Special Sauce, Dip or Dressing

This is simple to make and you can use it on sandwiches, or use it as a dip for veggies, or use it on salads, including as the dressing for potato salad or egg salad ... it's EXCELLENT! With asparagus  common this time of year, it's also good served with roasted asparagus.

1 1/4 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat is fine)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons adobo seasoning (a Latino seasoned salt)*
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon turmeric  
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dill
1 teaspoon chives

Put all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Chill the sauce for at least an hour, preferably longer, before serving.

* Adobo seasoning is a type of Puerto Rican/Latino seasoned salt, easily available in supermarkets, although perhaps in the "Hispanic/Latino Foods" section. Recipes vary somewhat, but generally it includes, at a minimum, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dried oregano.  

So I had it at this time with some veggies: carrots, celery and green pepper.

WORD HISTORY:
Chive-The origin of this word for a plant from the same family as onions, garlic and leeks, is unknown, but English borrowed the word from the northern dialect of Old French "cive" (chive) in the late 1300s. Old French, a Latin-based language, had its form from Latin "cepa," which meant "onion," but where Latin got the word is unknown, although the transliterated Ancient Greek word "kápia" (onion, but no longer used in Greek) is a likely source, but where Greek got the word seems to be a dead end. German too borrowed from Latin "cepa" in the 11th Century, although from a diminutive form "cepola," which became German "Zwiebel," meaning "onion."

El Cid: Charlton Heston & Sophia Loren Star

I first saw this film on one of the almost nightly television movies of one of the networks (back then only NBC, CBS and ABC) in the late 1960s or earlier 1970s, I would guess, and it was shown in two parts, a common way the networks showed longer movies back then (this one is 3 hours). The thing to remember about this 1961 film is, history and film making don't always go together, and there is "El Cid" the historical figure, and "El Cid" the legendary figure. Unfortunately, many people get their "history" from movies. The best thing to do is, if a history-based movie strikes your fancy, check online or go to your local library and do a little research on the subject. Also remember, actual history is not always riveting, so scriptwriters spice up the story, even at times exchanging historical accuracy for a more interesting story line, so you'll hopefully pay to see the film. Further, stories are used to inspire patriotism or other attributes, and thus they fall more into the category of legends, rather than of actual history. Such is the case with "El Cid," a national hero and legend in Spain. The screenplay for the movie is a mixture of history and "made up stuff," but it is "made up stuff" perhaps necessary for many Spaniards. The movie plays up El Cid's Christianity, but in reality, he was a soldier for hire, and when offered enough money, he fought on the Muslim side against Christians.* The movie is beautifully filmed, with much of it actually shot in Spain. "El Cid" was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Song, Best Music Score, Best Art Direction.

The film is about 11th Century Spanish hero Rodrigo Díaz De Vivar (played by Charlton Heston), who was dubbed, "El Cid," a Spanish rendering of an Arabic borrowing, and meaning, "the lord." The movie pointedly makes the connection, as after he spares the lives of two captured Moorish emirs (see Word History), one of the men calls Rodrigo by the name "El Cid." The sparing of the lives of these two Moors brings a charge of treason from one of the nobles of King Ferdinand I of León (played by Ralph Truman), Count Ordoñez (played by Raf Vallone). When the king's champion (played by Andrew Cruickshank) makes the charge in front of a large crowd, including the king, this brings a counter charge of "liar" from Rodrigo's father (played by Michael Hordern), a man up in years. This leads the king's champion to challenge the old man in combat. Rodrigo meets the champion alone and tries several times to get him to grant forgiveness to his father, but the king's champion will not give in, leading to a sword fight between the two, with Rodrigo finally killing the king's champion. Not only is the dying man the king's champion, but he is the father of Rodrigo's promised, Ximena (played by Sophia Loren), and she goes to her mortally wounded father who tells her to avenge his death. She is torn between her love of Rodrigo and her respect for her father and his dying request.**

The king promises Rodrigo he can marry Ximena when he returns from an assignment given him by Ferdinand, which is what happens, but on the wedding night, Ximena tells Rodrigo she will never give him her true love, so he he walks out. She goes to a convent.

King Ferdinand dies, bringing squabbling between his sons Sancho (played by Gary Raymond) and Alfonso (played by John Fraser), with the latter being supported and manipulated by their sister, Urraca (played by Genevieve Page). Alfonso tries to kill Sancho, but Sancho overcomes him and sends him off to prison, only to be freed by Rodrigo, who takes him to his sister. Meanwhile, Ben Yusuf (played by Herbert Lom), leader of the Moors in North Africa, wants to keep the Spaniards divided so that he can land an army in Spain and conquer the entire Iberian Peninsula. He has a man kill Sancho, with the idea being that people will blame power hungry Alfonso for instigating the murder. At his coronation, Rodrigo makes Alfonso swear on the Bible that he had nothing to do with killing his brother, which quells the suspicions of the populace. Instead of seeing how the incident has saved his kingship, Alfonso exiles Rodrigo.

When Rodrigo goes into exile, he is followed by Ximena, who tells him she loves him, and so the marriage matters are patched up and she gives birth to twin girls. After a while, nobles and soldiers loyal to the Cid, as they call him, come to ask him to be their leader, which he does. King Alfonso calls for the Cid's help in defeating Ben Yusuf's army, but the Cid wants the king to first capture the city of Valencia, a stronghold of Moors already in Spain, but Alfonso has decided to do battle with Ben Yusuf's army elsewhere, and he is defeated. The Cid, on the other hand, captures Valencia with his own forces, which includes many Moors loyal to him. Instead of keeping the crown of Valencia for himself, he sends it to Alfonso, as the Cid wants Spain united.

Ben Yusuf lands forces to recapture Valencia, so now a great battle is on and the Cid is wounded by an arrow near his heart. Ben Yusuf tells his cheering men the Cid is dead and the story spreads throughout the Cid's soldiers, who are disheartened and fearful. The Cid struggles to his feet and appears before his men and assures them that he will lead their attack the next day to destroy the enemy forces. On his way back to his bed, the Cid collapses. He will not allow anyone to remove the arrow, which will then incapacitate him and prevent him from leading his men into battle. He knows the arrow will likely kill him, but he gets his wife to promise that he will lead the attack, alive or dead. Alfonso arrives with more troops and seeks the Cid's forgiveness. The Cid dies, but in the morning he is mounted on his horse next to King Alfonso, his eyes wide open. The attack starts and the astonished Moors run for their lives from a man they believe has come back from the dead.*** Ben Yusuf is trampled to death.****

* The film portrays Rodrigo as a Christ-like figure, from his carrying a wooden cross from a church burned by the Moors early in the film, to his sparing the lives of people who have done him wrong on a couple of occasions, to his giving water to a leper, to sacrificing his life for his faith, to his "resurrection" to vanquish his enemies in the end.
  
** Historically, Rodrigo did not kill the father of Ximena.

*** The dead Cid propped on his horse leading his army into battle with King Alfonso is pure legend. The Moors had besieged Valencia for quite some time, and the Cid died during the siege in 1099, "seemingly" not from a wound. The Moors captured the city a couple of years later.

**** Ben Yusuf is something of a "made up" character, although certainly based upon Yusuf ibn Tashfin, the head of a ruling family that controlled much of northwestern Africa and part of the Iberian Peninsula during the time of El Cid. The dynasty was centered in what is modern Morocco. The Spanish and some other Europeans referred to the people there as Moors (see Word History below). Yusuf ibn Tashfin was not trampled to death as his army fled a "resurrected" Cid on horseback, but rather, his forces eventually captured the city of Valencia. He died just a few years later at the "tender, young age" of about 96! 

Photo is from the Korean edition DVD, one two-sided disc (it is in English), but there is no date listed. I bought this at a music/video store in the used section perhaps as long ago as ten years. 

 WORD HISTORY:
Moor-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but Ancient Greek had the transliterated "mauros," which meant "dark," and then the word was used as a noun for the people of ancient Mauritania, a Berber kingdom of northwestern Africa, where many of the people were indeed of dark skin. The Romans "apparently" borrowed the word from Greek as "Maurus," which then passed into Latin-based Old French as "More." It was borrowed by English in the second half of the 1300s.

The modern nation of Mauritania, in northern/western Africa, still retains the name. The Berbers are a group of people inhabiting a large area of northern Africa from the Atlantic clear into part of Egypt. They speak forms of Berber, a language from the Afro-Asiatic family of languages, although there have been regional influences from French, Spanish, Italian, English and, of course, Arabic. They are overwhelmingly Muslim in religion.

Meatloaf & Meatloaf-Mushroom Gravy

Meatloaf is filling and a great comfort food; on the other hand, it does typically have a good number of calories and fat, but hey, "two out three ain't bad." Hmm, where have I heard that before? Meatloaf and gravy are a natural to be served with mashed potatoes. And leftover cold meatloaf is great for sandwiches on some good bread with a slice of onion and some ketchup.

Ingredients for the meatloaf:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef chuck
1 pound ground pork sausage (regular or sage)
3 slices stale/dried white bread, torn or cut into small pieces (lightly toasted sandwich bread is fine)
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs
2 tablespoons dried thyme
1 tablespoon dried savory
3/4 cup plain bread crumbs
3/4 cup ketchup

Ingredients for the gravy:
1/2 cup drippings (you can skim off the fat, or use a separator)
1/4 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 1/2 cups beef stock
2/3 cup chopped mushrooms
3 tablespoons flour mixed with 4 tablespoons water
You will not need added salt, as the drippings and the beef stock will provide the salt.

For the meatloaf: In a large bowl, add all of the ingredients, except the ketchup. Mix well by hand, kneading the mixture to make sure the ingredients are dispersed throughout. Form into a loaf and put into a baking pan or casserole with a lid or foil. Make sure there is room for the juices as the meatloaf bakes. Bake covered at 350 F for 80 minutes. Remove the lid/cover and apply the ketchup to the top of the meatloaf. Bake a further 30 to 40 minutes, uncovered. Remove the meatloaf to a platter and pour off the juices. For the gravy: add all of the ingredients to a sauce pan, except the mushrooms and flour/water. Bring to a steady simmer for 20 minutes. Mix 3 tablespoons flour and 4 tablespoons water, mix very well. With the gravy simmering, gradually add the flour mix, stirring constantly, until all the flour is incorporated and the gravy thickens. Add the chopped mushrooms, stirring to mix. Cook another 3 to 4 minutes, stirring to avoid sticking.

Meatloaf with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and corn ...

Meatloaf with mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes and cottage cheese

WORD HISTORY:
Fourth-Of course derived from "four," this form traces back to Indo European "kwetwor/kwetwer," which meant "four." This then gave the Old Germanic offshoot, "fetwor/petwor," meaning "four," and also "feurtho," for "fourth," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "feórþa" (=feortha), meaning "fourth." This then became "ferthe," then "fourthe," before the modern version. The other Germanic languages have: German "vierte," Low German Saxon "veerde," Dutch "vierde," West Frisian "fjirde," Danish and Norwegian "fjerde," Icelandic "fjórða/fjórði," and Swedish "fjärde."

Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:

1  8 ounce bag fresh spinach
1 medium onion, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil or canola oil
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons adobo seasoning*
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1  12 ounce can evaporated milk (can be the lower calorie type)
4 ounces sour cream (can be low calorie type)
3 ounces regular or 2% milk (the actual amount is dependent upon the thickness of the sauce, as this helps thin the sauce, see below)

Heat the oil and melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium low heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion generally softens. Stir in the flour, making sure to not let the flour brown. Cook just for about two minutes. Gradually stir in the canned milk, a little at a time, stirring constantly. The mixture will need to simmer to properly thicken, but you will need to keep the heat low, or there could be sticking and scorching. Add the sour cream, the adobo seasoning and black pepper, stir well again. The sauce may be very thick, so you can use some regular or 2% milk to thin it out a bit, but it should not be too runny; stir well. Now mix in the spinach in handfuls. Cook for just a few minutes, keeping the heat very low, like 3 to 5 minutes total. 

* Adobo seasoning is a type of Puerto Rican/Latino seasoned salt, easily available in supermarkets, although perhaps in the "Hispanic/Latino Foods" section. Recipes vary somewhat, but generally it includes, at a minimum: salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dried oregano.

WORD HISTORY:
Bag-For what became a common word in English, the history of the word "bag" is very limited, with many questions. It was borrowed into English as "bagge," from Old Norse (North Germanic) "baggi," which meant "bundle;" that is, "something to be carried;" thus also, the figurative, "burden." Where Old Norse got the word is puzzling, as it is not in other Germanic languages, but relatives do appear in some Latin-based languages, although "seemingly" not until the Middle Ages, leading some linguists to believe it was originally of Celtic origin. The interesting thing is, Old Norse, in northern Europe, had a form of the word, and some southern parts of Europe had forms. The Celtic tribes were once widespread in Europe, so that could account for such a distance in related words, if indeed, Celtic provided the word to the other languages, but many of the Celtic languages had been on the wane for quite some time. But still, none of the other Germanic languages had it, until English borrowed it the early part of the 1200s. It is also possible that the Old Norse term was carried into the Mediterranean, and thus, to southern Europe, as the Normans did land in Sicily and southern Italy in the 11th Century. It most certainly is related to "baggage," a word borrowed from French (French "bagage" developed in the mid 1200s), as Old French had "bague" ("bundel"), but did Old French get that form from Medieval Latin "baga," or from Old Norse, as the Normans had been landing along the coastal areas there for quite some time, before they finally were given land, which came to be called "Normandy." The verb form used in hunter's jargon, "to bag game animals," came from the use of bags to hold the day's kill; thus, "We were able to bag two rabbits and three squirrels."  

Ship of Fools

This 1965 film, produced and directed by Stanley Kramer,* and with an international cast, was nominated for a number of Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and it won two Academy Awards: for Best Art Direction, Black and White and for Best Cinematography, Black and White. It is a difficult picture to explain in an easy way, but you won't likely be on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next. It's not that kind of story. The movie is based on a 1962 best selling book of the same name by Katherine Anne Porter, who took more than twenty years to write her book. She based her story on people she had met while on an ocean voyage she had taken from Mexico to Germany in 1931. Keep in mind, in 1931, many parts of the world were floundering around in the Great Depression, with the United States and Germany being especially hard hit. The Nazis had been gaining strength in German elections and, since Spain is involved in the book (and the movie), the Spanish king had abdicated and a "republic" had been declared in Spain; thus, there was lots of turmoil in the world. The movie changes the time of the voyage to 1933, when the Nazis had just taken power in Germany, but the worldwide economic depression continued and political tensions in Spain would lead to the Spanish Civil War.

"Ship of Fools" deals with several of the ship's passengers and how some of these people interact with other passengers, with the overall destination of the ship, Nazi Germany, and its potential for evil, hanging over the whole story. I've decided to deal with the movie by picking out a few of the characters and leaving things at that.

Mary Treadwell (played by Vivien Leigh, in her last movie), a recently divorced American, who is downcast about growing older and losing the beauty of her younger days. She tells how her former husband once struck her and how she then, "took every penny he had." The thing is, she has money, but no one to enjoy life with, she is lonely and bitter. After she tells one man how she envies, what she assumes to be, his near perfect marriage, the man says, "Nothing is perfect, Mrs. Treadwell." In real life, Vivien Leigh suffered with bipolar disorder (called manic depression, back then), and she had difficulty during the filming, verbally abusing some of the other cast members.

Bill Tenny (played by Lee Marvin), a former American baseball player from Texas who is downtrodden by his failure to be able to hit a curve ball over the outside corner of the plate; thus leading to his exit from professional baseball. One of the others tells him that for something that troubles his life so much, many people in the world wouldn't even know what "curve ball over the outside corner" means. ** Tenny tells his cabin mates how a Mexican immigration clerk had gotten offended because he called him, " 'Pancho,' you know, just being friendly like. You know, like back home we call a taxi driver 'Mack.' " As he proceeds with his story, he calls the Mexican clerk, "that little Nigger;" saying that he's been told that a lot of Mexicans have "mainly Nigger blood in them." Later, when seated for lunch with Mrs. Treadwell, Tenny asks her what the Nazis have against the Jews. He tells her, "Back home (in Texas) we don't have anything against the Jews. Hell, I never even saw a Jew until I was fifteen." In a great retort, she says, "Maybe you were too busy lynching Negroes to take time out for the Jews." Tenny's mouth drops open.  

Siegfried Rieber (played by José Ferrer), a Nazi and hater of those seen by him as being different. He tells others during dinner, "We must expunge foreign influences from Germany," and when asked what he means by "foreign influences," Rieber looks directly over at a table with a solitary man, Lowenthal (see Julius Lowental, below). Rieber talks of the need for "the extermination of all the  'unfit:' " useless children with birth defects, the old, Jews, mixed race people and whites who have committed serious crimes, but all of this is to be done "painlessly, of course," as if that makes mass murder reassuring. The ship's captain then asks, "Who will be left?" Rieber wears striped pajamas, very much like the clothing of Nazi concentration camp inmates, but he is the prisoner of his own hatred.

La Contesa (played by Simone Signoret, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress), a countess with drug addiction problems on her way to a Spanish prison. Her addiction and her destination surround her with the air of doom, but she receives some consoling affection from the ship's doctor (see below) in some of the great scenes of the film.

American couple David and Jenny (played by George Segal and Elizabeth Ashley), both artists, with David unhappy with his inability to earn enough money from being an artist, even having to rely on Jenny for money at times. His depressed state of mind leads the young couple to often quarrel. Jenny wonders if the two have anything going for them, beyond sex.  

Karl Glocken (played by Michael Dunn), a cigar smoking dwarf who also introduces and ends the film. He is, in many ways, tied to fellow passenger, Herr Lowenthal (see below).

Julius Lowenthal (played by Heinz Rühmann), a German Jew and dealer in religious jewelry. Excluded by the others to sit at the main table, he eats his dinner alone at a separate table, but he is then joined by Glocken, the dwarf. Lowenthal asks Glocken, "Are you Jewish?" And he tells Lowenthal, "I have my own minority group." The two become "comrades in exclusion." Lowenthal accepts his exclusion, and Glocken comments that Jews have 2000 years of suffering behind them. Later, another German passenger, Freytag (played by Swedish actor Alf Kjellin), joins the two, as he has now been excluded from the main table, because it is found out that his wife is Jewish. He goes to the main table and tells them, "I saw some of you praying in the chapel this morning, pretending you are good people, but you can't even exist without your prejudices. You don't even recognize what you are." Lowenthal must share a room with Nazi Rieber, who abruptly sweeps Lowenthal's shaving materials and toiletries from the sink. Lowenthal divides the space on the sink between the two of them. When Rieber tells Lowenthal that the Jews are the misfortune of Germans, he responds, "Yes, the Jews and bicycle riders." Rieber says, "Why bicycle riders?" Lowenthal answers with his own question, "Why the Jews?" 

Dr. Willi Schumann (played by Oskar Werner, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor), the ship's philosophical doctor. He sees injustice and he wants to remedy it, but he's disillusioned by life. When the ship takes on hundreds of Spanish farm workers in Cuba, they are forced to live in terrible conditions, although Schumann tries to help them. He's the antithesis to the Nazis, but with his disillusionment and his own medical condition (serious heart problem), can he last? He helps La Contesa, but she also helps him, a man who could die at any moment, but even if he lives, he is heading home to Germany, a country now in the hands of people he loathes.

* Stanley Kramer is known for a number of films, two of my favorites being, "Judgment at Nuremberg" and "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

** In the 1930s, baseball and its terminology was heavily American, not yet spread to many other parts of the world. 

Photo is from the 2003 Mill Creek Entertainment DVD

WORD HISTORY:

Fool/Foolish-This word, believe it or not, is distantly related to "belly" and to "bellows" (device for squeezing air out with force, often associated with a forge), both from the Germanic derived form from Indo European. "Fool" goes back to Indo European "bhel/bhelg," which meant, "to swell." This gave Latin "follis," as the Latin form used the "f" sound, instead of "b," and meaning, "bellows, air filled bag." From this meaning also came the notion of, "head filled with air;" thus, "stupid, silly person." Old French, a Latin-based language, had "fol," meaning, "madman" ("folle"="madwoman"), also used as an adjective for "mad," and the less severe, "silly" (modern French "fou"). English borrowed the word in the early 1200s as "fol." The verb form came along about a hundred years later with the meaning, "to cheat or trick someone;" that is, "make a fool of someone," but also, used of jesters, "to act like a fool." "Foolish," meaning, "lacking in good judgment," also developed in the 1300s. The "ish" ending, originally "isc" in Old English (also the same spelling in Old High German), is from a common Germanic suffix used for adjectives, and close English relatives, German, Low German and Dutch have "isch" (the spelling "isch" was also used by some in English). This Germanic form also influenced the "esque" of French and the "esco" of Italian by way of Lombardic (also called "Langobardic"), a Germanic language now extinct. The French form "may" have been reinforced by Frankish, the Germanic language of the Franks, who conquered Gaul and much of western Europe.    

"Becket:" Richard Burton & Peter O'Toole Star

This 1964 movie has two major stars: Richard Burton as Thomas Becket and Peter O'Toole as King Henry II.* While John Gielgud plays King Louis VII of France, Burton and Becket dominate the picture. Understand, the film has some historical flaws, as it correctly portrays the strains between the Norman nobility and their Saxon subjects, and it has Becket as a Saxon, but he was a Norman. There are other historical errors,** but the movie was based on a play written by Frenchman Jean Anouilh, which contained the errors, and the film did not correct them, which would have required a major rewrite. Make note of the historical flaws, but enjoy the performances.

The movie centers around the longtime friendship between Becket and King Henry II, the great grandson of William the Conqueror. The king admires Becket's keen intelligence. Henry is in a battle with the Church, since he needs money to fund a war in France, and he wants to tax the Church to raise that money, something adamantly opposed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, a man well along in years. While in France, the king receives word the archbishop has died and he decides to appoint Becket as his successor, figuring he will have a faithful supporter in the position. That's not what happens. Becket takes his position very seriously and when one of Henry's nobles has a priest tried before the civil courts for a crime, then kills the priest when he tries to escape, Becket excommunicates the noble for not having brought the priest in for trial before a church court. Henry is furious! The king presses one of Becket's enemies in the Church, the Bishop of London, played by Donald Wolfit, to support a charge of embezzlement against the archbishop, dating to the time he was Lord Chancellor of England, a position to which he had been appointed by Henry, prior to naming him to the archbishop's position. When some nobles try to read the charges against Becket, he scares the hell out of them by declaring their "immortal souls" to be in danger by judging him with made up charges. He appeals for protection and for a judgment by the pope. Henry, who has secretly been observing the confrontation, and still torn between his friendship and enmity with Becket, laughs, saying, "He's made mincemeat of them. I'm surrounded by fools. Becket is the only intelligent man in my kingdom, and he's against me."

Becket flees to France and is granted protection by King Louis VII, played by John Gielgud. Louis likes to tweak the King of England's nose. The French king also provides Becket with escort to Rome, where Becket tells his case to the pope (Alexander III). The pope retains Becket in his position as head of the English Church, but places him in a monastery in France. Becket eventually asks King Louis to get Henry to meet him in France, which he does, on the beach there. After some wrangling, Henry agrees to allow Becket to return to England.

Henry engages in a bout of drinking with some of his nobles, who tell the king how Becket has returned to England and been cheered by the Saxon populace. Henry asks, "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" This prompts some of his nobles to go to Canterbury and to kill Becket. To atone for the murder, Henry is whipped by Saxon monks. Henry tells his nobles that the murderers will also pay, as all must do penance. Henry goes before the assembled crowd and tells them he has received a positive answer from the pope to his request to name Becket a saint. The crowd cheers. 

Just a little note: if you're like me, you'll get a few laughs the way Henry acts toward his children, especially his then successor, also named Henry. In one scene, the boys are playing sword fighting and Henry comes out, but so little does he know about his sons that he lifts the helmet of one of the boys and asks him, "Which one are you?" When the boy answers, "Henry III," the king shouts, "Not yet, you aren't!" Only a reigning king could have a numeral after his name. In another scene, the king chases the younger Henry from the dining hall with the exclamation, "Here's my royal foot up you're royal buttocks!"  

* Peter O'Toole later played King Henry II again in, "The Lion in Winter," which also starred Katharine Hepburn as his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine. 

** For instance, the film has Henry's mother present in a scene after Becket's return to Canterbury from France, but in reality, his mother had died a couple of years prior to that. 
 
Photo is from the 2007 MPI Home Video DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Priest -It may sound strange, but this word is distantly related to "cow." The core of the word goes back to Indo European "guos," which meant, "cattle, cows," with a form of the prefix "per" (meaning, "before, ahead, in front of") added, which gave Indo European "pruos," with the meaning, "leader of cattle/cows." This gave Ancient Greek the transliterated form, "présbus," which meant, "older/elder." This then produced Greek "presbýteros," which meant, "(an) elder." Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "presbyter," with the same meaning. The Germanic languages "seem" to have borrowed the word from Gallo-Romance "prestre," by which time the word had taken on the "elder religious leader," with Old English having "preost," Old High German having "prestar/priester" (modern German "Priester"), Old Saxon having "prestar" (modern Low German "Preester"). The English form then became "preest," before the modern form.

An "Interview" With a Secret Yahoo Official

Hello, I'm Dan Ratherbe in Philadelphia and today I'm going to be interviewing an official of Yahoo, the American tech company, with international operations. The person prefers not to give their name or position with Yahoo. So here we go. (DR=Dan Ratherbe; SO=secret official)

DR: Hi secret official.

SO: Hi Dan.

DR: Just why are you doing this interview in secret?

SO: Well Dan, at Yahoo we operate in secret. We don't want the public to know much about us, but we want to know a lot about the public, and WE DO; at least those who have a Yahoo email account. By the way, you haven't used your Yahoo email account lately Dan, why?

DR: Well I like my privacy.

SO: Why? You have something to hide?

DR: Never mind, S.O. I may call you S.O.?

SO: Oh yes, please do, but I'd still like to know what you're hiding.

DR: We've heard numerous complaints about Yahoo, including about Yahoo reading the emails of its customers. Yahoo has had some financial fallout. How do you plan to correct that?

SO: Well there's no question, we've got to do a better job. After all, look at you. You haven't been using your email account and how the hell do you expect us to know what ads to target to you, if you don't use your account.

DR: Target ads to me? Like what?

SO: Well let me see what we have on you... check R..... here it is, Ratherbe, Dan... Hmm, wow, that's a pretty interesting username, "superstud."

DR: Hey, wait a second, you're telling my info in public!

SO: Yes, but the public can't see these pictures... Are those all Calvin Klein undies? Well, definitely no CK's in this pic, or any other brand either. I take back my earlier question about what you're hiding.

DR: Hey! That's enough of this.

SO: All right, all right. But see, now we know to target you with ads for underwear...  when you're using them.

DR: You see just how a person's private info can get out into the public?

SO: That's definitely the right term with you, private info.

DR: Let's get back to how you're going to clean up your act.

SO: YOU'RE telling US to clean up OUR act? I'd say that's pretty naked hypocrisy, if you'll pardon the expression.

DR: These were supposed to be private emails. Answer the question, we only have a few seconds.

SO: We at Yahoo work every day to earn our name. We work hard, so that no person on Earth can say we're not a bunch of Yahoos.

DR: And it most certainly shows, S.O.

WORD HISTORY:
Chatter-The ultimate origin of this word is unknown, but it apparently is a Germanic invention, seemingly imitative of sound. English at various times had "cheteren," "cheateren," "chiteren," then "chateren," all with the general meaning, "to chatter, to jabber." There are forms in other Germanic languages: German has "kaudern," meaning, "to speak gibberish, speak but not be understood;" Dutch has "koeteren," meaning, "to jabber, to chatter," Flemish has "schateren," meaning "chatter, jabber," Danish has "kvidre," meaning, "to chirp, to twitter," Icelandic has "kvak," meaning, "to twitter."

"The Cardinal," Otto Preminger Directed

I first saw this movie many years ago on television. I believe it was in the late 1960s, although the film was only released in 1963. The film was directed by Otto Preminger, often considered one of the greatest directors of all time, although his personality was highly volatile, and he was known for being "difficult." Preminger did often get results, as several of the stars he directed received Academy Award nominations for their performances in the films he directed, including this film, "The Cardinal, as John Huston, better known for his own movie directing, than for acting, received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Otto Preminger will certainly be known to you, if you've seen the movie, "Stalag 17, as he played the role of the German prison camp commandant. Never fear, Preminger was no Nazi, as he was Jewish, and he came to the United States in the 1930s, after Hitler had taken power in Germany. Earlier he lived primarily in Vienna. Preminger took on controversial subjects in some of his films, and he battled the television industry to keep his films intact, and not be cut to pieces to fit into time slots and for commercials.

The movie, based on the book of the same title by Henry Morton Robinson, which itself was loosely based on the life of Francis Cardinal Spellman, is about the rise of a young Catholic priest from Boston, Stephen Fermoyle, played by Tom Tryon, beginning in the era around World War One, and his eventual rise to the position of cardinal a couple of decades later. The movie begins with the preliminary ceremony for his appointment as cardinal, and as the necessary documents are read in Latin, Fermoyle stands and looks back on his life, and it is in this way that the film is presented. Remember he understood Latin and yet he drifted off to other matters. How about the people in attendance, likely many, who didn't understand Latin? Where do you think their minds were? *

Stephen's life reflects the stresses and strains in Catholicism, the religious doctrine, and the way every day Catholics really live their lives. Stephen's sister, Mona, played by Carol Lynley, wants to marry, but her boyfriend, Benny Rampell, played by John Saxon, is Jewish and Stephen wants the young man to convert, or at least to agree that any children will be brought up as Catholics. At first the young man agrees to being able to be persuaded, but when he and his parents are made to feel uneasy about not being Catholic and Irish, he decides not to convert. Mona goes to her brother for advice, which turns out to be the Catholic religious answer, to give up the boyfriend. Mona leaves home and, months later, she is found, in labor, and taken to a hospital, where the doctor tells Stephen that the baby will have to die to save his sister, but Stephen cannot give his consent and go against Catholic doctrine, so his sister dies, but the baby lives. This is a staggering blow to the young priest, as this is now religious belief actually having to be put into practice.

Cardinal Glennon, played by John Huston, sees Stephen as ambitious and in need of some humility, so he sends him to a very poor parish to assist and learn from Father Ned, played by Burgess Meredith. Father Ned lives a very simple life, and he is beloved by his parishioners, but the priest is seriously ill, something Stephen finally takes to Glennon, who goes off to visit his long time friend Father Ned. When the dying priest asks that he appoint Stephen as his successor, Cardinal Glennon thanks him for the suggestion, giving Father Ned the impression that's what will happen, but outside of the room, the cardinal tells Stephen he has other plans for him to become his secretary, not become the parish priest.

The pope dies (1922) and Stephen travels with Cardinal Glennon to Rome, where Glennon convinces the new pope to give Stephen a position in the Vatican, but Stephen, badly troubled by his priesthood so far, does not want the position, causing Glennon to give Stephen a leave of absence of two years for the priest to see what he wants to do. Stephen goes to Vienna (he speaks German) to teach English. He meets a young woman, Annemarie, played by Romy Schneider, and the two fall for each other, but he tells her he is a priest, and eventually, Stephen decides to stay with the priesthood.

Stephen returns to Rome, where he takes a position in the Vatican. In 1934 a black American priest from Georgia, Father Gillis, played by Ossie Davis, comes to Rome to seek help, as the only Catholic school in his area will not admit black Catholic students, and further, his church in Georgia has been burned down by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Stephen takes the priest to see Cardinal Giacobbi, a highly conservative close associate of the pope, but instead of helping him, Giacobbi essentially scolds Father Gillis when the priest tells him members of his congregation protested the discrimination of the school by holding a protest with signs, an act said by Giacobbi to be a method that is "inflammatory." This brings a statement from another cardinal present, played by Raf Vallone, "I'm not sure we can afford to use methods that tend to be glacial," but Giacobbi is generally unsympathetic, although Stephen tries to get the cardinal to understand the racism in the United States. The priest leaves with no help for the Catholic school racial discrimination. Stephen goes to Georgia to see what he can do and to gather information he can take back to the Vatican. He is met with hostility and both he and Father Gillis are severely beaten (even with a whip) by a group of the KKK. Standing on principle about racial justice in the American South can be very dangerous.** (Note: When this film was released in 1963, racial tensions in the U.S. were climbing.)

Finally, Hitler's influence is expanding in Europe, and heavily Catholic Austria has become a part of Germany. Stephen is sent to close the papal nuncio in Vienna (Austria is no longer a separate country), and to take a message to the head of the Catholic Church in Austria, Cardinal Innitzer, played by Josef Meinrad, to tone down his public support of Hitler and the Nazis. The cardinal seems detached from the reality of the situation, believing himself to have been non political in statements supporting Austria joining Germany. He curries favor with leading Nazis, but reality strikes when Hitler goes back on earlier promises about Catholicism in his native land. Then Nazi thugs vandalize Catholic properties. Stephen has to flee. Just as in Georgia, the same is true in Vienna, when you oppose hate and evil, be prepared for great difficulties, even possible death.

The film ends with Stephen addressing the people assembled, including his mother and other family members who traveled to Rome for the ceremonies of Stephen's becoming a cardinal.

* Originally the language of Christianity was Aramaic, a Semitic language of the Middle East akin to Hebrew (the language of the Old Testament) and Arabic. Then Christianity began to spread in the eastern Mediterranean area, a region where Greek was heavily used, making Greek a common part of early Christianity. As the religion became more popular further west in the Mediterranean and in the Roman Empire, Latin, the language of the Romans, began to be used more and more, until it became the acknowledged language by many in Christianity, with writings and masses often being in Latin. This didn't just happen one day, but rather it took place over a period from about 300, 400 and 500 AD. The interesting thing is, and it shows how religion can get out of step with, and fear, change, Latin itself was changing dramatically during these times and beyond, as it, or more specifically its dialects, were morphing into separate languages: Italian (right in what had become the center of Christianity and Latin... Rome), Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Romansh, French and others too, but it took time for these languages to fully emerge as distinct entities. Meanwhile, Latin was the language of Christianity, with writings and religious services conducted in Latin up until the 1960s, even though most parishioners did not understand much, if not most, of what was said. Of course, there were those little things called "the Great Schism" and "the Reformation," that caused a major split in Christianity, and in the use of other languages as part of segments of Christianity, and since the 1960s, although better late than never, Roman Catholicism has permitted the use of national and local languages, although a small percentage of Latin masses have continued. Perhaps there will be a movement to, "make Latin great again."

** While the details in the movie are vague, some white men have been arrested and charged in the church arson in Georgia. Father Gillis is scheduled to testify, but many of the white residents of the town are in an uproar, prompting the priest's superior, Monsignor Whittle, played by Chill Wills, to order Gillis not to testify and to drop the complaint. Stephen challenges the monsignor, who disparagingly uses the term "Yankee," in reference to Stephen, but then finds out that Stephen is from the Vatican. When Stephen returns to Rome and Cardinal Giacobbi, who feels Stephen has gotten the Church into controversy (heaven forbid! ... hey, what a pun!), Stephen explains there was a conviction in the case, and while not for arson, but for disorderly conduct, it was the first time in Georgia that white men had been convicted for anything based upon the testimony of a black witness (the film uses the term, "Negro," long seen by American white society, and even by many people of black society, as the proper term for black people, especially in those times, mid 1930s in the film, but also still in the early 1960s, when the film was made and released). While it's firmly implied in the movie that Giacobbi is against Stephen being named a bishop, and that he will use the incident in Georgia to try to influence the pope in that direction, the pope makes Stephen a bishop; so a bit of hope for some change comes from the ordeal, both legally and religiously.             

Photo is from the 2005 Warner Home Video DVD.

WORD HISTORY:
Cardinal-The ultimate origin of this word are unknown, but it goes back to Latin "cardo," which meant, "hinge of a door," and from this developed the notion of, "important, prime," from the idea of "a matter or a person upon which others are dependent, upon which things turn or hinge," and this gave Latin the adjective "cardinalis." The Christian church initially applied the noun form to a clergyman of a church; thus, "the prime person, or person of importance for that church." Later, Christians elevated the meaning to a bishop who became, "a prince of the Church," as an elector of the pope. English borrowed the noun from Latin circa 1100, and it borrowed the adjective from French, a Latin-based language, in the 1200s. The use as the name for a particular red and reddish brown bird began in the second half of the 1600s, from the comparison of the red attire for the religious cardinals.

A Friend in West Virgina, Part Seventeen

The day my Clarksburg WV friend turned on me, he had been emailing some lies to me. He had built a "somewhat" phony online profile and these were some lies he had emailed at times, but that I had just let pass. That day I called his hand and he didn't like it. Just like when Trump gets called out, he goes off on a tirade, and that's what my friend did. He then accused me of, "running your mouth about me behind my back." He later backed down slightly on this, only to come roaring back with it and threatening to "block you forever."  

WORD HISTORY:
Of-This common preposition, closely related to the adverb "off," goes back to Indo European "apo," which had the notion of, "away, away from." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "aba/abo," with the same meaning. This then gave Old English "áf," which meant, "away," "seemingly" used in compounds, and the Germanic form also gave Old English, "of," which meant, "of, from, out of" (still with that underlying notion of "away from"). The other Germanic languages all have forms related to "of," but most are used adverbially; this being closer in meaning to English "off," although Danish and Icelandic "af" is used as a preposition, as are Norwegian and Swedish "av." I'll cover the word "off" soon. 

One of Hitler's Cooks

There is an interesting story about one of Hitler's cooks that I only recall from the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's personal secretaries for about the last 2 1/2 years of his life, although I likely saw the name many years ago. The person I'm referring to is, Helene von Exner, who was known to her family, friends and acquaintances as, Marlene. She was a dietician from Vienna, and in 1943, she became Hitler's Diätköchin; that is, his dietary cook.

The general story is, the fanatical, furious Füher had persistent stomach problems, including gas. Now, as you know, gas leaves our bodies by two ways: one, by way of the mouth, when we belch, and secondly, by way of another opening, the word for which is often applied to Hitler himself... quite correctly. I don't believe there has ever truly been a diagnosis of Hitler's gastrointestinal problem, although irritable bowel syndrome has been suggested by some, if I remember right. Well during an early 1943 meeting between Hitler and Rumanian leader, Ion Antonescu, the Rumanian told Hitler about how his own gastrointestinal problems were successfully treated by a cook who had been recommended to him, Marlene von Exner, from Vienna. The fact that she was from Vienna likely gave Hitler more interest, as he had lived there for a few years prior to going Munich, not long before World War One. So Hitler hired von Exner to cook for him and he had a separate kitchen built for her, close to his living area at his heavily guarded military headquarters in northeastern Germany, near Rastenburg.

While some of the stories I've read about Hitler's vegetarianism conflict as to when he took up the practice, and even the extent to which he truly held to not eating meat,* von Exner fixed him frequent dishes of vegetables, mashed potatoes, soups and hard and soft boiled eggs. I distinctly recall Traudl Junge mentioning that Hitler often ate mashed potatoes with a fried egg on top, but whether this was a dish recommended by, and fixed by, von Exner for him, I'm not sure. I do remember reading that the cook put some bone marrow into Hitler's soups, although he supposedly didn't know about it.

Well, by early 1944, von Exner and one of Hitler's adjutants wanted to get married. This required an investigation into her background, as the racial laws of the Nazis were strict. It turned out that part of von Exner's family history was unclear, and that the Nazi investigation determined that she was likely part Jewish. This threw Hitler, who told her he would have to let her go, because he had to follow his own laws. He liked her very much and he gave her several months severance pay and told her he would see to it that she and her family were "aryanized;" that is, essentially having them certified as "aryans;" thus removing any record of their possible Jewish side. ** He told his henchman Martin Bormann to take care of the matter, and to see to it that von Exner and her family were not bothered.

It turned out, Bormann had made a play for von Exner (she was in her mid 20s), but she had rebuffed him, a situation not taken well by the man who was likely the second most powerful man in Germany, after Hitler. He dragged his feet on Hitler's order and von Exner's family suffered the consequences, as her brother, who was a doctor, was fired for being part Jewish, per Nazi law, and she and her sister were also excluded from university work (I "believe" this was at the University of Vienna). Von Exner wrote to her friend Traudl Junge, who saw Hitler on a daily basis. She related all that had happened and about the incident with Bormann likely playing a major role in her family not being cleared. Junge used her special typewriter, with large letters for Hitler to read easily, and wrote everything down for him, then gave him the letter. Indeed he became the furious Füher, and he angrily summoned Bormann, who came out of the meeting red-faced. It wasn't long and von Exner received her certificate. She survived the war, but little is really known about her, although, if my memory is right, Junge did have some postwar contact with her.

Just a couple of things: Hitler had other cooks during his rule, with the last being von Exner's replacement, Constanze Manziarly, who was from Innsbruck. Also, while I'm not sure how much verification has been done on this, Hitler "supposedly" had a group of women, 15 is the number mentioned, all from near his military headquarters, who were used as food testers (Vorkosterinnen). Each day they sampled his food to be certain there had been no poison added. "Supposedly" only one survived the war, but the 14 others didn't die from poisoning, but "supposedly" from Russian execution near the end of the war.

* I've read variously that Hitler took up vegetarianism a year or so before he was appointed chancellor, or right after his appointment, or in the mid 1930s, or in the late 1930s. If my memory is correct, one article or book claimed he didn't become a vegetarian until during the early part of the war.

** There were other such cases, with the most famous being of Luftwaffe Field Marshal Erhard Milch, who was half Jewish, but he was given a special certificate by Hitler.

WORD HISTORY: 
Marrow-This word, for the inside part of bones, goes back to Indo European "mozgho," which meant, "inner matter." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "mazga," meaning, "marrow, pith." This gave Old English "mearg," with the same meaning. This then became "marowe," before the modern version. Forms in the other Germanic languages: German "Mark" (it once was spelled "marg"), Low German Saxon "marg" (no longer used), Dutch "merg," West Frisian "moarch," Danish "marv," Norwegian "marg," Icelandic "mergur," Swedish "märg."

Spätzle in Sour Sauce (Sauer Spätzle)

This is a dish using "Spätzle," the little noodle/dumpling/pasta bits, almost always served in some manner in German-themed restaurants in the U.S., and, I'm sure, elsewhere. That term too is the general term in German, which is understood by German speakers in all areas of Europe, as "Spätzle" is a famous part of German cuisine, coming from the southwestern German region of "Schwaben" (Swabia). It literally means "little sparrows" in the dialect of that southwestern region of Germany,  called Schwäbisch *=Swabian in English). In other German areas in the south (German in the broad sense), including Liechtenstein, instead of "Spätzle," the term used is, "Knöpfle" (literally, 'little buttons'). The dumplings are made the same, with only slight variations, as some people use milk instead of water, and others, the total purists, belief they should only be made from eggs, flour and salt. I made mine the "purist" way. Germans (broad sense) often have special equipment at home to make the Spätzle, which is used to force the dough through, and it drops into the hot water, but you can just use a large spoon and drizzle the batter into the water in strands, or if the batter is more of a true dough, just use the spoon to take small bits of the dough and drop them into the water. This specific recipe for "Sauer Spätzle" is from: "The Cuisines of Germany," by Horst Scharfenberg, Poseidon Press, New York, 1980.  

Ingredients:

For the Spätzle:

2 cups flour
4 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup water
(optional) a good pinch of nutmeg
simmering salted water

For the sauce:

2 tablespoons butter + 1 tablespoon canola oil
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1 to 2 tablespoons vinegar (to taste)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup sour cream

In a pan large enough to hold 4 to 5 inches of water (also wide; you want the dumplings to have plenty of room to "swim"), add a couple of tablespoons of salt, and bring the water to a boil, then reduce the heat so that the water simmers nicely. In a bowl, mix the flour, eggs, salt and water. Germans (broad sense) make the batter/dough various thicknesses. With this recipe, I made it "somewhat fluid," where there was resistance when stirring with a spoon, and where the thick batter could be drizzled into the simmering water. If you make it even thicker, more of a true dough, you can cut off pieces. The batter will almost instantly solidify in the hot water, and the dumplings will float to the top when done (Germans often say "swim"), and you can use a slotted spoon to take them from the water, before you add another batch. Be sure to stir the bottom of the pot, as sometimes one or two might stick to the bottom.

For the sauce, heat the butter (and oil, if using) over low heat until the butter is melted. Sprinkle in the flour and stir constantly to form a roux. Cook until the flour turns light brown only. Gradually add the broth, stirring constantly, until the mixture is heated and thickens. Add the bay leaf, salt and pepper. Let gently simmer for a few minutes, then turn off the heat. Mix a little of the sauce with the sour cream, then gradually stir the sour cream into the sauce. Serve the sauce over the spätzle or carefully add the spätzle to the sauce, stirring to mix well.  

* Swabian is a dialect that is part of the overall German dialect "Alemannic," which is also spoken in Switzerland, Alsace, extreme western Austria (not in the rest of Austria) and Liechtenstein, as well as some small parts of northern Italy.

WORD HISTORY: 
Batch-This word, closely related to "bake," goes back to Indo European "bheg/bhog," which had the meaning "to bake or roast." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bakanan," which meant "to bake." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bacan," with the same meaning. This then produced "bæcce," which meant, "baked items, baking." This then became "bacche," before the modern form, and along the way, the meaning broadened beyond baking to the making of items, in general. Old English also had the word "gebæc," which meant, "baked items, baked goods," and close relatives German and Dutch still have "Gebäck" and "gebak," respectively, meaning "pastry, baked goods."

"Chances Are," Some Laughs & Some Good Music

This is a fantasy comedy film from the late 1980s. I became interested when one of its songs, "After All," performed by Cher and Peter Cetera, became very popular on the radio and in bars; ah... at least someone told me it was popular in bars. The song led me to the movie, and I enjoyed it. The title song, performed by Johnny Mathis, was already well known to many people, including to me, from many years before, and there is also another Johnny Mathis song, "Wonderful, Wonderful," as well as Rod Stewart's  "Forever Young," and The Gregg Allman Band's "Can't Get Over You," Ruben Blades' "Nuestro Adios," Jimmy Soul's catchy "If You Wanna Be Happy," and some other songs.

The story centers around the 1960's love between a recently married couple, Louie and Corinne Jeffries, played by Christopher McDonald and Cybill Shepherd. Louie's best friend, Phillip, played by Ryan O'Neal, is in love with Corinne too, a fact Louie already knows, but is untroubled by. With Corinne pregnant with their first child, Louie, a district attorney, is hit and killed by a car, but once "upstairs," he insists on being sent right back to Earth, which is granted, and he has to be reborn to another family, but the attending angel forgets to give him a special inoculation to make him forget, so Louie's memory of his previous life will remain. Corinne gives birth to a daughter, Miranda, played by Mary Stuart Masterson, and Corinne also maintains her friendship with Phillip, who still loves her, but who remains a bachelor. Corinne never remarries, as she misses Louie even as the years pass and Miranda grows up and goes off to school in the mid to late 1980s. The reborn Louie, now named Alex, is born into another family about the same time as Miranda is born. Alex is ably played by Robert Downey, Jr. Alex, who wants to become a reporter, is also off at school and he meets Miranda. He later also meets Phillip, who invites him to dinner, where he will meet the Jeffries, Louie's widow and daughter. Once there, Alex again sees Miranda, and the two like one another, but slowly Alex begins to remember things from the past, although at first he's confused as to why. Corinne notices some of Alex's little habits are the same as Louie's were. Alex's memory continues to delve into the past and he finally realizes that he is really the late Louie Jeffries ... well, the new Louie Jeffries ... well the old Louie Jeffries now named Alex ... however the hell you say it!

With his new realization, Alex has to distance himself from Miranda's affection, since she's his daughter, but at the same time, he wants to reignite the affections of Corinne, his lonely and faithful wife. It all gets pretty hilarious, because Phillip still wants Corinne too, but once Alex convinces her that he's really Louie, she's happy as hell. Then Phillip catches Alex and Corinne half undressed, and he and Alex fight. Alex says, "I'm Louie," which leads Phillip to say, "Yeah right, and I'm Cleopatra," and Alex says, as they roll around on the floor, "You are not... you fight like her though." Meanwhile, Miranda is confused by Alex's changed behavior toward her, going from treating her like she's his girlfriend to treating her like he's her father, ah... which he is... well, anyway.

Events show Corinne how her unceasing love for Louie has made her oblivious to Phillip's love for her, but initially she is torn between the two. Likewise, Alex sees how Phillip has cared for his widow over the years, but how he always remained the gentleman. Through a mix up, Corinne and Phillip "get together," and the "Louie spell" over Corinne is broken, just as Phillip holding in his feelings is now over too.

Alex goes to see Miranda at the courthouse where she works, but now his memory is stoked once more, as the presiding judge is the same judge who took a payoff to throw out evidence against a mobster in a 1960's case, when Alex was Louie, a D.A. Prior to his death he got a picture of the judge accepting an envelop in a park late at night; a picture still in his camera. Alex confronts the crooked judge, who summons the guards, and they chase Alex, but he falls down the steps. The scene shifts to the hospital, where Corinne sits at Alex's bedside while he is unconscious. She speaks to him, as if he were awake, telling him they don't belong together anymore, because people change. An attendant comes in to administer an injection to Alex, but it's really the angel with the memory inoculation, and now all will be well. The story ends at the outdoor marriage of Corinne and Phillip, as "After All" is sung by Cher and Peter Cetera over the ceremony and the credits. It doesn't get much better than that. This is really a nice movie and one you should see, if you haven't done so.

 WORD HISTORY:
Chance-This word is related to "case" (the noun form meaning, "the state or condition of something, something that happens;" as in, "in this case," "a court case," also the grammatical sense, "nominative case, accusative case, etc"), a word of Latin origin borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and it is related to "cadaver," a word borrowed by English from Latin. "Chance" goes back to Indo European "khad/kad," which had the meaning, "to fall." This gave Latin "cadere," which meant, "to fall." This produced Latin "cadentia," meaning, "something that falls out, the falling out of dice." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "cheance," with the same meanings, but also the further development from the idea of "falling dice," gave the broader meaning of, "accident, random happening," which continued when the word was borrowed into English in the late 1100s/early 1200s.

Lifeboat: Hitchcock & Steinbeck Film

This 1944 film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is from a story by John Steinbeck, who, by then, was already a highly respected author, famous for, "The Grapes of Wrath," and, "Of Mice and Men," both also made into very successful movies. "Lifeboat" received Academy Award nominations, including for Hitchcock for best director.

The story takes place in the lifeboat of a ship sunk by a U-boat during World War Two. The film opens with a sole woman, writer Connie Porter, played by Tallulah Bankhead, sitting in the middle of the lifeboat. We see all sorts of debris floating past the boat. It isn't long before a crewman of the ship, Kovac, played by John Hodiak, climbs up into the boat. He is followed by a number of other passengers, including, Gus Smith, played by William Bendix, who has a badly wounded leg. A lady, played by Heather Angel, is also brought into the lifeboat, clutching her baby, a baby it turns out, that is dead. Already emotionally unstable from the wartime air raids, the deeply distraught woman later quietly slips into the water to drown herself. The final person to be hauled into the boat is a German, Willi, from the U-boat, which had been sunk by the ship before it plunged from the surface. Willi, played by Walter Slezak, speaks in German, only to be answered by Connie, who is fluent in German. A couple of the survivors want Willi thrown overboard to drown, but others feel this is morally, and perhaps legally, wrong, so he remains in the boat. He claims to have been just a crew member, but Connie cleverly catches him off guard by calling, "Herr Kapitän!" Only to have him answer, "Ja?" With a sail hoisted, the group wants to head for Bermuda, which they believe is not all that far off, but the problem is, in what direction IS Bermuda? One of their group tries using the sun, and points in one direction, but Willi, the German captain points in another direction. Given that he is a sea captain, this carries more weight with a couple, but Kovac establishes himself as the lifeboat's leader and they follow the course to Bermuda determined by one of the sunken ship's crew, played by Hume Cronyn.

Then Gus must have his leg amputated, as gangrene has set in to his wound. Willi tells Connie that he was a surgeon before the war, so the group prepares to witness the operation, which will need to be done without anesthetic, except for some brandy Connie has. Willi gains a little more respect by performing the emergency surgery, and then he gains much more respect, as a storm hits, and Willi's taking control of the boat in the violent sea helps to save them. During this scene the others learn that Willi speaks fluent English. When things settle down, it is determined Willi will guide the boat to a nearby German supply ship rather than to Bermuda, as he tells them it will take a couple of weeks to reach Bermuda, and they have lost their food and fresh water in the storm. While the others sleep, Gus has some hallucinations because of his condition, but he really does see Willi take a drink of water from a bottle he has stashed. Willi knocks Gus overboard and he drowns. When the others find out that Willi indeed stashed water and that he likely killed Gus, they descend on him and beat him, pushing him overboard, with one using the shoe from Gus's amputated leg to land the decisive blow.

It's not long before the survivors see the German supply ship in the distance, and a small craft with Germans begins to approach, only to turn back. Then they see why, as an Allied warship begins firing at the German ship, * which is hit and begins to sink. A young, trembling German sailor is helped up into the lifeboat and the survivors face the same situation; toss him back into the sea or keep him? He draws a gun, but he is quickly disarmed. He looks at the passengers and asks, "Werden Sie mich nicht umbringen?" (Aren't you going to kill me?)

* In actual fact, throughout the war the German U-boats were a major problem for the Allies. The U-boats that traveled the farthest out to sea needed a way to refuel and to get provisions, so I do believe the German navy had some special supply ships in distant waters, near neutral countries, where they could periodically stock up, then return to sea to supply their U-boats. The Allies tried to sink or bottle up the supply ships to limit the illusive U-boats operating so far out to sea. If you have seen "Das Boot" (also dubbed in English, and often called "The Boat," its English translation), the absolutely fabulous early 1980's movie about a German U-boat, the U-boat in the story meets a German supply ship in Portugal, a neutral country during the war. German "Boot," is pronounced very similarly to its close English cousin, "boat," not like the English word of the same spelling, but meaning, "a type of foot wear." 

 WORD HISTORY:
Bear-This is the noun for the name of the animal, although English also has a verb form spelled the same way, but from a different source. The noun goes back to Indo European "bher(os)," which had the notion of, "brown, dark," but "seemingly" also, "bright, shining," perhaps from the glistening of some brown and dark objects. This gave Old Germanic "beron," meaning "bear," the animal, so, "the brown animal." This gave Old English "bera," which then became "bere" (ending "e" pronounced "eh"), before the modern form. The other Germanic languages have: German "Bär," Low German Saxon "Boor," West Frisian "bear," Dutch "beer," Danish and Norwegian "bjørn," Icelandic and Swedish "björn."

Kashmiri Meatballs

Kashmir is a region in the north of the Indian subcontinent that has parts in both India and Pakistan. 

Ingredients:

1 pound finely ground lamb (they will be nice and tender, if finely ground)
3/4 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon chili pepper flakes (or one dried red chili, crumbled)
3/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons plain yogurt (+ 1 teaspoon for the meatball mixture)
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil* (+ one additional teaspoon for the meatball mixture)
1 inch piece of cinnamon stick
3 whole cloves
6 ounces water
1 tablespoon ground cardamom

Mix the lamb, ginger, cumin, coriander, ground cloves, ground cinnamon, chili pepper, black pepper, salt, one teaspoon of yogurt and one teaspoon of oil (the yogurt and oil help to moisten the spices). Form the meatballs into oval shapes about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. In a heavy skillet (with a lid, or you can use aluminum foil), heat the oil, then add the cinnamon stick and the cloves. Brown the meatballs lightly on all sides over medium low heat, then remove them temporarily, while you stir in the yogurt, then the water (the yogurt should have cooled the oil enough to prevent spattering when you add the water, but be careful). Bring to a gentle boil, then add the meatballs again. Bring the liquid to a simmer, cover the meatballs and cook, turning them occasionally, until the liquid is essentially gone, although there may be some oil/fat residue in the skillet. Turn off the heat, discard the cinnamon stick and whole cloves, then sprinkle on the cardamon and cover again for one or two minutes (keep heat off).    

* Some Indians/Pakistanis use clarified butter (called "ghee") to make this dish. Clarified butter is butter that has had the milk solids and much of the water removed, leaving the liquefied fat, thus keeping it from turning brown easily, as with regular butter.

WORD HISTORY:
Coriander-The ultimate origin of this word for a leafy plant, similar to parsley, from which both the leaves and the seed are used for food seasonings, is unknown. It goes back to Greek (transliterated) "koriannon," which spawned, "koriandron," and this was borrowed by Latin as "coriandrum," which became Old French (a heavily Latin based language) "coriandre." This was borrowed into English in the second half of the 1300s.

Greek White Bean Soup (Fasolάda)

This Greek bean soup, made without meat, is traditionally made from dried white beans, but you use canned white beans, drained and rinsed.* Serve with some Kalamata olives on the side, as well as crusty bread.

Ingredients:

1 pound of dried white beans (or 4 cans of drained and rinsed white beans)
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tomato, diced
2 carrots, shredded or chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 large stalk of celery, with top leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup chicken stock + water to cover ingredients (see instructions)
parsley for garnish

If using dried beans, soak them in cold water overnight. Drain and put the beans into a pot with fresh cold water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for 20 to 25 minutes. Drain again, add fresh cold water and chicken stock, bring to a boil, then reduce heat to keep a full simmer, cook the beans for 10 minutes, then add the onion, carrot and celery, stir well. Continue simmering the soup for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the diced tomato and tomato paste, stirring well. Cook until the beans are nice and soft. Don't be afraid to add more water, if the soup is too thick. When the beans are soft, then stir in the olive oil, salt and pepper. Garnish each serving with parsley. If using canned beans, bring chicken stock, some water, onion, carrot, celery, tomato and tomato paste to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add beans and more water to cover, stir well, return soup to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until carrot is definitely tender. Stir in salt, pepper and olive oil. Garnish servings with parsley.

* I looked over numerous recipes for this soup, and some used navy beans, some used great northern beans, and still others used cannellini beans.

WORD HISTORY:
Acme-This word, related to "acne," goes back to Indo European "ak," which had the notion, "be pointed, be sharp." This gave Ancient Greek (the transliterated form) "akme," meaning, "peak, pinnacle." This was borrowed by English in the mid 1500s, although the word did not come into somewhat more general use until the late 1600s. It eventually came to be used by some businesses as part of their name to signify "the best," "the peak in quality," in whatever product or service they were selling.

Ivanhoe: Robert Taylor in the Title Role

This 1952 color film was "based" on the book by Sir Walter Scott. While the movie has some differences with Scott's writings, none really makes it all that removed from the book, and the film captures the essence of the novel. I don't know about you, but in my school days, "Ivanhoe" was required reading by some teachers in the United States. At my school, they even showed this movie to the entire school. The popularity of Scott's book also spread the name "Cedric," as Scott was the inventor of this name, done solely for one of the main characters of "Ivanhoe." The film received three Academy Award Nominations, including for best picture. The book and the movie are only "loosely" based upon the actual history of those times, and they are something of a mixture of history and folklore, but also naturally fiction, as the book is a novel.  

The movie, set in about 1193-94, centers around Wilfred of Ivanhoe, played by Robert Taylor. Ivanhoe is a knight returned from the Holy Land, who wants to raise ransom money to free England's king, Richard I, who is better known to history as Richard the Lionhearted (played by Norman Wooland). Richard is being held captive by Duke Leopold of Austria. * Richard's brother, Prince John, despicably played by Guy Rolfe, knows of Richard's plight, but, along with some Norman knights, he wants to let Richard remain imprisoned, so that he can rule England.**

Ivanhoe's father, Cedric the Saxon, played by Finlay Currie, was descended from the displaced Saxon nobility, whose members were ousted by the Normans after defeating the Saxons in late 1066. Cedric is no lover of the Normans. *** While Cedric has respect for King Richard, he feels that Richard should have governed England, instead of going off to the Holy Land, which led to the country coming under the partial rule of Richard's brother, Prince John, a man Cedric feels is only interested in his own well being, and who is not dedicated to England. Cedric disowned his son, Ivanhoe, because Ivanhoe went against his wishes and also went off to fight in the Holy Land. Now Ivanhoe wants to repair the relationship with his father to help free Richard. Further, Cedric has under his care a Saxon princess, Rowena, played by Joan Fontaine. Ivanhoe and Rowena are in love, and she longs for news of Ivanhoe. Secretly, Ivanhoe is brought to her by Cedric's "fool" (jester), Wamba, played by Emlyn Williams, who then is taken by Ivanhoe as his squire. When Ivanhoe removes the servant's iron from around Wamba's neck, placed there when he was only eleven years old, it is the symbol of the freedom theme of the film, as Richard needs to be freed, Wamba needed to be freed, Jews need to be freed of bigotry and hatred (more on this below) and England needs to be freed from Prince John and Norman rule.

In the dining hall of Cedric's residence, where some of Prince John's Norman knights have been granted permission to stay the night by Cedric, an elderly Jew, Isaac of York, played by Felix Aylmer, asks for  admittance. Cedric gives his permission, although one of the Normans, Brian de Bois-Guilbert, played by George Sanders, voices opposition to having to be under the same roof with an "infidel." Cedric essentially tells the Norman that he has no right to exclude anyone based upon his own prejudices, since he, Cedric, admitted the Normans to his hall, although he doesn't like them. When Isaac enters, the hall is full and no one will give him a seat except Ivanhoe, who is there, unknown to his father. When Cedric later learns of his son's presence, he tells him to leave, but not before Ivanhoe tells his father that Richard is alive and being held for ransom.

Ivanhoe helps to defend Isaac against an attack and robbery by two Norman knights. He escorts Isaac back to Isaac's actual home, where he sees, and is seen by, Isaac's daughter, Rebecca, played by Elizabeth Taylor, but the two are not introduced. Ivanhoe asks for Isaac's help in raising Richard's ransom, but Isaac is at first skeptical to help Richard, as there had been public violence against Jews after Richard became king. Ivanhoe tries to convince him that if Richard returns from captivity, that Richard will see to it that there is better treatment of Jews, but that to allow Prince John to remain as ruler would be disaster.**** Isaac agrees to try to raise money to fill any deficit in the ransom money, after all other sources have been tried. Ivanhoe also needs money for a good horse and knight's armor to compete in an upcoming jousting tournament against the Norman knights, but Isaac is reluctant. Later, however, Rebecca goes to Ivanhoe and gives him some jewels left to her by her mother. This is where the two truly meet and there are some love sparks between them, complicating Ivanhoe's long love affair with Rowena, but also complicated by Rebecca being a Jew, as "mixed" relationships, in those times, were not accepted. 

The film's presentation of the jousting tournament is a good one. Here again we have the "Saxon versus Norman" theme in full focus (get it? film, camera, full focus? I just made that up quickly). Only a few people in attendance know that it is Ivanhoe who is representing the Saxons, although after he fells several Norman knights, Locksley, played by Harold Warrender, knows it can only be Ivanhoe beneath the armor. Locksley tells Ivanhoe that he and his men now belong to Ivanhoe's service.***** So now Ivanhoe has an actual military force, of sorts, at his disposal. But with only Bois-Guilbert left to be faced on the Norman side in the tournament, Ivanhoe had been badly wounded in his shoulder in the previous match. Prince John has this wounded knight brought before him (still unknown that it is Ivanhoe) to ask if he will submit and join with him; bringing a stinging insult from Ivanhoe in front of the whole crowd, and infuriating John. Ivanhoe rides against Bois-Guilbert, but while he staggers the Norman, Bois-Guilbert barely remains on his horse, but Ivanhoe, weakened by his shoulder wound, falls from his horse and is carried off. Cedric, in attendance, also knows it is his son who has been competing against the Normans, and he sends Rowena to see how badly Ivanhoe is hurt. When she gets to the tent with Ivanhoe, Rebecca, who is in love with Ivanhoe, is already there checking Ivanhoe's wound. Rebecca and Isaac had been in the stands for the tournament. Rowena is stunned by Rebecca's presence with Ivanhoe, but Rebecca tells her she can heal Ivanhoe's wound, as she learned treatments from a woman who had been burned at the stake for being a witch.****** Rowena consents and Ivanhoe is taken with Isaac and Rebecca to their home.

As Ivanhoe recovers, Locksley finds out that Prince John has learned Ivanhoe's identity, where he is and that he is trying to raise the money to free Richard. John sends Bois-Guilbert and other knights to capture Ivanhoe. He also wants Isaac and Rebecca, as he has also learned that Isaac is helping to raise Richard's ransom. Isaac and Rebecca go with Cedric, while Locksley takes Ivanhoe to the forest with him for safety, until Ivanhoe's wounds are completely healed. When Bois-Guilbert and the other Normans arrive at Isaac's, everyone is gone. He learns that Isaac and Rebecca have gone with Cedric. Bois-Guilbert is very taken with Rebecca and wants her for himself, so he decides to go after her, her father and Cedric, figuring that the capture of these people will bring Ivanhoe out of hiding, and give him Rebecca too. One of the other Norman knights, Hugh De Bracy, played by Robert Douglas, warns Bois-Guilbert that taking Cedric will only stir Saxon hatred against them, as he realizes that Bois-Guilbert is taking a big risk so he can get Rebecca. The Normans capture Cedric, Issac, Rebecca, Rowena and Wamba and take them to Torquilstone, a castle under the control of Norman knight Front De Boeuf, played by Francis de Wolff.

Ivanhoe comes to the castle to offer himself in exchange for the freedom of the others. Bois-Guilbert accepts and has Ivanhoe enter Torquilstone, only to have Ivanhoe locked up without releasing any of the others. Rebecca asks Bois-Guilbert the price to have her father released and he tells her, she is the price. He knows she loves Ivanhoe, so he tells her he has Ivanhoe locked up in the castle. Locksley comes to the castle gate to ask for the release of the prisoners, but Bois-Guilbert and De Bracy scorn him, only to have throngs of Saxon bowmen come out of hiding in the brush and forest around the castle. Bois-Guilbert has De Boeuf bring Ivanhoe to the top of one of the castle towers. He tells Locksley to take his men and leave or Ivanhoe will be hanged. Ivanhoe scuffles with De Boeuf and Locksley kills one of the Normans on the tower. Saxon arrows rain down on the castle from all sides. Ivanhoe heads to the area where his father, Isaac and Wamba are being held and frees them. A fire breaks out during the sword fighting in the interior part of the castle, as some oil is spilled. The freed prisoners add anything that will burn to the fire, only adding to the Norman troubles. De Boeuf and some other Normans engage in a sword fight with Ivanhoe, Cedric and Wamba, with De Boeuf forcing Wamba into the burning part of the castle, where he dies, but De Boeuf is himself then killed by Ivanhoe. Meanwhile, the Saxons are storming the walls of the castle and break open the castle gate. Realizing the castle is lost, Bois-Guilbert and De Bracy decide to take Rebecca and Rowena with them on horseback to try to escape. De Bracy is stopped by Ivanhoe, which saves Rowena, but Bois-Guilbert manages to escape with Rebecca. 

Prince John decides to put Rebecca on trial for witchcraft, much to the objection of Bois-Guilbert, which does no good. Witnesses are forced to testify to untruths against Rebecca, and she is given a sentence of "death by fire;" that is, she is to be burned at the stake. Ivanhoe is in the crowd and comes forth to say he wants Rebecca's fate to be decided by combat, with Ivanhoe against whomever the court chooses to fight for it. Prince John chooses Bois-Guilbert, who is determined to do his best, as Rebecca still loves Ivanhoe.

In the meantime, the ransom has been paid and Richard arrives back in England and, along with a large number of knights who support him, he heads to see his brother, Prince John. The death struggle between Ivanhoe and Bois-Guilbert takes place, but Ivanhoe finally prevails. A dying Bois-Guilbert says goodbye to Rebecca, who will now be free, especially so, because in rides Richard and his knights, and John and his supporters fall to one knee to show submission to the king. In the end though, Ivanhoe and Rowena are together and Rebecca accepts what has happened.

* The movie keeps it simple, but Richard was initially held by Duke Leopold, who was excommunicated by the pope for taking Richard, a Crusader, prisoner. The duke then turned Richard over to German emperor, Henry VI, to whom any ransom was to be paid. 

** While Richard I has enjoyed a powerful reputation for his military prowess, he was king of England for ten years, but he actually spent only a total of a few months of his rule in England. Indeed, Richard is not even buried in England, but rather in France. While the details of the scheming and actions taken after Richard left for the Holy Land is rather complex, essentially Richard's brother, John, and some knights, contested Richard's designated administrator, William Longchamp. John and his followers set up a parallel government in hopes of gaining control of all of England.  

*** England had been conquered by William, Duke of Normandy (in France), in late 1066, brought about by a dispute over the English throne. Because of this, William came to be known as "William the Conqueror." William gave many of his knights land in England as payment for their service, and to help him rule the relatively hostile English population, a population that remained hostile long after William died. Not only were the Normans seen as foreign invaders, but they created their own nobility, leaving the former Anglo-Saxon nobles out of any rule of the country. Further, the population was so divided between the overwhelming English majority, and the relatively small Norman minority, that most Normans continued to speak their Norman French dialect, and not English, for several generations, although that dialect itself naturally was altered, later being termed, "Anglo-Norman." The movie "Ivanhoe" has this Saxon versus Norman theme to it throughout, with Richard, although a Norman, seen as being the bridge between the two sides.

**** When Richard became king, his intention to go on a "Crusade" to the Holy Land brought  "Christian" religious fervor to a high pitch, which then seemingly stirred violence against England's Jewish population, with many Jews murdered. In the film, when Bois-Guilbert says he doesn't want to be under the same roof with an "infidel," Wamba says, "For every Jew you show me who's not a Christian, I'll show you a Christian who's not a Christian." When Sir Walter Scott wrote "Ivanhoe" in about 1818-19, there were attempts being made to remove discriminatory laws against Jews in England, something Scott favored very much; thus, undoubtedly a motivation to express his thoughts through his characters.

***** Locksley is the story's representation of "Robin Hood," a figure from English folklore, whose actual existence has never been proven. I'll leave it at that, as the legend of Robin Hood is a story in its own right, with numerous articles, movies and television shows depicting the famous character to a public in love with the overall story.  

****** In those times, just about any medical treatments not understood were apt to be charged as witchcraft or sorcery. Come to think of it, we still have those today who fear medicine and science.

Photo is from the 2005 Warner Home Entertainment DVD

WORD HISTORY:
Angle/Angling-English has a couple words of this spelling, but this is for the noun meaning, "fishing, to be fishing/angling," and the verb meaning, "to use a hook to try to catch fish;" thus, more commonly, "to go fishing;" thus also the figurative, "try to get something from someone by 'hooking them' with persuasive talk." It goes back to the Indo European root, "ank, "which had the meaning, "to bend." This gave Old Germanic "angulo," which meant, "hook." This gave Old English "angul," which then became Old English "angel," which meant, "fishing hook, fish hook." Later the spelling changed to "angle" and then the more common modern noun form, "angling." The verb was derived from the noun "seemingly" in the late Old English period as, "anglelen/anglen," before the modern, "to angle." Forms in the other Germanic languages: German and Low German Saxon have the noun "Angel" (fishing rod with line and hook) and the verb "angeln" (to fish, to angle, also the figurative, "to hook or try to hook a man/woman for a date or husband/bride), Dutch has "angel" (fishhook, hook), West Frisian "angel" (fishing rod with line and hook). ^  The other Germanic languages now rely pretty much on their forms of the English verb "(to) fish," and German too uses both, "angeln and fischen," as synonyms, just as does English. 

^ Both Dutch and West Frisian have another meaning of the noun, "(a) sting," from the notion of the insect or sea creature "hooking" them with their barb.