to be enshrined at several museums around the country after the last two missions, STS-134 and STS-135, are flown.

B is for Bulldozer and Bobcat

This past week, we took our grandson, Gabriel, to the Denver Zoo.  He is 2 1/2 years old now and loves going to the Zoo.  However, this time around he really enjoyed watching the construction going on at the Asian Tropics.  He loved watching the "cats" - or should I say bobcats, bulldozers, and other trucks.  We took our lunch break next to one of the construction sites so he got a close up of the construction.  He loved it.  Once we got him away from the trucks, he enjoyed seeing the animals.  I added a photo of a real Bobcat ("B") to close this post but check out the blinkie in the right column. 

Bulldozer

Gabriel

Bobcat

Denver Zoo - Asian Tropics under construction

Real Bobcat

A is for Aquarium

The spectrum of color is amazing.  R-O-Y-G-B-I-V.  A rainbow.  So many colors, so many pictures.

Aquamarine (color), a color, a shade between green and blue and clear.  

An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept.

  

Civil War - Love letter to My very dear Sarah,

July 14, 1861
Camp Clark, Washington

My very dear Sarah:

The indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days—perhaps tomorrow. Lest I should not be able to write again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more . . .

I have no misgivings about, or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter. I know how strongly American Civilization now leans on the triumph of the Government and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and sufferings of the Revolution. And I am willing—perfectly willing—to lay down all my joys in this life, to help maintain this Government, and to pay that debt . . .

Sarah my love for you is deathless, it seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break; and yet my love of Country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me unresistibly on with all these chains to the battle field.

The memories of the blissful moments I have spent with you come creeping over me, and I feel most gratified to God and to you that I have enjoyed them for so long. And hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years, when, God willing, we might still have lived and loved together, and seen our sons grown up to honorable manhood, around us. I have, I know, but few and small claims upon Divine Providence, but something whispers to me—perhaps it is the wafted prayer of my little Edgar, that I shall return to my loved ones unharmed. If I do not my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you, and when my last breath escapes me on the battle field, it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you. How thoughtless and foolish I have often times been! How gladly would I wash out with my tears every little spot upon your happiness . . .

But, O Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they loved, I shall always be near you; in the gladdest days and in the darkest nights . . . always, always, and if there be a soft breeze upon your cheek, it shall be my breath, as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by. Sarah do not mourn me dead; think I am gone and wait for thee, for we shall meet again . . .


Sullivan Ballou was killed a week later at the first Battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861.