What's In A Name: Jacob, James, Guinevere

Jacob-This name is from transliterated Hebrew "Ya'aqov," which seems to have meant, "one who follows on the heels of and takes the place of another;" thus, "a supplanter." Greek borrowed the name as transliterated "Iakobos," which was then borrowed by Latin as "Iacobus." English took the name as "Jacob" from the Latin form, which also had a variant form of the name, as "Jacomus." This second form passed into French as "James," which was borrowed by English and became widely used by Christians, in preference to "Jacob," which was thought of by many as a Jewish name. Other common forms of "Jacob," outside of English, are "Jakob," "Yakov," "Giacomo" and "Yakub." Another form of "James" is "Jaime."

Guinevere-This is from Welsh "Gwenhwyfar," which "seemingly" meant "fair and smooth." * At some point after the Normans conquered England in late 1066, they rendered the name as "Guenevere." Famously, "Guinevere" is the name of King Arthur's wife in the writings about the legendary leader of a part of the the Celtic people who were resisting the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Briton. Some of those Celtic people survived the Anglo-Saxons in Cornwall,** in southwestern England, where the name came to be rendered as "Jennifer."  

* Some sources believe the meaning to have been "white ghost/spirit."

** The original language of Cornwall was "Cornish," one of the Celtic languages, and closely related to Welsh and Breton (from Brittany in France). It has declined, as English prevailed as the primary language in Cornwall, but it is still spoken as a second language by some there, while others know at least some words or phrases.

For these names, I consulted: 1) "A World of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003. 2) Behindthename.com

WORD HISTORY:
Glee-There is a problem with "glee's" history. This word, related to "glad" and to "glisten," both from Germanic, goes back to Indo European "ghel," which had the notion "to shine, to cause or to bring light," with the extended meaning, "to bring joy or happiness." Many sources cite some Old Germanic offspring from the Indo European form, but the problem I have is, where are the forms in other Germanic languages, although Old Norse had "gly," which meant "joy, gladness." I wonder if, in fact, "glee" is not just a shortened form of "glad," which was "glæd" in English long ago, or an English invention fashioned out of "glæd" as an intensifier, as while "glad" means "happy, pleased, cheerful," it does not convey the intensity of joy that "glee" signifies. In Old English, "glee" was rendered as both "gleo" and "gliw" and meant, "joy, merriment, jesting, mirth." Further, in Old English, a "gleoman" was a "jester" or a "minstrel." Could it be that the forms of "glee" back then were more often applied to "joy" provided by performers/entertainers who made people "gleeful?" "Glad" often expresses a sense of cheerfulness derived from "satisfaction;" as in, "I'm glad your son chose to go to college." "Perhaps" the Old Norse form could have been borrowed FROM English. The Old English forms melded into "gle," before doubling the "e" for the modern version. 

Game Hen with Herbed Rice & Squash

In place of acorn squash, you could also use some cut up pumpkin or butternut squash. Make sure to use a pan or baking dish that is large enough to hold the ingredients, as the rice will naturally expand as it cooks.

Ingredients:

2 Cornish hens, each rubbed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt,  black pepper and dried sage leaves
1 acorn squash, peeled, seeded and chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
4 scallions, chopped (with some of the green)
1 cup rice
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
10 to 12 fresh sage leaves, torn or chopped
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Heat the oven to 300 F. In a baking dish or pan, put the rice, the acorn squash, the chopped garlic, the chopped scallions, the sage leaves, the thyme, the black pepper and the vegetable broth. Mix the seasonings in throughout the rice. Rub the olive oil on the Cornish hens and add the seasonings to the hens, as given in the ingredients, above. Place the hens on top of the rice/squash mixture. Place in the oven, uncovered. Bake for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, or until the rice and squash are tender. If the liquid is absorbed, but the rice is not quite done, you can add a little more broth, or even a little water. Carefully remove the hens from the top of the rice and squash, then stir the rice a little to mix in the juices from the cooked hens.

Click to enlarge the photo...

WORD HISTORY:
Acre-This word goes back to Indo European "agerh," which had the idea "open land, field," but also, "forest land." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "akraz," which meant, "field." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "æcer," meaning, "field, land sown with seed to produce food, tilled land, a measurement of land that could be tilled in a day." This then became "aker," then "acre" (by influence of the French spelling),^ and eventually it took on the most prominent and specific measurement meaning, "4840 square yards of land." Forms in the other Germanic languages: German and Low German Saxon have "Acker" (field used for farming),^^ West Frisian "eker" (field, land for farming), Dutch "akker" (field for farming), Danish "ager" (field), Icelandic "akur" (field), Norwegian and Swedish "åker" (field typically used for farming).

^ Old French borrowed the word from Old Norse "akr," with reinforcement by Old English "æcer."

^^ Just as its English cousin, German also used the word for a specific measurement of land, although that is not its primary meaning in modern times. 

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-Two

Gun control was a hot topic in 1993 and Congress passed the "Brady Bill," which required background checks on gun purchases, with a five day waiting period for gun purchases. The bill was named for Ronald Reagan's press secretary, James Brady, who had been seriously wounded during the assassination attempt on Reagan in 1981. The former president wrote an editorial supporting passage of the bill, although the National Rifle Association (also known as, the "NRA") strongly opposed it. So Ronald Reagan supported some gun control. The bill passed both houses of Congress in slightly different forms, which meant the measure had to go to a conference committee of members from both the Senate and the House, which then agreed to changes to make the bill uniform. That measure was then passed by both houses, and then signed into law by President Clinton in late November 1993.

The vote by senators (two from each state) from former Confederate states went this way: Alabama, 2 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats for; Florida, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Georgia, 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats against; Mississippi, 2 Republicans against; North Carolina, 2 Republicans against; South Carolina, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat against; Tennessee, 2 Democrats for; Texas, 1 Republican for, 1 Republican against; Virginia, 1 Republican for, 1 Democrat for. The votes by representatives in former Confederate states in the House of Representatives: Alabama, 3 Republicans against, 4 Democrats against; Arkansas, 2 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against; Florida, 8 Democrats for, 8 Republican for, 2 Democrats against, 5 Republicans against; Georgia, 4 Democrats for, 3 Democrats against, 4 Republicans against; Louisiana, 2 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 2 Republicans against, (1 Republican and 1 Democrat did not vote); Mississippi, 1 Democrat for, 3 Democrats against, (1 Democrat did not vote); North Carolina, 8 Democrats for, 1 Republican for, 3 Republicans against; South Carolina, 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans against; Tennessee, 4 Democrats for, 1 Democrat against, 3 Republicans against, (1 Democrat did not vote); Texas, 8 Democrats for, 13 Democrats against, 9 Republicans against; Virginia, 3 Democrats for, 2 Republicans for, 4 Democrats against, 2 Republicans against.  

WORD HISTORY:
Gun-This word is a shortening of "Lady Gunilda" (also "Gunhilda"), a term applied in England for some weapons that flung rocks or fired arrows, beginning in the 1300s. It was also applied to the developing weaponry that used gun powder to propel projectiles. The use of female names for weapons is not uncommon, including "Big Bertha" and "Brown Bess." The "gun" part was from Old Norse "gunnr," which meant, "war, battle, strife." This went back to Indo European "gwhen," which meant "to hit, to beat, to wound, to kill (presumably by beating/hitting)." This then gave Old Germanic "gund," meaning, "battle, strife, war," but which "apparently" only survived in the North Germanic branch of Germanic, although it later spread elsewhere in name forms by way of contact with other languages, both Germanic and non-Germanic. ^ Whatever the case, the shortened form was often rendered as "gunne/gonne," before settling upon "gun."

^ German has the name "Gunther/Günther," which has the same first part, but did they get it from Old Norse (North Germanic)? English; that is, Anglo-Saxon, the ancestral homeland of which lies in northern Germany and the northwestern Netherlands, does not seem to have had the word, or a form of the name way back, although it was acquired later.

Thai Shrimp Soup, Spicy or Mild

This is a GREAT soup. If you like "heat," you can add another tablespoon of chili paste, but if you do not like "heat," use just one tablespoon. Thai chili paste or sambal oelek chili paste are available in supermarkets and Asian markets.  

Ingredients:

1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined 
1/2 cup rice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
3 cups vegetable stock 
1 can unsweetened coconut milk (13.5 ounce can)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons Thai chili paste or sambal oelek chili paste
3 green onions/scallions, including most of the green part
1 stalk lemon grass or 1 teaspoon ground/powdered lemon grass (optional) *
1 inch piece ginger, chopped
juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

In a heavy bottomed pan, add the broth, the rice, the fish sauce, the red bell pepper, the chili paste, the scallions, the ginger, and the fresh lemon grass (if using, or add ground form in next step). Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce to low heat. Simmer until rice is almost tender. Add the shrimp, the lime juice and the cilantro leaves (also the ground lemon grass, if using). Cook just until the shrimp are about done, then immediately add the coconut milk, stirring well to mix. Let the soup heat up again, and then remove it from the heat. (Note: If the soup gets too thick, you can always add some more vegetable broth, a little at a time, until you reach the desired consistency.)   

* Lemon grass is a plant that grows in long stalks. It is used to some degree on parts of the Indian Subcontinent, but it is used extensively in Southeast Asian cuisine. In more recent times, it is available in some U.S. supermarkets or Asian stores. The outer layers of the stalk will need to be peeled off and discarded, and the more tender interior can be chopped up for use in cooking. It has something of a citrus flavor and aroma; after all, it IS called "lemon grass." It is also available in ground (powdered) form, and it is something you might want to try using, either fresh or ground.

WORD HISTORY:
Slurp-The origin of this word is presumably imitative of sound, and there are similar words in other Indo European languages that have to do with taking in food or liquids. In Old Germanic the imitation produced "slurphan/slorphan," with the meaning, "to sip, drink or eat noisily." This gave Old Low Franconian (the Germanic dialects that became Dutch) "slorpen," with the same meanings, and this then became "slurpen." English borrowed the word from Dutch in the first half of the 1600s. Because of the word originating as an imitative word for sound, there are a number of relatives, with varied spellings and slight variations in meanings: German has "schlürfen" (to sip or drink noisily), but also, "schlurfen" (to drag your foot or feet along noisily when walking), Low German Saxon has "slubbern" (drink noisily) and "slarpen" and "slurren" (drag your feet noisily), Danish "slubre" (slurp), Norwegian "slurpe" (sip/drink noisily), Swedish "slurpa" (drink/sip) and seemingly "slurka" (drink in big gulps).

Hitler Thought He Was A Genius Too

Well... recently we had Donald Trump declare himself to be "a very stable genius," so I thought I'd do a little piece on something Hitler had said.

Traudl Junge was one of Hitler's personal secretaries for the last two and one half years of his life. After the war, she wrote down the recollections of her time in that secretarial position, but then those actual recollections were not published until 2002 (2003, in English), after Viennese writer Melissa Müller* found Junge and did a series of video interviews with her. Müller published Junge's postwar notes in a book called, "Bis zur letzten Stunde" ("Until the Last Hour"). The notes were published without corrections to mistakes, and only with notations indicating illegible words or phrases, although Müller added extensive footnotes of her own to the back of the book to correct the errors, as well as to give a bit of background on the various people Junge mentioned, as many people on Hitler's staff and in his immediate circle were not generally known to the public. The video interviews, which largely parallel Junge's notes, were also released on DVD as, "Im Toten Winkel"("Blindspot," literally, "In the dead angle"), and with English subtitles. In her notes, as well as in the interview with Müller, Junge tells how Hitler had said that he hadn't married because he could not devote sufficient time to a wife, and that he did not want children of his own, as he believed, "offspring of geniuses have a difficult time in the world" ("Nachkommen von Genies haben es meist sehr schwer in der Welt"). And that these children were expected to be of the same caliber as their famous parent and that they wouldn't be excused for being just average. "Moreover, they are mostly Cretins" ("Außerdem werden es meistens Kretins;" that is, "idiots").** And Junge then comments about how she thought it odd that Hitler considered himself to be a genius, and that Hitler's statement made her flinch inside ("innerlich gezuckt"). It should be noted, by the time Traudl Junge, then known by her maiden name, Traudl Humps, went to work for Hitler, German cities were becoming ever greater targets of Allied air attacks. Wow, what a genius!

* Melissa Müller is the author of "Anne Frank: The Biography," first released in 1998.

** German text from, "Bis zur letzten Stunde," 2011 German paperback edition, by Traudl Junge in cooperation with Melissa Müller, List Taschenbuch

WORD HISTORY:
Genius-This word, related to Latin-derived "genus," and to "genealogy," a word tracing back to Greek, both words borrowed by English, goes back to Indo European "gen," which had the notion, "offspring, produce." This gave its Latin offspring the verb "gignere," meaning "to produce, to give birth to." This then produced the Latin noun "genius," which meant, "guardian spirit which accompanies and guides a person from the time of birth," but also, in some cases, "the intellect of a person."This was borrowed into English in the second half of the 1300s with the "guardian spirit" meaning, along with the secondary meaning of "intellect," but it wasn't until the 1600s that the "intellect" meaning became primary, with the added, "high intellectual capacity" meaning. German borrowed its form of the word, "Genie," from French in the 1700s.

A Type of German Potato Pancake: Pickert

"Pickert," a German word that is spelled the same in both the singular and in the plural,* is used for a potato pancake type dish made with yeast. The dish is common in the Westphalia region (German: Westfalen), and a well known part of the cuisine of the city of Lippe within that region. There are slight variations in some recipes, or in the shapes and accompaniments for the Pickert. Generally, they are served with at least one of the following: apple sauce, plum jam, butter, various fruit compotes, sugar beet syrup, or, especially in the city of Lippe, liverwurst. Yes, liverwurst!** Please be sure to try the liverwurst topped Pickert, they are delicious. 

Ingredients:

3 cups grated potatoes (no big pieces, or it will not cook properly)
3 cups flour
4 eggs
2 cups milk (about 1/4 cup just heated to lukewarm only)
1 packet dried yeast
1 cup raisins
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons salt
vegetable oil, canola oil or regular olive oil for frying

Dissolve the yeast in the 1/4 cup barely lukewarm milk, set it aside for a few minutes. In a bowl, add the other ingredients, except the oil, and then stir in the milk/yeast mixture. Mix well until a thick batter forms. "If" you need a little more flour to tighten the batter, mix the flour in a little at a time until you reach a batter that is thick, but still able to be poured. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let the dough sit for about an hour. Heat some oil in a skillet over medium heat (cast iron is good for this, but certainly not mandatory). Put enough dough into the heated oil for each pancake to be "about" 3 inches in diameter, but the pancakes do not need to be perfectly shaped into rounds; in fact, they are traditionally somewhat irregular in shape, often more oblong. Fry the pancakes until golden brown on both sides. Drain the Pickert on paper towels.

* For those learning German, the singular form is masculine; thus, "der Pickert."

** For homemade liverwurst/Leberwurst: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/01/homemade-liverwurst.html

I had these with some plum jam and liverwurst.

WORD HISTORY:
Earn-This word goes back to Indo European "osen," which meant, "harvest time, late summer." This gave Old Germanic "asni," with the same meaning, but also, by extension, "harvest work, work in the fields to bring in the yield." ^ This produced the Old Germanic verb "asnon/aznon," which meant, "to work in the fields, to work at harvesting." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "earnian," with the meaning, "to work toward, to strive toward, to be rewarded for work." This then became "earnen/ernen," before settling on "earn." There seems to have been a variant pronunciation within some of the West Germanic dialects long ago (English is West Germanic), which replaced the "s" with "r," but it was not always, nor among all of the dialects. German has "ernten" (to harvest, to bring in the yield of the fields), Low German Saxon has "oornen" (harvest). Long ago, English had "ern" and Old High German had the close form "arn," both of which meant "harvest" (noun).    

^ The Germanic form gave Old English "esne," which meant, "worker or servant who was hired or who  owed part of the harvest from use of land (by agreement)." Low German had "asne," which transferred the meaning from "worker" to the income for the worker, as it meant "wages, income," so you see the move by this close relative of English toward what would evolve into the modern English meaning.

Chorizo Burgers

"Chorizo" is a Spanish sausage, usually made with smoked paprika. The sausages are put into casings and dried. Generally, these sausages do not have to be cooked, and they can be eaten after the curing process, although they may be cooked when added to recipes. Spain's former colonies also adopted "chorizo," although at times with variations. In the case of Mexico, chorizo tends to be an uncured "bulk" ground sausage, with various seasonings, including some "heat," and the sausage needs to be cooked. The influences of Mexican cuisine on Texas and the southwestern United States has made this type of chorizo the more predominant type in the U.S., in general. For this recipe, you can make the chorizo patties whatever size you like. Piquillo peppers are generally sweet red peppers about 2 1/2 inches or so long (7 cm). They are often from Spain, or from a few areas in South America. They have a "slightly" different taste from other types of roasted red peppers, but if you can't find "piquillo peppers," you can certainly substitute regular roasted red peppers. Piquillo peppers can be found in many supermarkets, either in the section with jars of peppers and pickles, or perhaps in the "Latino" section. 

Ingredients:

sandwich buns or rolls
Mexican (bulk) chorizo
onion, chopped
piquillo peppers, or red bell pepper
avocado
mayonnaise
adobo seasoning (homemade or commercial) *
Swiss cheese slices

You can vary the amounts for each ingredient, as you choose. Form the chorizo into patties and fry them, along with the chopped onion, over medium or medium low heat. I generally choose medium low heat to try to prevent a hard crust from forming on the patties. Move the onions around to prevent them from burning. Remember, this is raw meat, so it must be cooked thoroughly. On sandwich/hamburger buns or the bread rolls of your choice, spread some mayonnaise on the top portion, and put some sliced avocado on the bottom part. You can add the Swiss cheese slices to the chorizo patties right near the end of cooking to melt the cheese a bit. When done, place the cheese-topped chorizo burgers onto the buns. Add some of the softened fried onions on top of each, as well as some piquillo pepper. Sprinkle a little adobo seasoning on each sandwich to finish.

* For homemade adobo: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/adobo-seasoning.html

WORD HISTORY:
Bulk-This word, distantly related to "belly," ^ goes back to Indo European "bhel," which meant, "to swell," from which a derivative developed, "bhelg," with the same meaning. This gave Old Germanic "buka," meaning, "main part of the body, the trunk, the torso;" but with that part of the body having the abdomen, it also came to be used for, "belly." Old Norse, from the North Germanic branch of Germanic, had "bulki," which was used in reference to "the main body of cargo on a ship;" thus then also gradually applied to "large number of items, large volume of something," in general, as well as to the storage area/cargo hold. English borrowed the word in the 1400s as "bolke," which then became "bulk," with the primary meaning, "a large number of items, large volume of something," and the secondary meaning being, "the main body of something" (example: "A few sprinkles of rain came, but the bulk of the storm was still 50 miles away.")   

^ Also distantly related to a word now only used in parts of Britain as a dialect term, "bouk," which means, "main part of the body, torso," but also means, "belly." Close relative German still has "Bauch," meaning "belly." Like its German cousin, the English word once was limited to the "belly" meaning, but it seems to have taken the "torso" or "trunk of the body" meaning from Old Norse, which had both meanings, "torso" and "belly." Low German Saxon has "Buuk," Dutch has "buik," West Frisian has "búk," Danish has "bug," Swedish and Norwegian have "buk," all of which mean "belly." 

Weißwurst, Very Bavarian!

This is something I've periodically fixed over the years, and it's VERY Bavarian! This is a famous plate served in Bavaria before midday: Weißwurst (or "Weisswurst," literally, "white sausage"), pretzel (called "Brezn" in Bavarian dialect),* sweet mustard (süßer Senf) and wheat beer (Weizenbier). Before refrigeration became popular, Weißwurst was served before midday, as the sausages had no preservatives in them, so they needed to be eaten pretty quickly to keep them from spoiling. Similarly for the pretzels, which would begin to lose their soft inside texture after a time. So, the tradition began out of necessity, and it continues to this day.

Weißwursts (German plural: Weißwürste) are typically made with ground veal, some back bacon (German: Rückenspeck), and usually some ground cardamom, mace, onion and parsley, but each sausage maker has their own recipe, and ground pork is often used too, as well as some dried lemon peel and white or black pepper. Weißwursts are packed into natural hog casings and tend to be about 4 or 5 inches in length. They are prepared by placing the sausages in "hot water," where the water temperature remains at several degrees below boiling. The Weißwursts are kept in the hot water for about 10 to 15 minutes. The point made by the Bavarians is that the casing should not split. Why? So they can take the Weißwursts from the hot water, put them on a plate and then begin to remove the casing from the mildly seasoned meat filling. Ah, hey look, if you have any complaints, tell the Bavarians. So, Weißwursts are eaten with the skin removed and accompanied by sweet mustard, another Bavarian specialty. Also traditionally served with Weißwursts are "Brezn" (pronounced as if, "bray-tsn," with the "z" pronounced like the "ts" at the end of "hits"), which is the Bavarian dialect word for pretzel. Of course, you need something to wash this food down, and "Weizenbier" (pronounced as if, "vytsen-beeah"), also termed "Weißbier," is the drink. This is "wheat beer," and in Bavaria it generally is not filtered, so the beer remains a little cloudy, but there are filtered versions, which are, thus, clear.

For Americans, while nowhere near as common as "bratwurst," Weißwurst can sometimes be found in supermarkets or in specialty meat shops, or German/Austrian shops. Imported German sweet mustard can be found in supermarkets or ethnic stores, but there are some domestic products too.** The same with wheat beer, which is now commonly produced by the many local and regional breweries that have sprung up across the U.S. in the last couple of decades or so, but there are a number of German imports available too.   

* Standard German uses both "Brezel" and "Bretzel" as the spelling for the word for "pretzel."

** I'd guess about 35 years ago, I was returning from Germany and there was an American soldier (US Army) on the plane, a common occurrence in those times, as the U.S. had hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in West Germany. He was talking with many people and he was telling them how German mustard was simply the best. He was referring to standard mustard, not the sweet mustard type. He really lavished praise on German mustard, but I must say, I "like" mustard, I don't love it, so I can't really tell you if he was right (back then). I'm much more of a ketchup guy, which may cause some Germans, including my relatives, to faint, as they by far prefer mustard. But in those times, bratwurst was becoming increasingly popular in the U.S.  

WORD HISTORY:
Split-This word goes back to Indo European "splei/spley," which had the notion, "to separate from, to split off from." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "spaldanan," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "splatan" and "asplætan," with the vowel sound and the "L" sound transposed, and both forms meaning, "to split, to cut or break parts off from the whole." These forms seem to have then died out in English ("cleave," then spelled "cleven," was the verb used to mean "to split"), and it wasn't until the mid 1500s that a form of the word was reacquired from Low German "splitten," which had the same meaning as the former English words, while Dutch seems to have used their form of the word, also spelled "splitten," at least occasionally, in reference to a "ship breaking up;" that is, "splitting apart" (wooden in those times). Other relatives in the Germanic languages: German has both "spalten" (to split),and "spleißen" (to split, to splice; that is, "bonding two split pieces together"), Dutch has "splijten" (to split), and the related, "spouwen (once spelled "spouden," and meaning, "to break up, break apart, collapse"), West Frisian "spjalte" (split), Old Norse once had the related noun "spjald" (piece of word), and Danish and Norwegian "splitte" (split, divide) seem to have been borrowed from Low German. Swedish has "spjälka" (split, cleave), while Swedish "splittra" (to splinter, to shatter, to divide) "may" be a borrowing from Low German (much contact between the Swedes and Low German speakers in the north of Germany over the centuries).    

The Former Confederacy & Modern American Politics, Part Twenty-One

A big part of Bill Clinton's campaign for the presidency had been centered around, "It's the economy stupid," an expression originally meant to keep Clinton campaign workers focused, but which, in fact, became the campaign's slogan. Once in office, Clinton and his administration pushed for, and got, a plan to raise taxes on the top 1.2% of earners, while cutting taxes for many people further down the income scale, as well as for many businesses. The tax on gasoline also was raised by 4 cents + on a gallon of gasoline. Republicans went ballistic, claiming the Clinton plan would prove to be devastating (more on this in an future part of this series). Clinton and Democrats would increasingly claim credit for the improving economy, with this legislation being the cornerstone of the administration's economic policy.

The plan eked through both houses of Congress in August 1993, as ALL Republicans in both houses voted AGAINST the measure. This is how the senate delegations from former Confederate states, of two senators from each state, voted: SENATE: Alabama: 1 Democrat for, 1 Democrat against; Arkansas: 2 Democrats for; Florida: 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Georgia: 1 Democrat against, 1 Republican against; Louisiana: 1 Democrat for, 1 Democrat against; Mississippi: 2 Republicans against; North Carolina: 2 Republicans against; South Carolina: 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against; Tennessee: 2 Democrats for; Texas: 2 Democrats against; Virginia: 1 Democrat for, 1 Republican against. The total Senate vote was 50 votes for and 50 votes against, and Vice President Al Gore (from Tennessee) cast the tie breaking vote, by naturally voting "for" the measure. In the House of Representatives, the votes by delegation from former Confederate states: Alabama: 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans and 1 Democrat against; Arkansas: 1 Democrat for, 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat against; 9 Democrats for, 1 Democrat and 13 Republicans against; Georgia: 5 Democrats for, 4 Republicans and 2 Democrats against; Louisiana: 2 Democrats for, 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats against; Mississippi: 2 Democrats for, 3 Democrats against; North Carolina: 8 Democrats for, 4 Republicans against; South Carolina: 3 Democrats for, 3 Republicans against; Tennessee: 4 Democrats for, 3 Republicans and 2 Democrats against; Texas: 15 Democrats for, 9 Republicans and 6 Democrats against; Virginia: 6 Democrats for, 4 Republicans and 1 Democrat against.


WORD HISTORY:
Booth-Some of the history of this word is a bit shaky, but this is what I've come up with, although parts of it could be altered, if I find more information. This word, related to "bower" and to the "-bor" (British: "-bour") part of "neighbor," goes back Indo European "bu/bhu," which meant, "to dwell, to live upon or in," an extended meaning from the base meaning, "to exist, to be." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "buraz," with the meaning "place where one dwells," and a derived form, "buwan," meaning, "to construct or settle for the purpose of living or shelter." English once had the verb "buan," meaning "to live, to dwell, to live in or on, to occupy." A derived form, "budo," meaning, "a place constructed for shelter," apparently developed in Old Germanic itself, or "perhaps" in its North Germanic offspring.^ Whatever the case, Old Norse had "buð" (ð=th in more modern times), seemingly meaning, "a small house or tent, an encampment." The notion of "tent, encampment" gave the meaning the sense of "temporary," or, "not sturdily built." This then carried over to an extended meaning, "a structure or enclosure of boards or material for temporary use for selling goods, and thus easily moved around." English borrowed the word from Old Norse in the mid 1100s. 

^ There are similar forms outside of Germanic, but whether these were borrowed from Germanic (I find some of it doubtful), or whether they simply followed a similar course of development on their own from the original Indo European is unclear (something a bit hard for me to completely buy into). Even sorting through the Germanic forms are difficult, as there are many words that are derived from the Germanic form, and the basic meaning had many angles to it. For example, English has "build" and German has "bauen" (meaning, "to build, to construct," but also the extended, "to cultivate the soil"). English has "bower" ("dwelling," but also once a word for "farmer," and then, "area in a garden sheltered by trees or leafy plants." German has "Bauer" (farmer, peasant," but also, "bird cage"), and there are others. Determining the direct relatives to "booth" is also challenging, but German has, "Bude" (booth, kiosk), Low German has "Bood" (booth, small shop), Swedish has "bod" (shed), Icelandic has "búð" (a shop, a booth).

Chili

 (Added note about chili and beans: 11-29-23)

"Chili" is a type of stew, based around "chilies," that certainly shows the Mexican influence on the cooking of Texas, and a dish which spread throughout the United States. It became a staple of corner diners and roadside restaurants and its popularity led to canned versions that came to be offered in supermarkets and neighborhood grocery stores. (Note: There are lots of "purists" who say chili doesn't have beans; in fact, there is even an episode of the popular comedy "The Big Bang Theory," where Sheldon, who was from Texas and played by Jim Parsons, tells everyone about chili not having beans.)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds Mexican-style chorizo (bulk or removed from casings)
2 cans (15 to 16 ounces each) dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 cup chopped onion (red or yellow)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
(optional) 1 fresh jalapeño chili pepper, chopped
1 or 2 dried red chili peppers
2 tablespoons ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dry adobo seasoning*
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon Spanish paprika (smoked)
2 1/2 cups vegetable stock
1/4 cup ground tortilla chips
2 teaspoons brown sugar

In a crock-pot/slow cooker, add all of the ingredients, except the brown sugar, the ground tortilla chips and the kidney beans. Cook on high for 75 to 90 minutes, then turn setting to low or regular and cook for another 4 1/2 to 5 hours, or until the onion is tender. Add the brown sugar and the beans at the 3 1/2 hour mark, and stir. Add the ground tortilla chips at the 4 hour mark and stir well. You can serve the chili when done, OR, to be quite honest, I think this gives the chili a far better flavor, let the chili cool down, then refrigerate it until the next day. Heat the chili again, or heat individual servings and serve with crumbled Mexican cheese (I use "cotija," which is similar to "feta"), good bread or tortilla chips.

* To make your own abobo seasoning, this is the link:    http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2017/11/adobo-seasoning.html

Served with some crumbled "cotija" cheese as a topping and some bread/roll pieces on the side

WORD HISTORY:
Orchestra-This word goes back to Indo European "ergh," which had the notion of "put something into motion." This gave its transliterated Greek offspring "erkhomhai," which had the meaning "to go, to come, to move." This then produced transliterated Greek "orcheisthai," which meant "to dance," which gave Greek "orchestra," which meant, "the specific part of the stage used for singing and dancing by performers." Latin borrowed the word from Greek and English borrowed the word from Latin in the early 1600s, by which time the meaning had altered to "the part of a theater for the chorus." The meaning then altered to "area of a theater where musicians performed," and from that also came the name for "the musicians who performed."

Greek Tzatziki & Turkish Cacik: A Sauce & Dip

Greek "tzatziki" (pronounced as if, "taht-zeekee") and Turkish "cacik" (pronounced as if, "jaw-juk") are really the same thing, a dip or a sauce, typically for use with grilled meat, with gyros or with sliced vegetables and pita bread. Other cultures in the eastern Mediterranean and the greater Middle East have similar recipes. The dish is quick and easy to make, although you can salt the cucumber first to draw out some of the liquid, if you'd like. I must have looked at 25 to 30 recipes, from both Greek and Turkish sources, and there were not great differences, but I've put the "basic recipe," and then the more notable variations below that. The Turks seemingly "tend" to use mint and olive oil more often, sometimes in combination with dill, but I also found Turkish recipes essentially like the basic recipe. A few recipes used vinegar in place of lemon juice, but only a few.       

Ingredients:

Basic recipe

2 cups plain Greek yogurt
3 cloves garlic, minced or chopped
1 1/4 cup seedless cucumber, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon dill
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white or black pepper pepper
(Optional) 1 or 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil mixed in, or drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top

Combine all ingredients, mix well. Best when chilled for at least a couple of hours, but not mandatory. 

Variation:

To the basic recipe add: 2 tablespoons dried mint, 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, in which case you can omit the dill completely, or reduce the amount of dill to 2 teaspoons

Top photo with the basic recipe/bottom photo with mint and olive oil/fresh mint leave for garnish

WORD HISTORY:
Psyche-This word, related to a number of words borrowed by English, including "psychosis" and "psychic," goes back to Indo European "bhes," which had the notion, "to breathe, to blow." This gave Ancient Greek the transliterated "psykhein," with the same meaning, but also, by extension, "to cool down, to refresh or rejuvenate." This then gave Greek the transliterated noun "psykhe," meaning, "the mind, spirit, life force, breath." This was borrowed by Latin as "psyche," and English borrowed the word from Latin in the mid 1600s. The idea of  "a person's thought process, behavior, character," all developed in psychological study by the early part of the 20th Century.  

Cheese Soup

American cheese is a blend of two or more cheeses, often including cheddar. It is most typically a shade of yellow or orange in color, but white American cheese is also sold. Generally speaking, in the United States, if you buy a hamburger of some type with cheese on it, that cheese is American cheese. Legalities in the U.S. require American cheese to be labeled as processed cheese. Some American cheese has a more distinctly aged taste and is often termed "sharp American cheese." I buy the "sharp" variety, and that's what I use for this soup, as it gives much more flavor. Garnish with some store bought or homemade croutons, or with some crumbled bacon. Just a guess, but I think you'll want to make this soup more than once.

Ingredients (4 servings)

1 1/2 cups sharp American, chopped or shredded
1/3 cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped
1/4 cup carrot, finely chopped or shredded
1 teaspoon chili pepper, finely chopped or 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon white or black pepper
2 tablespoons butter + 2 tablespoons olive oil
scant 1/4 cup flour
1 2/3 cups vegetable broth
1 2/3 cups canned (evaporated) milk
2 teaspoons sweet (non smoked) paprika + more for sprinkling on top of each serving

In a sauce pan, melt the butter with the oil over low heat. Add the onion and cook until the onion softens, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic to the onion at about the 2 minute mark. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring constantly until flour is completely mixed in. Meanwhile, in another pan, heat the vegetable broth, carrot and chili pepper over medium heat (if using cayenne pepper, heat just the broth and carrot). Simmer until carrot is softened. Back to the onion, garlic, flour mixture; increase the heat to medium, then gradually add the hot broth, stirring constantly, until the broth is all added and the mixture thickens. It will be very thick. Now gradually add the milk, stirring well to get everything mixed together. If the soup is too thick, you can add more milk a little at a time, until the soup reaches the consistency you desire. Add the white or black pepper and the paprika (add the cayenne pepper, if using), stir to blend well. Reduce heat to low. Gradually mix in the cheese until it melts. Stir often to prevent any sticking on the bottom of the pan. Do not let the soup boil. 

Cheese soup with some homemade croutons ...

WORD HISTORY:
Hardy-This word goes back to Indo European "khert/khart," variant of "k(h)rat," which had the meaning "strong, firm, powerful." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "harduz," with the same general meaning. This gave Frankish, a Germanic dialect, "hardijan," which meant "to make hard, to make strong," which was absorbed into Old French as "hardir," with the meaning, "to make hard, to harden;" thus also, "to make strong or brave." The participle form provided Old French with adjectival use as "hardi," meaning, "brave, bold." English borrowed the word from French around 1200. This is a case of English borrowing a Germanic word from another language, although the base form of that word, "hard," was an original English word. ^

^ For the history of the word "hard," this is the link to the article with that "Word History:"  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/11/whats-in-name-richard-barbara.html

Acorn or Butternut Squash & Sage Tart

This was my own idea, so if anything goes wrong, blame someone else. That may not sound right, but I'll get Sarah Huckabee Sanders to explain it to you later. I used an acorn squash about the size of a softball. Actually... I checked and found that the diameter of a softball is typically 3.8 inches or 9.65 centimeters. Just before I put the squash mix into the pie shell, I had a brilliant, very brilliant, idea. I'll have Sarah Huckabee Sanders explain how brilliant I am later and she'll tell you with a totally straight face. That girl can lie without batting an eye. Anyway, I added some mushrooms to the ingredients. You can use whatever you have, but use only one portabello (also spelled, "portobello") mushroom, as they are so big. I happened to have a few shiitake mushrooms, so I used those.    


Ingredients:

1 acorn or butternut squash
1  9 inch pie shell
about 10 fresh sage leaves, torn into 3 pieces
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
3 mushroom caps, chopped 
pinch cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 egg, beaten

First, heat the oven to 325 F. Cut the squash in half and remove the seeds. Place the squash cut side down in a shallow ovenproof pan or on a baking sheet (foil or parchment paper lined makes for easier clean up). Bake for about 1 hour, or until a knife or fork can be easily inserted into each half. Scoop out the flesh of the squash into a bowl and let it cool a bit. Put the pie shell into your preheated 375 F oven for about 6 or 8 minutes, just to firm it up. Mash the squash flesh and then add the sage leaves, the dried sage, the chopped mushrooms, the cayenne, the salt, the pepper, the flour, the cream and the beaten egg. Mix very well with a large spoon. The mixture should be very thick. Fill the pie shell with the squash mixture and bake it for approximately 45 minutes, but check it at the 30 minute mark. The tart can be served warm or cold.

WORD HISTORY: 
Squash-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the noun for the general name of the vegetable, of which there are a number of varieties. This is a shortening of a compound word, "askutasquash," from Narragansett, a language of the Algonquian languages of North America.^ The word meant, "thing eaten raw," with the "askut" part meaning, "green;" thus also, "raw," and  "asquash" meaning, "eaten."   

^ Some of the best known other members of this language family are Shawnee, Cheyenne, Cree and Arapaho, but there are many others. 

What's In A Name: Joseph, Irene

Joseph-From transliterated Hebrew "Yosef," with the idea of, "Jehovah will add." Made popular among Jews by the Old Testament son of Jacob, and made popular among Christians by the New Testament husband of Mary, as well as the Old Testament. Passed onto Muslims and Arabic, generally as "Youssef," also from the Old Testament. Passed into transliterated Greek as "Iosif," which was borrowed by Latin as "Ioseph," then also "Iosephus." The name became increasingly popular in other parts of Europe during the Middle Ages, but of course, in different forms throughout the various language groups, like: "Giuseppe" (Italian), "José" (Spanish/Portuguese), Joseph (English, French, German, although the spelling "Josef" is also sometimes used in German, as well as, Dutch). The female form of the name is "Josephine," which was borrowed by English from French "Joséphine." Likely made more popular circa 1800, as it was the name of Napoleon's first wife, the Empress Joséphine. 

Irene-This female name comes from transliterated Greek "Eirene" (pronounced as if, "i-ray-nay"), which meant "peace," "perhaps" from an original notion of "joining and working together." The name was used for the Greek goddess of peace. Originally more popular in eastern Europe, the name eventually grew in popularity in other areas of Europe in the 1800s.    

I consulted the following, so for more information on any of the names see: 1) "A Greek-English Lexicon," by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Roderick McKenzie, and Eric Arthur Barber, published by Oxford/Clarendon Press, 1940. 2) "A World Of Baby Names" by Teresa Norman, published by Perigee/Penguin Group, New York, 2003. 

WORD HISTORY:
Fathom-This word goes back to Indo European "peteh," which had the notion of "spread out." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "fathma/fathmaz," meaning, "an embrace." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon)  "fæðm/fæðme" (modern = faethm/faethme), which also meant "an embrace," but also, "a length of measurement from outstretched arms of 6 feet." This later became "fathome," before the modern version. The verb was originally "fæðmian" (=faethmian), meaning, "to grasp with outstretched arms, to embrace, to surround." Forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Faden," meaning "thread," from "a piece of thread the length of outstretched arms," but also, "a fathom, a unit of measurement (originally from outstretched arms)." It has been spelled "fadum" and "vadem" at various times. Low German Saxon has the same, "Faden," "perhaps" influenced by standard German in more modern times, but also once spelled "vadem," meaning, "length of measurement of 6 feet, the length of outstretched arms." Dutch has "vadem" (fathom), Danish and Norwegian have "favn/favne" (meaning "embrace," actually usually as "omfavne," and "fathom(s)"), Icelandic "faðma" ("embrace") and "faðmur" ("measurement of depth"), Swedish "omfamning" ("embrace") and "famn" ("fathom, armful, rope/cord").