The Winter Olympics

NOTE: No "Word History" for this article

So the 2014 Winter Olympics, held in Sochi, Russia, have ended without any terrorist incident, as the biggest problem was the warmer than expected temperatures wreaking havoc with ice and snow conditions for some events. From comments made on television, Russia did a really good job. The great thing is, athletes from all over the world come together to compete in front of large television audiences, as well as the live audiences at the various event venues. They have given much time in training to perfect their skills and in using those skills in various competitions leading up to their being selected for their Olympic teams. Some have their dreams shattered early on, others enjoy the ultimate triumph of winning a gold medal. All can be proud for just having been chosen to participate.

For about two weeks the world comes together briefly to compete and to show national pride, but hopefully not so much national pride as to get in the way of showing respect for the achievement other nations' athletes. Yes, we want our own athletes to win, but there is no shame in giving credit to athletes from other countries, in spite of the broken hearts felt when others triumph over us. No nation will go into decline because their athletes didn't win a ski, skating, snowboarding, hockey, sledding or curling match. All participants have tremendous athletic abilities, which I appreciate, seeing that I've never even tried ice skating, not that I'm about to try at my this point in my life, as I have enough physical ailments and I don't need to shorten any time I have left on this earth, if I can help it. I'll miss the games, but their absence makes me appreciate them more when they return.

ABC Wide World of Sports debuted in the early 1960s when I was a kid, mainly televising track and field, swimming and winter sporting events. I watched it often and their introductory segment became famous for the saying, "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat," which brought the comedic paraphrase, "The thrill of victory and the agony of da feet," a saying which will become pertinent again in just two years, as the Summer Olympics will occupy center stage.

The Olympics gives small nations the chance to compete and to excel. A special mention here for the Jamaican bobsled team. I'm not a weather historian, but when was the last time it snowed in Jamaica? Maybe like the Ice Age? The triumphs of countries like Norway and the Netherlands should not make any American fear that Norwegian ski troops will soon be invading the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, or that Dutch skaters may come skating across the Atlantic to reclaim Manhattan, although they may drink a "Manhattan." * Perhaps the likes of Lush Limbaugh and other spewers of hate have had nightmares about Canadian hockey players occupying parts of our northern states, but no, I think the nation is safe and we can be proud of all of our Olympic athletes, and they don't have to have a medal for us to be proud of them, but to those who won medals, a special ovation and pat on the back for a job well done. Now... about that Manhattan ... where are those Dutch skaters?

* For those unaware, a "Manhattan" is a cocktail typically of whiskey, sweet vermouth, angostura bitters, and a cherry, but there are variations.

Shirley Temple

When I was a little kid in the 1950s television was really pretty new and stations found a treasure in showing old movies, which were a common feature on television in the 1950s and 1960s. So it was with movies starring Shirley Temple. Movies that had been made twenty years and more prior brought the little Shirley back into the hearts of Americans, only this time right in their own living rooms. My favorite of her movies was "Heidi," an adaptation from a famous story written by Swiss author Johanna Spyri in the 1800s, about an orphaned girl who goes to live with her reclusive grandfather in the mountains, rekindling his purpose in life. The girl is then taken away to live in luxury as a companion to an invalid child in Frankfurt am Main. If you haven't seen the movie, or haven't seen it for a long while, I won't tell any more.

When Shirley Temple grew up she found Hollywood a less hospitable place than in her years as a child and she later turned to serving her country in various capacities, including ambassadorships. She made major news in the early 1970s for revealing her successful treatment for breast cancer.

So now, in February 2014, at the age of 85, Shirley Temple has left us. For me and so many others, she has been a part of our lives since we were children. I think I'll put on a Shirley Temple movie.

WORD HISTORY:
Soup-This word goes back to Indo European "su/sewe," which meant, "to take in liquid," which developed the extended form "sub/sup." This gave Old Germanic the verb "supanan," meaning, "to drink, to take in liquid, to sip, to gulp." Latin borrowed the word from Germanic (Lombardic?) as "suppa," which meant "bread in broth." This was then passed on to Latin-based French as "souppe/soupe," which was then borrowed by English, but not until the mid 1600s! This is an example of a form of a Germanic word coming back to English (English is a Germanic language) from a non-Germanic language; in this case, French, via Latin. By the way, German also borrowed the word from French, as "Suppe," although German borrowed it earlier than English.

The Olympics, The Best Battlefield

(NOTE: I did this one paragraph, below, in February 2014, but it is just as appropriate for us now, as the Winter Olympics 2018 are in progress in one of the world's most dangerous areas, the Korean Peninsula.) 

I've been enjoying the 2014 Winter Olympics. It would be a great thing if Olympic venues were the only "battlefields" where nations met in competition, instead of on the real battlefields of war. It's nice to watch the games and to think that mankind might one day be able to limit the competition to these kinds of games, but then we must return to reality. DAMN!

WORD HISTORY:
Battle-This word goes back to Indo European "bhau," which had the notion "to hit, to beat, to strike." This gave its Celtic offspring^ some similar, but unknown form, which spawned a form in its Gaulish dialect, perhaps "bata," which was borrowed by Latin as "battuere," which meant "to strike," which then produced Latin "battualia" (gladiator fighting techniques), and then the derived "battalia" (fighting). Old French, a Latin based language, inherited a form of the word as "battaille," which meant "fight, battle, combat." English borrowed the word from French in the late 1200s or early 1300s as "battel," before the modern version. The verb form was derived from the noun.

^ Celtic is one of the branches of Indo European. Celtic's dialects once were widespread in Europe, but it's much more limited survivors today are largely Welsh, Breton, Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic and Manx (from the Isle of Man), all much diminished themselves and struggling to survive. Celtic, like Germanic, was an offshoot of Indo European; thus its modern survivors are related to English, but further down the family tree.

Is There A Nurse In The House?

Just some food for thought here:

Not long after his election, President Barack Obama made a choice to pursue health care reform, part of which would provide most citizens with some type of medical insurance coverage. Reform of America's "health care system," a "system" where various figures suggest "the health care system" makes up something like one sixth or even one fifth of the American economy, was/is a daunting task.

To tackle that system, the President decided to use a general blueprint taken from Republicans, especially one Mitt Romney when he was governor of Massachusetts, but also commented upon by none other than Newt Gingrich, the former Republican Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. These two Republicans were left with much lying, I mean, "explaining" to do to the conservative base of the Republican Party, as well as to the country, not long thereafter. Be that as it may, the President chose a VERY difficult fight, if for no other reason than how so many lives are touched in some way by "the health care system," and I don't just mean by the care or non care they get, but also how the "system" affects the economic interests of so many lives; thus, there are many "interest groups" involved in this very complicated system. Once the president made the decision, however, he could never really put into simple words what he wanted to do to this highly complex system. The reason is very simple: it is a highly complex system with many different interest groups. Let's see, did I already say that? A change that might benefit one group, might tick off another group. Republicans gleefully rubbed their hands together as they attacked, and sowed doubts about, the President's reform attempts.

Last summer I had to have some medical tests done and I was talking with one of the nurses. Actually two of the nurses were talking about the changes coming to the health care system and I chimed in, not that I have many opinions. To be honest, I really didn't express my opinions, rather I asked a couple of questions of the more talkative nurse, including what she thought should be done about "the system." She replied that she really didn't know, but that the reforms were not going to totally work, and that neither would "socialized medicine," citing Britain as her example.* She said our system was "corrupt"** and that it really needed to be completely overhauled, because it was so out of whack. She noted how there are so many interest groups involved and proceeded to make that point very clear, as she said in the socialized medicine system in Britain, nurses only make $11 an hour, and that she would never work for such a small salary,*** and I don't blame her, since we've heard so much how the wealthy have to make a gazillion bucks on most projects, or it isn't worth it to them, although cutting workers' wages and benefits is somehow supposed to inspire workers to work until they pretty much drop dead, less they be called "lazy" or "moochers." And people thought slavery was over.

* It is only to fair to note that Britain's medical system is highly supported by the public there, although there are also specific criticisms.

** I don't recall why, but I failed to have her explain what she meant by "corrupt," although you must remember, she and the other nurse weren't just sitting twiddling their thumbs, they were taking constant readings of my blood pressure, my heart rate, looking at screens and computers and other such things, sometimes requiring them to tell me I had to be still for a period, a difficult thing for me to do, except they successfully enforced it by telling me I wouldn't get a lollipop for good behavior, which made me clam up tighter than super wealthy employers when employees ask for a ten cent an hour raise.

*** For a regular 40 hour week that translates to a little less than $23,000 a year. I checked the $11 an hour figure for Britain, but I really could not confirm that amount, as for one thing, there are many classifications of nurses, with different salaries, but as I recall, the lowest figure I could find was something more like $14-$15, when calculated as an hourly rate, which, again based upon 40 hours a week, comes to about $29,000 to $31,000 annually. Again, just some caveats: I "assume" most nurses commonly work more than 40 hour weeks in Britain (and in many countries, including the U.S., for that matter). Further, I'm not certain how many nurses actually work for an "hourly" wage, but rather more likely under some salary guarantee, although I could be wrong. Then also, how many nurses, even as a percentage, actually make the lowest amount, I do not know, but I saw figures for some types of nurses which equated to annual incomes of more like $40,000-$60,000. As I recall, American nurses do seem to make a bit more, but not a great deal more, unless they are in the upper echelons. Also, where the nurse got the $11 an hour figure, I do not know; after all, I didn't exactly ask her for references, but I'm NOT saying she is wrong, but I didn't get the impression from my checking that British nurses "typically" make amounts less than the "14-$15" figure I mentioned above.

WORD HISTORY:
Well-This is the word generally used as an adverb meaning "in good condition, very satisfactory." I'll cover the noun/verb word of this spelling soon, as it is a different word. This word, closely related to "will" ("to wish, to desire"), goes back to Indo European "wel/wol," which had the idea of "desire, wish," which led to the extended meaning, "pleasing" (if you have desires/wishes, they are what "pleases" you). This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wela/wola," with the same general "desire, wish" meanings. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wel," which meant "very much, completely, abundantly," with the notion of "abundance, totality = being pleasing." Old English "wel" then became "wele," before the modern form. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "wohl,"  Low German has "woll,"  West Frisian "wol," Dutch "wel," Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic have "vel," and Swedish has "väl. All of these Germanic forms mean "well," but in both German and West Frisian the words also means "probably."