"The Longest Day" Very Good D-Day Movie

"The Longest Day" is a  star-studded movie* from the early 1960s available on DVD. The movie is "based" on a historical book of the same name by Irish historian Cornelius Ryan.** Rather than go with a straightforward retelling of the D-Day operation, Ryan chose to use the individual stories of some of the real people involved, on both sides, to tell the overall story of the great invasion of June 6, 1944. The movie was filmed in black and white, although I'm not really certain if that was a money saving measure for the expensive film, or if it was purposely done to give the movie a sort of newsreel feel or to make it more in line with films of the World War Two era, when color films were still pretty rare.

"The Longest Day" was filmed in the manner of the book, with individual stories used to paint a bigger picture. Remember, this is not truly a documentary, although there is most certainly a basis in fact to many of the scenes, but as with all such movies, scriptwriters consolidate real historical events into more limited numbers of scenes to get their point across. Several military participants from the real D-Day battle, both Allied and German, were consulted about the movie's filming.*** The movie only deals with the build up to the D-Day landings, including Eisenhower's decision to go ahead with the invasion, and then the landings themselves on that first day, including the glider landings and paratroop drops made in the overnight hours by the Allies. Scenes go back and forth from action scenes to scenes at German defensive positions and German headquarters, to show how the German commanders reacted to the initial reports of Allied actions.**** All in all, it is a pretty impressive film and well worth seeing.

* The cast includes for example: John Wayne, Henry Fonda, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Sean Connery, Eddie Albert, Peter Lawford, Sal Mineo, Kenneth More, Robert Ryan, Gert Fröbe, Curd Jürgens and many, many more, including a number of French actors/actresses, and several German actors, known for their war movie roles, although not likely known to the general world public by name. NOTE: German actor Gert Fröbe became internationally known for his role in the James Bond movie, "Goldfinger." Fröbe's acting career was controversial for a time, as he had been a member of the Nazi Party during much of the 1930s, although he then seemingly halted participation in party activities before the war. A Jewish family praised him for his help in saving them from the clutches of the Gestapo. German actor Curd Jürgens was locked up by the Nazis during the war for his anti-Nazi views. For more on Fröbe, see: http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/08/the-james-bond-movie-goldfinger-was-once-banned-in-israel/

** The title came from a quote by German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, who, about six weeks prior to the Allied invasion, had told his aide that the decisive battle would be "the longest day" for the Allies and for Germany ("Für die Alliierten und für Deutschland wird es der längste Tag sein").

*** There were still criticisms of the movie; for instance, one being that the dummy paratroops dropped to distract the Germans were too sophisticated in the movie as compared to the real dummies used by the Allies. Also, the movie strongly "suggests" that the Germans only used two aircraft to attack the Allies on D-Day, which was untrue, but the fact was, the Luftwaffe was limited in its use during the invasion. The most stinging criticism has been that Canadian forces are not even shown in the movie!

**** For those learning German or wanting to test their German skills, the German scenes are all realistically done in German (never fear, there are English subtitles), with these German scenes directed by Austrian actor-director Bernhard Wicki, who was imprisoned for a time by the Nazis in Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. There are also some French language scenes, also with subtitles.

WORD HISTORY:
Two (Twain)-This common word goes back to Indo European "dwoh/dwah/duwo," which meant "two." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "twaina," with the same meaning. This gave Old English "twegan," which was an old form (masculine, in grammar terms) of "two." This later became "tweyne" (the "e" blended with the "g" to produce the "ai" sound), before the modern version "twain." "Twegan's" feminine and neuter forms (again, feminine and neuter in grammar) was "twa," which then became "two" (the "w" was pronounced), where it has remained for many centuries, although the pronunciation later changed to "too/tu."  Low German, Dutch and Frisian once had "twene," Old High German had "zwene," and Old Norse had "tveir," all corresponding to English "twain." Low German and Dutch have "twee," German has "zwei" and "zwo," West Frisian has "twa," Saterland Frisian (a surviving form of East Frisian in northern Germany) has "two," Danish and Norwegian have "to," Icelandic has "tvö," and Swedish has "twå," all corresponding to English "two."

"It's About Coalitions, Not Purity" Part Forty-One

The 2004 Election, Part Two

The Republicans faced little infighting going into the 2004 election, as President George W. Bush quickly obtained the necessary number of delegates fairly early on in the party's nominating process. At the Republican National Convention, held in New York City, the Bush-Cheney ticket was easily affirmed.

The Republicans centered their campaign around national security, which to them included the war in Iraq. There was comparatively little from Republicans about Afghanistan, although the successful chasing of the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces from much of the country, except in the mountainous area on and over the border into Pakistan, was touted. Democrats countered that Bush had gotten the U.S. involved in Iraq over highly questionable and mistaken issues, while leaving the area where the terrorists had developed their plans to attack the U.S., Afghanistan, to wither as the administration committed troops and resources to pursue the mistaken war in Iraq. Republicans argued that Bush's steadfastness demonstrated American leadership and that Kerry was "a flip-flopper." John Kerry got himself into trouble by trying to explain his nuanced votes on the Iraq war and then on budget appropriations for the war in the Senate, providing Republicans with a powerful ad against the Senator.*

President Bush touted his work on education in cooperation with Democrat Ted Kennedy, but while Senator Kerry tried to shift the debate more to domestic affairs, the campaign remained centered around Iraq and terrorism, as well as on personal attacks on both candidates. Bush's service record in the Texas Air National Guard came into question,** but documents unfavorable to Bush aired by CBS were shown not to have been authenticated by the network, a matter which reinforced conservative arguments that the mainstream media could not be trusted. On the other side, Kerry's nomination had been thought by Democrats to mute the criticism that Democrats were anti-military, as Kerry was a decorated Vietnam veteran. Further, Democrats thought the decorated Kerry would be a great contrast to George W. Bush's controversial military service. This spawned the formation of a group that came to be generally known as "The Swift Boat Vets," who actively worked for Kerry's defeat by attacking his military record.*** The group, which included some men who served in or around Kerry in Vietnam, ran television ads, made public appearances and even published a book disputing virtually every aspect of Kerry's Vietnam record.**** Republican Senator John McCain condemned the "Swift Boat" attacks on Kerry, but President Bush and most other Republicans stood idly by, although they said they would not attack Kerry's record themselves. Kerry and his campaign launched no major counter to the Swift Boat allegations, something which exasperated Democrats.

Three presidential debates and one vice presidential debate were held during the campaign.

The election results showed Bush holding onto his coalition and garnering about three million more votes than Kerry, with Bush winning about 50 and 3/4 percent of the popular vote, to Kerry's 48 and a quarter percent of the vote. In the electoral vote, which is what matters, Bush won 286 votes to Kerry's 251 (one elector voted for Edwards separately for president), with 270 needed to win the presidency. Bush carried New Mexico by only about 4000 votes out of about 750,000 votes, as well as Iowa by about 6000 votes out of about 1.5 million votes, while Kerry won Wisconsin by only 16,000 votes out of about 3 million votes. Analysts generally credited Bush's win to superior identification of likely Bush voters and then the efforts to turnout those voters by his campaign, even though Bush's popularity had decreased considerably from his post 9/11 and early Iraq war numbers, which would have been difficult for any president to sustain. I know several people who voted for Bush who did so with little glee, although they still stuck with him, but the controversy over Iraq dampened enthusiasm. Iraq and other events would take a further toll on Bush's second term.

* In the fall of 2002, Senator Kerry had voted for giving President Bush the authority to use military force in Iraq. During votes on an appropriation for the war in 2003, the Senator voted for such an appropriation when the bill's language would have scaled back President Bush's tax cuts to pay for the appropriation. He then voted against the bill when that language was dropped.

** George W. Bush's military service had come under scrutiny as he entered politics in Texas, and then again in the 2000 election. Briefly, critics claimed his well connected father (a congressman back in the late 1960s) had been able to pull strings to get his son into the Texas Air National Guard, which kept his son stationed in Texas. As the U.S. then had a military draft, critics argued this allowed Bush to escape the draft, which "may" have then kept him from duty in Vietnam, where there were major American forces, and escalating casualties at that time. Critics charged George W. Bush's National Guard record did not merit his selection as a pilot and that his attendance and compliance with regulations was relatively poor.  

*** John Kerry served in South Vietnam in the late 1960s as a Navy commander of a "swift boat," a type of patrol boat. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts for his service in Vietnam. He later became a leading critic of the war, even appearing in congressional hearings and leading public protests. One early 1970s' protest involved Kerry and many other veterans discarding their military decorations to protest the war. Kerry's antiwar stance in the 1970s also brought criticism from Republicans in 2004.

**** The Swift Boat controversy would require an article, or series of articles, to explain all of it, but while the group was technically not part of the Republican campaign, it received large sums from big Republican donors, like T. Boone Pickens, and some people tied to the group had clear Republican and Bush connections, including some back to the attacks on Senator John McCain in the 2000 Republican nomination battle. One man quit the group and told people he would vote for Kerry, later saying the group had unfairly distorted Kerry's record. Other former veterans who had served with or around Kerry vouched for his military service record. See the NY Times article:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/28/washington/28kerry.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ei=5089&en=7158a80120f0ee5a&ex=1306468800

WORD HISTORY:
Hectic-This word goes back to Indo European "segh/sekh," which had the notion of "to hold, to hold onto." This gave Greek "ekhein," which meant "hold, continue to hold," which then produced Greek "hektikos," which meant "habitual, continuing," with the extended meaning "continuous fever." Latin borrowed the term as "hecticus," with the illness meaning, which passed into Latin-based Old French as "etik (later "etique"). English borrowed the word as "etik," but later, under the influence of Latin spelling, it became "hectic." The idea of "continuous fever," and the disorientation accompanying such, provided the meaning "do something at a hectic (feverish) pace." 

"It's About Coalitions, Not Purity" Part Forty

"The 2004 Election" Part One

The Democratic Party drew a number of candidates into the nominating process to oppose incumbent Republican George W. Bush in the 2004 election: Howard Dean, John Kerry, John Edwards, Wesley Clark, Joe Lieberman, Dick Gephardt and Dennis Kucinich, as well as some others. Polls showed former Vermont governor, Howard Dean, to be leading the pack prior to the Iowa Caucus, where he then finished well behind both Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts and Senator John Edwards of North Carolina. Still, Dean's third place showing did him far less damage than the repeated showing of what became his famous "scream" during his speech to supporters that night. To show that he intended to press on, Dean shouted out how his campaign was going to go on to the various upcoming primary and caucus states. He ended that listing of the states with a big "Yeeeeaaaahhhhh!" Television cameras and microphones clearly picked up the whole speech, and over the next few days these last few seconds of his rallying call was played what seemed like seven million times, or maybe it was ten million times, on cable, on broadcast news programs and on local television stations. Dean's poor results in Iowa became secondary to his "scream," as the nation's comedians each took their jabs at the now diminished candidate.*

Kerry won the high profile New Hampshire Primary and John Edwards won in South Carolina, but Kerry's mounting momentum prompted Dean, Clark and Lieberman to drop out, and Kerry won several states in a row. Early March brought the so called "Super Tuesday" votes of several states, with John Edwards as Kerry's only real major opposition. Kerry's big win in most of the states that day brought Edwards to give up the race. Kerry chose John Edwards as his running mate and the nomination was made official at the Democratic National Convention in late July in Boston.**

Next, Bush is renominated and the campaign for the White House ....

* First, "the media" is an industry. Second, the television networks and the individual television and radio stations, newspapers, magazines, and in more recent times, Websites, are for profit businesses within the media industry. They all run various stories, some of which catch the public's attention far more than others. Once a story catches on, rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly (by our individual views), they are going to run with it; as I like to say, "They are going to climb onto that pony and ride it until it drops dead."

** That convention featured a keynote address by a then Illinois state senator who was running for a U.S. Senate seat, Barack Obama. The speech was so well received, it led to Obama's own entry into the presidential campaign just four years later.

WORD HISTORY:
Tool-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain, but Old Germanic had "tawijan," which had the notion of "to prepare or make something into something, make ready." This then produced "towla(n)," a noun meaning "implement used to make or prepare something, a tool." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "tol," with the same meaning. This then became "tool" where it has remained for many centuries. Some of the other Germanic languages had forms of the word, meaning "work implement," but most have died out or continued more toward the idea of making fabric or fabric products of some kind, which I'll cover soon in the closely related English word "taw," which is now obsolete. English "tool" may have survived because of reinforcement by Old Norse, as Danes and Norwegians settled in the north and eastern parts of England, bringing along their related word to keep the word and meaning alive. Some more direct Germanic relatives of "tool," with that general meaning, survive, however: Danish "værktøj" (the first part of this compound is closely related to English "work"), Icelandic "tól;" Norwegian "verktøy" (see the Danish entry). Just a thought here, but "tool" is so understood to be a general word for a work implement in English, that people in England may never have felt the need to make it into a compound, like "worktool," to distinguish it from other words using "tool." But as I noted, other Germanic languages had words using or derived from "tool" that applied to making fabric and such and they, therefore, may have felt a need to distinguish between meanings?

Baron's Tales Make For Good Fantasy Movie: Münchhausen

Baron Münchhausen was a real life German noble of the 1700s who became noted for the fantastic stories he told of his life's adventures. Books recounting the stories were written, "seemingly" based upon the stories told by the Baron, but the thing was, Baron Münchhausen became famous, especially in England and Germany.* By the early 1940s, Joseph Goebbels, Nazi propagandist and overall head of the German film industry, ordered the making of a film about Münchhausen's adventures. Goebbels hoped the color film would demonstrate that the German movie industry could compete with Hollywood in the making of elaborate color films, complete with trick photography.

Erich Kästner, a highly regarded German writer, did much of the screenplay for the movie, but the thing was, Kästner was an anti-Nazi, and although Goebbels admired some of Kästner's works, he kept the author's name from the credits of the film. Kästner's earlier works had been burned as part of the Nazi campaign to limit the German public's access to writings by German Jewish or foreign authors, and to those writings they deemed to be "dangerous;" the translation of which was really, "writings that might make Germans oppose Nazi ideology." After that Kästner settled on publishing children's books and works that were non-political. Very likely Kästner's script for the movie was gone over word by word by Nazi censures, perhaps even by Goebbels himself.

The movie was filmed in 1942 and starred then well known German actor Hans Albers as the Baron. For those who remember actor Walter Slezak, known for films like "Lifeboat" (with Tallulah Bankhead and William Bendix) and "Bedtime for Bonzo" (with Ronald Reagan), as well as for appearances on the television series "Batman" in the 1960s, his father, Leo Slezak, co-starred in the film as the Turkish Sultan. Leo Slezak was well known in Europe in those times for his opera singing. The movie, with the title "Münchhausen," was released to theaters in March of 1943 and it returned a profit. The movie is available on DVD, with English subtitles, and it has some history of the film included, from which I took some of the info here.

I won't go into all of the movie, but it has some interesting turns to it, including the opening part, which is likely to give you a surprise after a few minutes. The most famous scene, taken from one of the books about the Baron, shows the Baron riding a cannonball into a Turkish fort. Other scenes depict the Baron's time in Russia, including with Tsarina Catherine the Great, a sword duel in Venice, and his visit to the moon in a balloon. Don't be concerned, as the movie is NOT a Nazi propaganda film (remember it was largely written by an anti-Nazi), and in fact, when I first saw it, I was surprised that Goebbels had allowed the film to be shown without more editing or script changes, as for instance, the Turkish sultan is shown meting out severe punishment, including beheading, at times for minor infractions. Also, the time on the moon is different from time on Earth, and Kästner has one of the characters in the script say, "the time is broken," seen by many as his subtle way of saying the same about the Nazi era.

* Münchhausen was from the Hannover (English: Hanover) area of Germany, which had close ties to England, as the "House of Hannover" provided the monarchs of England from the early 1700s until the early 1900s.

WORD HISTORY:
Baron-The ultimate origins of this word are complex, as there are two strong possibilities for the Indo European base of the word, both of which later provided English with words that are both spelled and pronounced the same; that is, "bear," but with one meaning "to carry" and "to give birth or to yield produce," while the other is a word for an animal. The problem is, in Old Germanic the source of baron meant, "servant, male follower, warrior." It is certainly not difficult to connect the dots for the use of "bear," the animal, for a "warrior," but it is far less likely for "servant" or "male follower." On the other hand, the connection of those last two meanings, which are similar anyway, to "carry," is not difficult to imagine, as a servant or follower has to "bear" responsibility to someone or to others. I very much favor this explanation, which therefore goes back to Indo European "bher," which meant the above noted "to carry" and "to give birth or to yield produce;" thus the notion "bearer," for the noun form. Indo European "bher" gave its Old Germanic offspring "beran," with the same meanings, which then produced "berun," "carrier," which then developed the "servant, follower" meaning, which then further developed the "warrior" meaning, as in feudal times, the "(male) servants" ("vassals") provided military service to the lord. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "biorn/beorn," meaning "warrior, (minor?) chieftain, man." In the meantime, Latin had borrowed a form of the same word from Germanic, perhaps from Frankish or Langobardic,^ as "baro" (with varied spellings using "n," depending upon usage in a sentence). This gave Old French "baron," a title in the nobility. The term was carried to England by the Normans and blended with the native English term, but with the French spelling "baron" prevailing. German too borrowed the term, initially as "Barun," but then as "Baron," with a long "o" (all German nouns are capitalized), but German also kept their own word "Freiherr" (literally "free (gentle)man," from the notion in the Middle Ages of a man owning his land outright and not being subservient to a lord directly above him. "Freiherr" became synonymous with "Baron."

^ The Franks and the Langobards were Germanic tribes, with the Franks having a strong presence in what developed into modern France, with the name "France" coming from the Franks, and the Langobards having a strong presence in part of northern Italy, where they gave their name to the province "Lombardia" (usually rendered in English as "Lombardy").

"The Banker in the Monopoly Game"

Most Americans have undoubtedly heard of the game "Monopoly," * and most likely, a lot of those folks have even played the game. Usually one of the players acts as the banker. The bank initially holds the title to the various properties and the banker collects all fees and such, and pays out money according to the various rules of the game. The banker is supposed to keep his/her personal money and properties (as a player) separate from those of the bank. According to the rules, the bank can never go broke; sort of a forerunner of "too big to fail." The game began to grow in popularity back during the time of the Great Depression, when banks and big businesses were under scrutiny for regulation, following the financial and economic meltdown begun by the Great Crash of the stock market in October of 1929.

In order to bring the game up to date and to make it more realistic, the rules need to change so that the banker never has to go to jail, even if he/she mixes the banks funds and properties in with their own. Further, the banker should be able to pay themselves whatever bonuses they want. If the banker gets into financial difficulty, regardless of how irresponsibly he/she has acted, the other players have to contribute "bailout money" to keep the banker going. This "bailout money" is technically a loan, but it is given with no strings attached to the banker's management of his/her personal, I mean, bank funds ... well, it's difficult to tell exactly what this should mean. And remember, unlike the other players, the banker NEVER goes to jail. Have fun ......

* The game was owned and distributed for decades by Parker Brothers, which became a part of "Hasbro" in the early 1990s, along with "Monopoly."

WORD HISTORY:
Need-This word goes back to Indo European "nau/naw," which had the idea of "corpse," which then expanded to "brought to exhaustion" (as in, "dead tired"). This gave its Old Germanic offspring "nauthiz," which had the broad meaning "distress, difficulty, hardship, necessity, force." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "nied/ned," with many of the same meanings. This then became "nede," before the modern version, although the meaning narrowed to "a necessity, a requirement, poverty (that is, 'lack of necessities').^ A verb form goes back to Old Germanic times, which carried into Old English and the other Germanic languages, as well, all from the same source. The other Germanic languages have: German "Not" (pronounced much like "note," but besides meaning "necessity," the German word also means "distress" and "emergency"), Low German "Noot" (poverty, distress), Dutch "noot" (need, distress), Danish "nød" (need, distress), Norwegian "nød," (need, emergency), Icelandic "nauð"and "neyð" (=nauth and neyth, meaning 'emergency, distress'), "Swedish "nöd" (need, distress). I could not find a modern form in Frisian, but it is a difficult language to research and there could well be a modern form, as it once had "ned."

^ English borrowed words for some of the other, previous meanings of "need": "distress," "requirement" and "poverty," all are Latin derived words that gradually left "need" with its more limited meaning in modern times.

It's About Coalitions, Not Purity Part Thirty-Nine

This is the link to "Part Thirty-Eight," for those needing it:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/02/its-about-coalitions-not-purity-part_25.html

"Combat Operations in Iraq Go On.. and On"

The initial phase of military operations in Iraq brought rapid success and Saddam Hussein became a wanted man as he fell from power. He was captured in late 2003 hiding in a hole in the general vicinity of the place of his birth. Months earlier, his sons had been killed in northern Iraq after being surrounded by U.S. Special Forces. Hussein was later turned over to Iraqi authorities for trial. He was found guilty of numerous crimes and he was hanged in late 2006.

After Hussein fell from power, the U.S. and its allies began the search for Saddam's chemical and biological weapons, as well as for evidence of his nuclear weapons program. As the search went on without success, the Bush-Cheney administration began to feel the pressure, as their credibility with Americans began to slide. The President and Vice President began to try to sell the idea that the war had still been a success, as it had removed a brutal dictator from power. All the while, various Iraqi groups, some connected to al Qaeda, others from religious factions, began attacks on the occupying military forces, on the developing Iraqi government and on each other, as Iraq descended into something of a civil war. The failure to find weapons of mass destruction and escalating American casualties saw support for the war erode, as Americans began to seriously question U.S. involvement in Iraq. President Bush would continue the war effort in Iraq until he left office in January 2009, but the divisiveness of the war made it difficult for him in an increasingly turbulent Congress. Was the Republican coalition breaking apart?

Next... "The Election of 2004"

WORD HISTORY:
On-This common preposition goes back to Indo European "ano," which meant "on." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "ana," which meant "on, upon, at." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "an/on," with the same meanings. This later just became "on," where it has remained for centuries. The other Germanic languages have: German and Low German "an," with the "a" is pronounced like the "a" in "father," so very close to English "on" (it generally means "on," but also "at," just as its English cousin once did); Dutch "aan" (meaning "on, at, to"); West Frisian "oan" (meaning "at, to"); Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish "á" (meaning "on, at"), but it is also used in "på," a contraction of  "opp á," for "upon, on."

As Emeril Says, "Who Makes Up These Rules?"

life and government aren't perfect, what sometimes "seems" reasonable, may not work or may be counterproductive; sometimes you've got to swallow hard and take a chance on something that seems to go against ingrained beliefs; the top people set the rules, which can then be broken by ... the top people; Hoover top down, Roosevelt, essentially bottom/middle up, where the top will reap many of the rewards anyway; "what kind of a signal does it send if we give people money?" Well, what kind of signal does it send when bankers and others in the mortgage industry bring the economy to its knees and then get bailed out by government, with few strings attached? ideological rigidity, almost by definition by conservatism, as "progressivism" means change; if you want a total change in the American economic system, you will not agree with me, but Bush/Obama did the right thing about the banks/auto companies bailouts; remember, Hoover changed things, but he didn't go far enough, FDR changed things more and was maligned by many at the top, but he saved their system, the system which has gave them such great lives; otherwise, what would have happened? History full of critical periods where change or complacency were obvious/Nicholas II, changed some, but neither enough nor fast enough/and he and Alexandra were too tied to the past and autocracy, so they forfeited not only their ruling position, but also their lives and the lives of their children and other family members  Much instability in the world today, as protests have become commonplace, where will we be? Bankers should have been held accountable, but weren't. In 2009/10, Ben Bernanke talked about dropping cash out of aircraft to thwart deflation; may not seem fair, but that's what might have actually been needed; notice, he did NOT say he was going to give bundles of cash to Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, LeBron James, the Koch brothers, Tim Tebow, Alex Rodriguez, the Walton family, or Mitt Romney, as although Bernanke is a Republican, he doesn't seem to be intimidated by the right wing and their absolute nonsense about giving money to the wealthy. THEY HAVE ENOUGH! so don't be doctrinaire, remember, the wealthiest of the wealthy have geared "the laws" to themselves and for their own benefit, not for YOU to benefit

WORD HISTORY:
Toe- While you may think this a bit far fetched, this word is actually related to "teach/teacher," the original underlying meanings of which were "show/pointer/someone who shows, points out," a now deceased relative of which was Old English "teon," which meant "to accuse;" that is, "point to someone as liable," which eventually was replaced by the borrowed word "accuse."  Old English ta (long "a," plural tan), contraction of *tahe (Mercian tahæ), from Proto-Germanic *taikhwo (cf. Old Norse ta, Old Frisian tane, Middle Dutch te, Dutch teen, Old High German zecha, German Zehe "toe"), originally meant "finger, pointer," from the notion "to show." verb from 1800s from noun. Middle English to, from Old English tā, (Mercian) tāhe, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ (compare Dutch teen, German Zehe, Swedish tå), from Proto-Germanic *tīhwaną (“to show, announce”) (compare Old English teōn (“to accuse”), German zeihen (“id.”)), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”)

The 'Go To Our Website' News Baloney

Television news, both local and national, as well as newspapers, seem unwilling to report the news in their respective formats anymore, or maybe it's about something else, like money. At times just the basics are given about a story, followed by, "For more information on this, go to our website." Going to some of the news websites can be frustrating, as you almost need to have a degree in computer technology to find a particular story, and even doing a search on their sites can leave you cussing and angry, as finding a particular story can be even more irritating than finding a piece of real personal mail amid the junk mail in your home or business mailbox. With all the things on their websites, including ads, you'd better have super fast internet speed, or you'll be cussing more about the time it takes just to get into their website, and then again if you click on any of the stories. It sure looks to me like this is just another way of getting money, as these news entities all derive revenue from ads placed on their websites. That's fine, but it just seems such a shoddy way to report the news, and the news now seems like a giant advertisement for their websites. A few years ago, an elderly lady said to me about the newspaper, "I pay to have the newspaper delivered to my home, and I start reading a story and they tell me to go to their website."

WORD HISTORY:
Site-This word, meaning essentially "location, position," and closely related to "situate" and "situation," has an unclear origin, but Latin had the verb "sinere," which meant "to set down, to place or put." This produced the Latin noun "situs" (from the participle of "sinere"), which meant "location, place." This gave French, a Latin based language, "site," which was carried to England by the Normans. The word didn't spread into general English usage until the latter part of the 1500s. The verb, meaning "to position/locate something to a place," came from the noun.