The Answer Was What?????

I guess it was in the 10th grade that I really learned to listen. To really, really listen.


It was an experience that taught me how to listen and helped me learn how to use words as well as how to phrase them.

Oddly enough, the class was U. S. History and the teacher was Mr. William Moses.

Mr. Moses was tall, slightly on the slim side of average; he had black hair with touches of gray and almost always wore a black suit, white dress shirt and tie. His nose held black-rimmed glasses. His smile, which seemed to be a rare thing, was slight, and he had a dry sense of humor.

Isabelle Moses, his sister, was an elementary school teacher, and his wife worked in the school office.

On irregular occasions, Mr. Moses announced pop quizzes. (Do they even have those in classrooms any more?) He would say that each student should get out one piece of paper and a pencil and that we should put all books under our desks. These were words to strike fear and trepidation into our very beings.

It wasn’t unusual for one of his quizzes to include an extremely easy question – a “gimme.” Mr. Moses included a “gimme” on this particular day, and it was the very first question.

With a monotone voice, Mr. Moses said, “Name the country that gained its independence from Great Britain as a result of the Revolutionary War in the late 1700s.”

Whew! That was truly a “gimme.” We didn’t have to respond with complete sentences, so I hurriedly wrote “U.S.”

Imagine my shock when the test was returned with a big red “X” by that first answer.

Mr. Moses explained that he had asked for the name of the country, not the abbreviation of the name of the country.

Yep, that’s when I learned to listen to exact words and to pay close attention.



~                    ~                    ~

.

It's a Goose-y Day!

Did you know that today - May 1st - is Mother Goose Day?

Some folks think there was a real person after whom Mother Goose was modeled; others contend she has never been anything other than imaginary.

Real or not, she’s certainly familiar to thousands and thousands of children around the globe.

Although we all associate Mother Goose with nursery rhymes and poems, most of us don’t recall the rhyme titled “Old Mother Goose” as found in Volume 1 of Childcraft:

Old Mother Goose,

When she wanted to wander,

Would ride through the air

On a very fine gander.

Mother Goose had a house,

‘Twas built in a wood,

Where an owl at the door

For a sentinel stood.

Not quite as “sing-songy” as the more familiar poems, is it?

Did you realize that many of our favorite rhymes were written about historical and political events?

For instance, “Jack and Jill” is claimed by some to be about astronomy; yet others say the poem is really about King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette. A previous post about the background on “Jack and Jill”is at this link: http://blondesherry.blogspot.com/2009/08/who-were-jack-jill-you-might-be.html)

All of my life, I’ve thought “Humpty Dumpty” was about an egg. Historians claim it’s actually about a cannon. Here’s the scoop on that one: http://blondesherry.blogspot.com/2009/08/humpty-dumpty-and-wall.html.  

According to yet another source, “Baa, Baa, Black Sheep” is about taxation; (http://www.answers.com/) “Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary” is about Mary, Queen of Scots; and “Little Jack Horner” is about a bishop “who helped himself to some plum properties.”

Did you have a favorite childhood rhyme? Or is there a particular one your children liked?

Why Do We Say That?

Have you ever wondered about some of our odd expressions.  Many of them are rooted in history.

Consider the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.
However, since they were starting to smell. brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

-------------------------------------------------------

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children.

Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.
Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!"

----------------------------------------------------------------


In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.
Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat.
They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over
the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Thus the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

-----------------------------------------------------------

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee

in a pot & then once a day it was taken & sold to the tannery........

if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor."

But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford

to buy a pot...........

They "didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof.
When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.
Thus the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."
--------------------------------------------------------------------

There was nothing to stop things from falling through the thatched roof.
This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.
That's how canopy beds came into existence.

--------------------------------------------------

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.
Thus the saying, "Dirt poor."

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing.
As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside.
A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh-hold.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be either saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer...

Now, who said History was boring ! ! !

WW: Thank You, Veterans!

In Thankful Appreciation

Veterans Day 2009

With special appreciation to two of my favorite veterans no longer with us:  Dad (Navy) and the Dawg (Air Force); and to active military daughter Tiffany (Army.)

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Wordless Wednesday participants here.

Questions About Peace Prize?

The e-mail message from my son was short: “Any thoughts about this year's Peace Prize?”

Absolutely!!! I definitely had thoughts.

More than thoughts, though, were the questions.

What I question is the nominating process, criteria used and time frame.

According to news reports, Barack Obama was nominated no later than a few days into his presidency. What was the basis for the nomination at that point? Does the selection committee consider only those things done up until the point of nomination, or is it allowable to nominate someone who shows promise or someone who is expected to accomplish certain things?

The prize for literature isn't given to someone because of what he or she may write in the future or for qualities and skills that show promise of authorship. Likewise with the other categories in which Nobel prizes are given. The previous awards have been for something specific that has been discovered, studied, written, accomplished, done.

Was the prize awarded to Obama simply because of his election? Did the committee believe that his election sent a peaceful message to the world? If the award was on that basis, then the committee should have said so.

Instead, the committee said it was “motivated by Obama's initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.”  Had those initiatives been undertaken at the time the nomination was made?

The five Nobel prizes were created by Alfred Nobel in his 1895 will, which designated the peace prize for "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."  [emphasis added](http://www.nobelprize.org/) The Nobel prize web site further says that the annual prizes are given "to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind."

Poland’s Lech Walesa won the peace prize in 1983. When asked by a news organization about Obama’s recognition, he replied, “So soon? Too early. He has no contribution so far….”

The 1984 recipient, Archbishop Desmond Tutu called this “an award that speaks to the promise of (Barack Obama)…”

One thing is clear. This was indeed a selection made by choice rather than by default. There were 199 nominees this year, the most nominations ever. Among the reported nominees were Colin Powell and singers Pete Seeger and U2’s Bono. Further, there have been 19 years in which no prize was given, including during the two world wars.

Yes, I have questions but I also have hope. I hope Obama will live up to the award and help attain peace and stability.

Photo Hunt: WORDS

Words.  What a topic for the weekly Photo Hunt!  I've always been amazed that people who paint signs, print posters and erect signs don't check for correct spellings.  Here are three examples. Do you see the incorrect spellings?

Some words make us smile - like these from someone named Bryan that were on a sign in my neighborhood several months ago:

Bryan probably smiled when he saw this word in reply:

Words send a definite message, don't they?  The word on this license tag sends some sort of message.  I didn't take this photo -- and the car and tag are not mine!

Words should be selected very carefully.  Otherwise, they might send the wrong message, like on the signs below.  I didn't take the first photo and don't remember how I ended up with it; I took the second and third ones from inside my car.

Words often cause pain or hurt.  That's something I experienced earlier this week.  There were words I wish I could take back but I can't. 

The words in the following pictures reflect pain, victimization, tragedy and so much more.  I took these at the concentration camp at Mauthausen.  If you click to enlarge the second picture, you might be able to read some of the words scratched into the walls.

                                       

To see what other bloggers did with this week's theme, click here.

I Remember Hugo: Twenty Years Later

Twenty years ago tonight, Hurricane Hugo came ashore in coastal South Carolina and then moved inland.

At the time I was a member of the SC state senate. The district I represented bore the brunt of Hugo. It was a long but relatively narrow district along the coast, including McClellanville, Awendaw, Isle of Palms, Sullivans Island, Mt. Pleasant, Folly Beach, James Island, Johns Island, Seabrook Island, Kiawah Island and surrounding areas.

As much as I like to write, I just can’t think of the words to adequately describe how ravaged the area was, how extensive the damage was. It was just beyond comprehension.  In South Carolina, 13 lives were lost.

Where there used to be a home, there was a single chimney or perhaps just the remnants of a bathroom. Another house was literally split in two. There were mattresses in what used to be front yards. Thousands and thousands of trees were upended. Trees made holes in rooftops – where rooftops remained. The only bridge leading to Sullivan’s Island and on to the Isle of Palms was damaged and could not be used. People could not return to their homes, or even visit to find out if their homes remained. Water flooded many homes that actually remained standing.

I could go on and on and on about the devastation, because it certainly went on and on; it was widespread and far-reaching. Instead, I want to share three particular remembrances.

Within days, I went up in a Black Hawk helicopter with Billy Graham, Gov. Carroll Campbell and Rep. Harry Hallman. We looked at the destruction from the air. What a view that was! Billy Graham, who certainly has traveled throughout the world, said it was the most extensive destruction he had ever viewed.

A second vivid memory is the spirit of community that came out of this terrible event. People helped each other. People worked together. There was a charitable, giving, caring, helping spirit among all. For weeks many of us didn’t have electricity and water. We were all dirty together. Neighbors shared food, chain saws, the much-treasured ice and water. It was a heart-warming experience.  At our home, since we had a large outdoor grill, families gathered nightly for food.  People brought food from freezers that were no longer working and we all cooked and ate together.  And churches that could be used were used.  People returned to worship services in tremendous numbers.

The third memory is of a sight in the small fishing village of McClellanville. In the midst of piles and piles of rubble that used to be homes, someone had planted a large American flag. It represented the epitome of the American spirit. It said, “We are going to be okay.”

It took many, many months, even years, but, yes, we eventually were okay. People joined hands and made it through those times which, at first, seemed overwhelming and almost insurmountable.

 
 
 
Flickr photos by scmikeburton, band4atl, japee and michelinecallicot.

Who Were Jack & Jill? You Might Be Surprised!!

Just who were Jack and Jill?

Were they just a cute twosome who were also the subjects of the popular nursery rhyme?

Or was this a poem about astronomy? Or war? Or government? Or money? Or is it about whiskey?

First, take a look at all of the verses:

Jack and Jill went up the hill
To fetch a pail of water.
Jack fell down and broke his crown,
And Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got and home did trot
As fast as he could caper;
And went to bed to mend his head
With vinegar and brown paper.

Jill came in and she did grin
To see his paper plaster;
Mother vexed did whip her next
For causing Jack's disaster.

Now Jack did laugh and Jill did cry
But her tears did soon abate;
Then Jill did say that they should play
At see-saw across the gate.

There have also been several variations of the second verse, at least, and perhaps of the others as well.

ASTRONOMY and SCANDINAVIA: (from http://www.madison.k12.wi.us/)

Some folklorists have traced the origin of the Jack and Jill nursery rhyme to a Scandinavian story about two children who were kidnapped by Mani, the moon. Their names were Hjuki (pronounced "juk-ee") and Bil.

Changing cultures, Hjuki became Jack, and Bil was changed to Jill. At first, this connection may seem like a stretch, but linguists have determined that Hjuki (a.k.a. Jack) might have been derived from the Swedish verb “jakka”, which means assemble, or increase. And Bil (a.k.a Jill) might have come from "bila", which means to breakup, dissolve, or decrease.

Just like the constellations of stars in the sky, people have also looked at the dark spots on the moon (maria) and have imagined many things, including Jack and Jill.

If we imagine Jack on the right half, and Jill on the left half, this matches nicely with the monthly cycle of the moon phases.

While the moon is “waxing” (astronomy term) from New Moon to Full Moon, the illuminated (lighted) portion of the side of the moon we see is increasing, and Jack is the first to appear, and remains the whole time. While the moon is "waning" from Full Moon back to New Moon, the illuminated portion is decreasing, and Jill is the last to disappear.

So while the moon is waxing, Jack is the one that is visible the most, and when the moon is waning, Jill is the one that is visible the most.

And the nursery rhyme itself fits the order of the phases even better. Starting at a New Moon phase, Jack appears first, followed by Jill, so they are then visible on “the hill” together when the moon is full. Then Jack disappears, or “falls” first, and Jill “comes tumbling after,” and you are back to a New Moon again. It takes about a month for the moon to go from a New Moon phase back to a New Moon phase again.”

Another site, http://www.rooneydesign.com/, supports the Scandinavian heritage:

The earliest illustrations of this rhyme showed not a boy and a girl, but two boys climbing a hill — Jack and Gill! The rhyme comes from an ancient Scandinavian myth about the markings on the moon. The moon god Mani captured two Norse children, Hjuki and Bil, while they were drawing water from a well. When the moon was full, the children could be seen with a bucket on a pole between them. This story, with the names changed to Jack and Jill, has evolved into our tale of heads over tails.

Another account - this about Scotland - is shared on the same site:

It was actually a true story about a couple in Scotland by the name of Jack and Jill. Jack went up a hill to get a pail of water he slipped and fell and was killed, Jill so broken hearted died not too long after. The site where this event occurred still exists and every year the villagers of that town like to reenact the story.

Is There a French Connection? Here's the background from http://www.rhymes.org.uk/:

The roots of the story, or poem, of Jack and Jill are in France. Jack and Jill referred to are said to be King Louis XVI - Jack -who was beheaded (lost his crown) followed by his Queen Marie Antoinette - Jill - (who came tumbling after). The words and lyrics to the Jack and Jill poem were made more acceptable as a story for children by providing a happy ending!

The actual beheadings occurred in during the Reign of Terror in 1793. The first publication date for the lyrics of Jack and Jill rhyme is 1795 - which ties-in with the history and origins.

The Jack and Jill poem is also known as Jack and Gill - the mis-spelling of Gill is not uncommon in nursery rhymes as they are usually passed from generation to generation by word of mouth.

Here's a reference to France and the Holy Roman Empire from http://www.zelo.com/

It is widely thought the rhyme represents two boys "Jack" and "Gill". There is no historical record of a girl. When Western Europe split into two sectors, The Holy Roman Empire and France. Wolsey and Tarbes attempted negotiation and peace. When they failed a full-scale war erupted. This rhyme is thought to parody Wolsey's uphill battle for peace and his eventual failure.

On-line source Wikipedia relates several versions, ranging from alcohol to history to taxes and money:

• 
  Jack is the 15th or 16th century Cardinal Wolsey and Gill is Bishop Tarbes who attempted to arrange the marriage of Mary Tudor to the French king. Their failure to negotiate this peace with France led to tax raises and thus the Jack and Jill protest song.
• 
  In the 17th century,King Charles I tried to reform the taxes on liquid measures. He was blocked by Parliament, so subsequently ordered that the volume of a Jack (1/2 pint) be reduced, but the tax remained the same. This meant that he still received more tax, despite Parliament's veto. Hence "Jack fell down and broke his crown" (many pint glasses in the UK still have a line marking the 1/2 pint level with a crown above it) "and Jill came tumbling after". The reference to "Jill", (actually a "gill", or 1/4 pint) is an indication that the gill dropped in volume as a consequence. A variant of this is that liquids (specifically alcoholic beverages) were watered down, hence, "fetch a pail of water."
• 
  Jack and Jill signify the 18th century Louis XVI of France, who was deposed and beheaded (lost his crown), and his Queen, Marie Antoinette (who came tumbling after). The words and lyrics were made more palatable for the nursery by giving it a happy ending.
• 
  Jack and Jill were forms of currency referring to dollars and cents, respectively. The rising value of Jacks and Jill caused them to "go up a hill" until a plague caused a lack of water, causing a drop in the values of this currency (falling down and breaking his crown).

By the way, just in case you were wondering: 2 jiggers = 1 jack, 2 jacks = 1 jill, and 2 jills = 1 cup.

Finally (if anyone is still reading all of this), even Shakespeare wrote about Jack and Jill:

And the country proverb known,

that every man should take his own,

In your waking shall be shown:

Jack shall have Jill;

Naught shall go ill;

The man shall have his mere again, and all shall be well.

Actually, there is more. One source gives the meaning of EACH line of the poem! I won't go into all of that. Who knew such cute little nursery rhymes could be so complicated!!

{See yesterday's post for the history of Humpty Dumpty.}