British Salad Cream

British salad cream is similar to mayonnaise, but it ISN'T mayonnaise. Salad cream is commonly used as a topping for ... wait for it... SALADS, and for hard boiled eggs, boiled potatoes and it is used as a spread for sandwiches and as a dip for vegetables. It seems salad cream was a homemade type of dressing in Britain, with the first commercial brands making an appearance in the World War One era, with Heinz leading the way, with this brand is still heavily identified with salad cream to this day. Salad cream was taken by the British to a number of their colonies, where the creamy delight is still common in some of the now former British colonies. There are many variations in recipes, with some people making mayonnaise first, then adding ingredients to turn it into their version of salad cream.

Ingredients:

 

6 ounces heavy cream, very cold

2 hard boiled egg yolks

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons sugar

1 heaping teaspoon powdered sugar

1/4 ground white pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt   

Put all of the ingredients into a small blender and blend until it thickens. If the salad cream is too thick, add a teaspoon of milk and stir it in by hand, repeat until the desired thickness is reached, but keeping it a little too thick is best, as the cream will begin to break down the longer you keep it. I tend to like sauces that are thick, I mean THICK (see photos below), so I blend my salad cream until it is the consistency of mayonnaise, but it's my understanding that commercial brands are more like salad dressing; that is, thick, but pourable.

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Ceiling-This word is related to "conceal" and "color," words of Latin derivation borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and it is distantly related, through Indo European, to "hell/Hell," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Ceiling" goes back to Indo European "kel/khel," which meant "to cover." This gave Latin the verb "celare," meaning "to cover, to cover up, to hide," which passed to Latin-based Old French as "celer," meaning "to hide, to keep secret," with a secondary meaning of "to cover walls with paneling." English borrowed this as "celen," meaning, "to put a cover over," and not long thereafter, "to cover the walls with paneling" (seemingly then specifically "oak paneling"), circa 1200? A noun, "celynge" developed in the mid 1300s, meaning "the action or process of covering walls with paneling" (the ending "ynge" was an old form of modern "ing"). The 1530s saw the word, now spelled "ceiling," used for "the interior overhead part of a room," with likely influence in meaning from the similar Latin word "caelum," which meant "sky," but used in religious contexts for "heaven," which was usually seen as "in the sky/skies." (Note: Latin "caelum" is thought to be from a totally different source, which makes it unrelated to "ceiling.") The meaning "cover with oak wood paneling" died out over time, but lasted regionally until the second half of the 1800s. The word is used figuratively to indicate an upper limit on something, for example: "The city puts a ceiling on rents," or "The building has a ceiling on the number of occupants because of fire safety regulations."  

Egyptian Potato Salad

Mention Egypt to people and likely several things will pop into their minds: the pyramids, the Nile River, the Suez Canal, the pharaohs of ancient times, and perhaps a few biblical references, especially to Moses. Egypt has long been a fascination to people beyonds it's own area, and this country of about 100 million people is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim, but with a Christian (usually Coptic) minority of "somewhere around" 10%. Egypt saw more than 300 years of Turkish rule (Ottoman Empire) beginning in the 1500s, which was interrupted for three years by Napoleon's French occupation (1798-1801). The British maintained "a kind of protectorate" with Egypt beginning in the 1880s and many British and French business people invested in the company that helped to build, and then to run, the Suez Canal during much of the last quarter of the 1800s and into the 1900s (Note: the territory of the canal was Egyptian, but the foreign owned company provided money to complete, maintain and operate the canal, with the canal's operation being totally turned over to Egypt in 1956). While some important and famous battles took place in Egypt during World War Two (especially "Tobruk," "El Alamein") "technically" Egypt was a neutral country during the time of those battles, and Egypt did not declare war on any country until 1945, when it declared war on Germany and Japan. I know it was an odd situation, and Egypt had its own armed forces and for a couple of years air raids were fairly common, but the British had long kept military forces stationed in Egypt, especially around the Suez Canal, Cairo and the Mediterranean port of Alexandria. It wasn't until 1956 that Britain, by agreement, withdrew its military forces from Egypt.  

 

There is no mayonnaise or vinegar in this potato salad, rather it is something right out of Egyptian cuisine, with olives, lots of various herbs and lemon juice. The optional use of honey is my own addition, as I'm not a fan of sour tastes, but if Egyptians were to use a sweetener, it likely would be honey, and maybe some do use it. Be sure to use fresh herbs, not dried. Regardless of the type of potatoes you use, you want them more or less cut into bite size pieces. I often prefer to leave the skins on potatoes, as I have done for the photos here, but to be honest, most recipes I've seen use peeled potatoes.

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes (or a dozen small), boiled in their skins, then cooled, peeled, cut into chunks

6 green onions, chopped (with green part)

3 cloves garlic, chopped

10 pitted Kalamata dark olives, halved

10 pitted green olives, halved

1 heaping tablespoon chopped dill

2 tablespoons chopped coriander (also known as cilantro)

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped mint

(optional) 1/2 to 1 teaspoon finely chopped red chili

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup olive oil

(optional) 2 to 3 tablespoons honey (mixed into the lemon juice)

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt 

 

In a large bowl, add the potato pieces, chopped green onions, chopped garlic, dark and green olive halves, chopped dill, chopped cilantro (coriander), chopped parsley, chopped mint, optional finely chopped red chili. Mix everything together. In a mixing cup or bowl, mix together the lemon juice, optional honey, olive oil, ground cumin and salt. Mix it well to incorporate the honey, if using. Sprinkle the ground cumin and salt over the salad, then pour the dressing over the salad and mix everything together well. Serve immediately or chill it in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

 

WORD HISTORY: 

Pyramid-There is a theory about the origin of the word "pyramid" and its application to this tomb structure that rests upon the belief that a type of wheat cake was the basis of the name. One of the problems for us in modern times is, how can we confirm what these wheat cakes looked like? Here is why this theory is prevalent to some: transliterated Greek had "puramis" or "pyramis" (plural: "pyramides"), which meant "a pyramid of Egypt," but also, "a cake of wheat grains and honey." The idea is, the Greek word came from transliterated Egyptian "pimar," which apparently meant "pyramid," but may have also been the name for the wheat cake, as the assumption is, the Greeks not only took the word, but also its meanings from Egyptian. The thing is, Ancient Greek "pyrós" or "purós" meant "wheat" (perhaps more specifically "roasted wheat," as the root of the word means "fire"); so in other words in this case, the Greeks may have named the wheat cake, but as for the burial structure, no. Anyway, Latin borrowed Greek "puramis/pyramis" as "pyramis/piramis," and the plural form, which in Greek was "puramides/pyramides," as "pyramides" in Latin. Old French originally took the Latin form as "piramide," which then became "pyramide." English originally borrowed the Latin form as "piram" in the latter part of the 1300s, but then borrowed the form now in use from French "pyramide" circa 1550.

English French Fries Sandwich: Chip Butty

This sandwich originated in England, but it is not uncommon in other parts of Britain and Ireland. "Chip" comes from the name of the fried potato pieces,* and "butty" comes from the butter slathered over the bread slices. The word "chips" should not be confused with the American word used in reference to very thin slices of potato that are fried (sometimes baked) until crisp, and which are then called "potato chips," as these are called "(potato) crisps" in Britain. You can use bread or rolls for the sandwich, and you can toast the bread a little, which will cut down on sogginess, as a chip butty is likely to require a good number of napkins. You can fry your own potatoes (some prefer to bake them), or you can buy some french fries, steak fries or chips to take home from a restaurant (then keep them in a warm oven, like 225F, until you are ready to place them into the sandwiches), although this may cause your personal invitation to Buckingham Palace to be canceled, IF you have one). You can top the sandwich with ketchup, or you can add some mayonnaise and some chopped herbs like rosemary, thyme or parsley, or you can add British brown sauce, which is very similar to some types of American steak sauce,** or you can give the sandwich a dose of some malt vinegar.

Ingredients (per sandwich): 

2 slices of bread or a split bread roll

butter

potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, cut into slices about 3 inches long and 1/2 inch thick

salt

Let the butter soften somewhat to make it easy to spread. For each sandwich, butter one side of two slices of bread (or the inside parts of a split bread roll) with a good amount of butter. Fry or bake the potato pieces (then salt them to taste, but I use salted butter, so you can skip lots of extra salt if you so choose), or keep restaurant fries/chips warm in the oven until right before you put them into the sandwiches. Put a double layer of warm/hot fries/chips onto the bread or roll. If using a topping, top with ketchup or mayonnaise and herbs or brown sauce or steak sauce or malt vinegar, then place the other slice of bread on top (or close the bread roll) and press down a bit to secure the sandwich. The heat from the potatoes will begin to melt the butter, coating the potatoes in yummy, buttery delight. Have plenty of napkins handy.   

 

* British "chips" are not necessarily the same as American french fries, which are often a thinner cut of potato, sometimes referred to as "shoestring fries," although I'm not certain what the guideline is for the shoestring terminology, if there even is a guideline. British "chips" and American "steak fries" are more similar. The term "chips" of the British usage is not completely unheard of in the U.S., especially in reference to "fish and chips," as some American restaurants market this common combo under that name, while many use "fish and fries," or "fish and french fries."   

** To my knowledge (I know, that's a low standard), there is no mandatory list of ingredients for "steak sauce," but when I hear the term used, I think of "A-1 Steak Sauce," long a popular brand in the U.S., and which is now marketed as "A-1 Sauce," which can trace its roots to the 1800s in England; thus, its similarity to British brown sauce.  

WORD HISTORY:

Bare-This word goes back to Indo European "bhosos," which meant "barefoot, unshod, uncovered." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bazaz" meaning "naked, uncovered," which gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bær" meaning "naked, not hidden."^ This then became "bar," before the ending 'e' was added to show the interior vowel was long. Some Germanic relatives also use forms to mean "pure;" often applied to "immediately usable money;" that is, "cash." The verb form was "likely" from the adjective and was "barian" in Old English, and meant, "to make bare, to uncover." Note: Some people believe there was an Old Germanic verb form that was passed down in various forms to its descendants and that's possible. Relatives of "bare" in the other Germanic languages: German has "bar," in modern times Low German uses forms in compounds for "barefoot" as "barft," "boorfoot" and "barfs" (Low German is not a standard language, but rather a number of dialects), and for "cash," as "Boorgeld," Dutch has "baar" ("seemingly" not used much, but used in reference to "cash" (baar geld) and to "gold ingots" (pure gold), Frisian once had "ber," but it apparently no longer uses a form of the word, Danish has "bar," Norwegian has "bar," Icelandic has "ber," Swedish (not standard, dialects only) has "bär."  

 

^ The change of 'z' to 'r' is called "rhotacism," and it was common in Germanic, although for whatever reason, some Germanic dialects did not always follow suit.   

English Potted Shrimps

Potted shrimps seem to have come from northwestern England, where the small shrimp commonly caught off the coast there have been used. The process of using butter to seal jars or pots of food has been around for a number of centuries, as it was a way of preserving food. As I've noted here before, Americans, and likely "some" (many?) Canadians, use the word "shrimp" as both the singular and plural; while in England and other parts of the British Isles, "shrimp" is singular and "shrimps" is plural. Since this is an English dish, I'll use "shrimps" for this article. For "potted shrimps," use small shrimp (51/60 shrimps per pound), and then cut them in half, or use the tiny size (61/70), which can be left whole.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound small shrimps (or small cooked shrimps), halved if small, left whole if tiny/extra small
2/3 pound butter*
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon mace (or nutmeg)
1 pinch cayenne pepper (more if you like a "kick")
1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon anchovy paste, or fish sauce, or shrimp sauce

In a pan or skillet, melt about half the butter over low heat. Add the lemon juice, mace or nutmeg, cayenne pepper, black pepper and anchovy paste. Mix well and let cook for about 90 seconds over low heat. Add the halved or whole shrimps and cook until pink and tender (if you use already cooked shrimp, just heat the shrimp through; don't overcook them, they get rubbery). In England they usually put the shrimps into small dishes or ramekins, but I just put them into a larger bowl. Whatever way you choose, try to have the shrimps covered with the seasoned butter before it cools. Let the shrimps cool to the point of setting up, and while that is going on, melt the remaining butter, then let it cool a bit. Pour that unseasoned butter over the seasoned shrimps and let it cool, then refrigerate to let it set. You can use it before the butter totally sets up, or you can let it set, then remove it and let it sit until it is less solid and somewhat more spreadable. Serve with warm toast or toast wedges. If you like more "heat," spoon some of the shrimps onto your toast, then sprinkle cayenne pepper to taste on top.    

* The butter "should" be unsalted, and many recipes call for "clarified" butter; that is, butter with the milk solids removed, leaving the butterfat. If you use "ghee," from the Indian subcontinent, that's it, you've got it! Now, if you don't have unsalted butter (myself, I rarely buy it), use salted butter, which is what I do. For such a sin, the English might lock you up in the Tower of London, but they probably won't keep you there long; after all, they let me out. If, however, they threaten to have you meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who was born in the U.S., and who has some noticeable resemblance to the current orange monster occupying the White House (I wrote this in 2019), don't be a glutton for punishment; just give in, and buy unsalted butter. 

WORD HISTORY:
Pot-This is the noun, and the less common verb, which was derived from the noun. The slang term "pot" meaning marijuana seems to be a shortening of a different word, which may or may not be related to the more common word "pot." This common word has a shaky history, and its ultimate origin is uncertain, and "may" be from a non Indo European language. Its next step doesn't get much easier, as it "may" be from Old Germanic, or there has long been speculation that West Germanic got it from Celtic. The form in the West Germanic dialects/languages, including Old English (Anglo-Saxon), was "pott," meaning, "pot, round container, jar." In English this gradually became "pot," which has carried into modern times, and the meaning narrowed to "(usually) large pan, kettle, for cooking," which also added the meaning, "container for brewing hot beverages," as well as, "container for serving hot beverages." The idea of holding bets in a container provided the meaning for "pot, the money held for card games," later expanded to include other forms of betting. The verb is rare in modern English, but it seems to have developed from the noun in the second half of the 1500s with the meaning, "drink beverages from a pot," "put food into a pot for cooking." Noun forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "Pott," a borrowing in the 1500s from Low German. Low German has that same spelling and also provided the meanings for standard German: "cooking pan," "drink container," and the slang meanings, "a ship," like English usage of "tub" for a ship; as well as the meaning "chamber pot," which then carried over into the more modern era as a slang for "toilet," a meaning also present in English, although often used as "potty" for children. As Low German is not a standard language, "Pott," as "Potte," was also used regionally in the Ruhr area of Germany for "a container for carrying coal." German also uses "Pott" for the betting pool of money, a meaning I "assume" was taken from English. Dutch has "pot" (jar, container, pot), West Frisian "pôt," which seems to be rare or antiquated ("pot, container"). The North Germanic languages of Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, all descend from Old Norse, which had "pottr," a borrowing from Old Saxon (the Saxon that remained in northern Germany after a portion of Saxons sailed off to Britain and helped to found England along with other Germanic cousins. Latin had "pottus," a likely borrowing from Frankish, another West Germanic dialect/language that had MUCH contact with Latin speakers, although I have seen speculation that Latin borrowed its form from Gaulish, the Celtic language/dialect of the Gauls, but "from what I can find," that would have required a much earlier borrowing by Latin than seems to be the case.              

German Fish Goulash (Helgoländer Fischgulasch)

Heligoland is a two island German archipelago in the North Sea, about 30 miles from the German mainland. In German, it is "Helgoland" and it is part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. During most of the 1800s, Heligoland was a British possession, having been seized by Britain from Denmark during the Napoleonic Wars. Denmark was Napoleon's ally. In 1890 the British and the Germans reached an agreement giving control of the archipelago to Germany in exchange for some German territories in Africa. The fact that Britain's Queen Victoria was the grandmother of the then German Kaiser, Wilhelm II, likely helped move the deal along.

The main island is only about a half square mile in size, while the second island, "Düne," lying just a very short distance to the east, is only about a quarter square mile in size. Heligoland is essentially motor vehicle and bicycle free, by law, except for authorized vehicles, like for emergencies. Heligoland is known for its beaches and sunbathing areas, its geological rock formations and red sandstone cliffs, its use as a stopping point by seals and a number of birds, making it a great place for bird watching (a bird observatory is there). Heligoland's airport is located on Düne. The actual population of Heligoland is less than 1400, many of whom are Frisians, and they speak a form of North Frisian, alongside standard German, and likely, Low German. From what I understand, a couple hundred thousand tourists visit Heligoland each year. By the way, Heligoland is exempted from collecting European Union taxes and duties on purchases, which means... CHEAP BOOZE! Ah, I mean, reasonably priced alcoholic beverages.

Food wise, Heligoland is famous for its lobsters, but naturally other seafood is common there too (hey, it's in the North Sea). This recipe from Heligoland is subtle, unlike many of the dishes I tend to like, which have strong flavors, but it cannot be highly seasoned, lest the mild taste of the seafood be overwhelmed, although there are other German recipes for fish goulash with much stronger flavors. In this recipe, however, the taste of the seafood shines through so much, you may just have a wish for some "German Egg Grog" to top off your lunch or dinner. (Here is the link to the recipe for grog: https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2018/06/german-egg-grog-eiergrog.html  

Ingredients:

1 pound cod (or substitute the cheaper pollock fillets)
1/2 pound small shrimp, shelled
1/2 pound crab meat
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons butter
5 green onions, including some green, chopped
2 potatoes, diced
2/3 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup fish broth or clam broth
6 white peppercorns
3 juniper berries, crushed
1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeds scooped out, then sliced
2 to 3 tablespoons dill
1/2 cup sour cream (or creme fraiche)

Cut the fish into chunks (like bite-sized or a little larger), put in a bowl, then season with salt, ground white pepper, salt and lemon juice; set aside. In a pan over low heat, melt the butter and immediately add the chopped green onion. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring enough to make sure that neither the onion nor the butter brown. Add the potatoes, the white wine, the fish broth, the white peppercorns and the juniper berries. Cook for 3 minutes, then add the cucumber. Cook until both the potatoes and cucumber are tender, but not falling apart. Add the fish, the shrimp and the crab (along with any of the lemon juice collected in the bowl), stir well. Cook until the fish and the shrimp are just cooked through, then stir in the dill and the sour cream. Remove from the heat after about a minute or so.
 
Click the photo to enlarge it

WORD HISTORY: 
Cod/Cuttle-The history of these "seemingly" related words is shaky, at best, but there does seem to be some logic to what I've compiled here. They seem to go back to Indo European "gewt," which meant, "to bend, to bow;" thus also, "sack, bag." This gave Old Germanic "kuddon," meaning, "bag, sack." This gave Old English "codd," meaning, "bag, sack;" thus also, "husk for a pod." This then became "codde," before the modern version. The name "seems" to have been applied to a number of similar fish in the North Sea area in the late 1200s, with the theory being that Englishmen back then thought the fish looked like a pod husk. "Cuttle" has the same origins, but it was "cudele" in Old English and it was the name for the "cuttlefish." It then became "cutil," before the modern form. Forms in the other Germanic languages include: German "Kudele," for "cuttlefish," but the German word is now confined to some dialects (the standard German word for "cuttlefish" is "Tintenfisch; literally, "ink fish"); I found references to Dutch "kodde" being a term for "scrotum," which certainly fits in with the "sack, bag" meaning in Germanic, but "apparently" this usage is dialectal or archaic; likewise with Danish "kodde," which seems to be an archaic term for "scrotum" or "testicle;" Swedish "kudde," meaning, "pillow" (a bag stuffed with feathers, straw or rags); likewise with Icelandic "koddi," which also means "pillow."   

Sherlock Holmes with Basil Rathbone & Nigel Bruce

Probably many younger people only know that Robert Downey Jr. played Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law played Doctor Watson in a couple of movies just a few years ago, and very well, too. But way back in the late 1930s, Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce played Holmes and Watson, respectively, beginning a series of fourteen films the two British actors made using the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle as a basis for the movies' scripts. The film versions updated many of Doyle's stories to modern times (then the 1940s), especially about World War Two, as Holmes did his part to fight the Nazis and to thwart their plans to win the war. Other movies in the series made extensive use of automobiles and electronic technology of those times, as opposed to the original stories that were set in the latter part of the 1800s and into the early 1900s.

Probably the most famous of the Rathbone/Bruce series was the first movie, "The Hound of the Baskervilles," released by 20th Century Fox in 1939. Like Doyle's story, which also was very popular, the film was set in the latter part of the 1800s. The story centers around a supposed curse on the Baskerville family dating back a couple of hundred years, which involves a huge and vicious hound that kills members of the family, whose estate is located in the moor of Devonshire (now known as simply "Devon"). The heir to the estate, Sir Henry Baskerville (played by Richard Greene), is coming to England and the family doctor, Dr. Mortimer (played by Lionel Atwill), goes to Sherlock Holmes to tell him of his fears for the heir, and to tell about the history of the curse. Holmes does not believe in the curse, but he realizes there is something wrong, and he sends Watson to the estate to oversee the safety of Sir Henry. With attention diverted from him, Holmes disguises himself and goes to stay on the moorland near the estate to see if he can find out anything on his own. Meanwhile, we meet neighbor John Stapleton (played by Morton Lowry), as well as the butler, (Mr.) Barryman (played by John Carradine) and his wife (played by Eily Malyon). The latter couple's behavior draws attention to them as possible suspects. Holmes eventually finds out that Mrs. Barryman's brother, an escapee from prison, is hiding on the moor. His sister secretly gives him food and some clothing worn by Sir Henry (thus the uneasy behavior by Mrs. Barryman and her husband). The man is then attacked and killed by the Great Dane (they also have Great Pastry, some with prunes, which can help you .... ah... with a medical condition). Holmes finds the pit where the hound is kept, but in order to throw off the real culprit, Holmes tells everyone he is going back to London, thus setting the stage for an attempt on Sir Henry's life. Holmes heads back to the moor, where Sir Henry is about to be attacked by the hound, which has been set loose by John Stapleton, who, it turns out, is a relative of the Baskervilles trying to eliminate Sir Henry, so he can claim the estate. The hound is killed and Stapleton gets away from the house, but Holmes assures everyone that police have the area covered and that Stapleton will be arrested.

Other films in the series featured various characters, including: the infamous Professor Moriarty (played in three different films by George Zucco, Lionel Atwill, and Henry Daniell), Inspector Lestrade (played by Dennis Hoey), Mrs. Hudson (the landlady, played by Mary Gordon), the Creeper (played by Rondo Hatton, whose face in real life had been terribly deformed by a medical disorder), the Spider Woman (played by Gale Sondergaard) and Sebastian Moran (played by Alan Mowbray). Of course, if there had been a typo, it could have been "Sebastian Moron."

There were some memorable scenes, as the producers had the series set in the World War Two era in England, and Sherlock Holmes was used to fight the Nazis and rally people against the Nazi enemy: During an attempt to find Nazi spies, a woman gives a sort of speech to a group of disinterested working class Englishmen in a dimly lit pub. She tells them how they need to help, because "this is for England!" In another movie, Holmes and Watson go to the United States to find and protect secret microfilm wanted by the Nazis. At the end, the two drive down the street in Washington, D.C. toward the capitol building. Holmes quotes from a speech given by Churchill to Congress about how the United States and Britain will cooperate to win the war. And at the close of another film where Holmes fights the Nazis, he quotes a few lines from Shakespeare's "Richard II," after Watson notes, "This little island is still on the map:" Holmes says, "This fortress built by Nature for herself ... This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England."  

Photo is from the MPI Home Video DVD set (I can find no date on the discs or on the box, but I've owned this for several years, and I believe they have new packaging for it now).

WORD HISTORY:
Detect-This prefixed word goes back to Indo European "do," with the notion of "toward;" thus, "away from," which then gave Latin "de," frequently a Latin prefix, and distantly related to English "to," and ‎ meaning “away from”, thus also "take away," "take off" "undo"). The base word, distantly related to English "thatch" and "deck," goes back to Indo European "(s)teg," which meant "to cover." This gave Latin "tegere," which meant "to cover." Coupled with the prefix, this gave Latin "detegere," meaning, "to uncover;" thus also figuratively, "to discover, to bring to light." It's participle form was "detectus" ("uncovered"), and from this English borrowed the word as "detect," circa 1400. 

Two Fat Ladies Were A Delight

"Two Fat Ladies," was a late 1990s BBC produced television show about food. Highly popular in Britain, the show also was shown on American television on the Food Network, which is where I saw the show originally. It also aired in Australia, on the the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (by the way, the mother of Clarissa, one of the ladies, was an Australian). The two ladies, who were literally two fat ladies, often went against political correctness; obviously, even with the name of the show, and the two made little remarks about their weight in some episodes. Clarissa Dickson Wright, the younger of the two, did not shy away from mentioning her days of heavy drinking in the past. They were both Catholic, and they talked in general ways, at times, about religion in their lives, although Jennifer, the other lady, mentioned having been disruptive in a religious school when she was in her teens. The two never backed away from using traditional ingredients, even though such ingredients, like heavy cream, butter, etc, are often frowned upon in modern society. Jennifer Paterson, the other lady, was a regular smoker, and she made no attempt to hide that fact, or her desire for a cocktail. Both ladies made occasional remarks about men, with sexual innuendo not far from the surface. Usually pretty broadminded, both ladies had traveled extensively BEFORE ever even meeting one another, with Jennifer having lived in Berlin,* Porto in Portugal (she spoke Portuguese, and used it in one episode especially), Benghazi in Libya and on the Italian island of Sicily, all much earlier in her life.

In the show, the two traveled around on a Triumph Thunderbird motorbike (American English: motorcycle) with Clarissa in the attached sidecar, and both complete with headgear (vrrroooooom!). They did shows from various locations, primarily in England, but also in Scotland, Wales, Ireland and even in Jamaica,** with one episode done from the Brazilian embassy in London, where Jennifer spoke some Portuguese, which I mentioned above,*** from a brewery in North Yorkshire, in the north of England, from an abbey in Ireland and from the island of Jersey (a British island at the southern end of the English Channel).****

The show ended because of the death of Jennifer Paterson in the second half of 1999. Clarissa Dickson Wright died in 2014. There is a DVD set available, with all of the episodes (see photo below). Their eccentricities AND their food were a delight!

* In a special tribute episode to Jennifer, after her death, one of the participants mentioned that when Jennifer lived in Berlin, she spent much time around gay men. 

** Jamaica is a British Commonwealth nation, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state, with a governor-general serving in Jamaica as the Queen's (monarchy's) representative.

*** Brazil was once a colony of Portugal; thus, Brazilians speak Portuguese. Amazing! (Hahaha!)

**** Here is a link to an article I did on "Hot Buttered Crab," which was inspired by this show, although not exactly like Jennifer prepared it:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/08/great-seafood-recipe.html 

Photo is of the Acorn Media DVD set. 

 WORD HISTORY:
Dough-This word goes back to Indo European "dheigh," which had the notion, "to shape, to form;" thus also, "to build, to knead." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "daigaz," meaning, "substance kneaded for baking." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "dag" (long "a" sound), then, "doh" (long "o" sound, the "h" was aspirated; that is, was forced out with breath^). The word then became "dogh," before the modern form. The other Germanic languages have: German "Teig" (all German nouns are capitalized), Low German Saxon "Deeg," Dutch "deeg," West Frisian "daai," Danish "dej," Icelandic and Norwegian "deig," Swedish "deg," all meaning "dough." By the way, the use of the word "dough" as a slang word for "money" goes back to the mid 1800s, from American English.

^ This aspirated sound gave English the "gh" spelling in words, which WAS pronounced in the past. Close cousin German uses "ch" as its spelling of the aspirated sound.

An English Breakfast (Fry Up)

February 15, 2019, edited slightly to include a link to my article about English beans, as that article was originally published after this article about an English breakfast.
 

This really isn't a recipe in the true sense, but rather the components of an English Breakfast, although these components are not all used by everyone, and other components, like fried mushrooms, blood sausage (black pudding), and/or "white pudding" (no blood, but ground meat with grain, often oats, as a filler), are included, or replace some of those listed. It is commonly known as a "Fry Up" in England and other parts of Britain.

So, an English breakfast, or fry up, typically includes: eggs (fried or scrambled), bacon (which is meatier than American bacon in England, as it includes more from the loin, and only a small part of the fat from the 'belly' used in American bacon, and it is called "back bacon"), baked beans in tomato sauce, which most often are not really "baked," and they aren't really quite the same as American baked beans,* fried ripe tomato (tomato halves typically fried in the bacon fat), fried potatoes, fried bread (fried in butter or in the bacon fat) and sausages.

* For homemade English beans, here is the link to the article:  https://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2016/09/english-beans.html

From the top: bacon, fried ripe tomato half, fried potatoes, fried bread, Heinz English-style beans, fried sausages and scrambled eggs.

WORD HISTORY:
Fast-This word, closely related to the verb "fasten," "seems" to go back to Indo European "pehst," which had the notion, "firm, solid, fixed in place." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "fastuz," with the same meanings; thus also, "secure." This gave Old English "fæst," meaning: "steadfast, secure, firm, strong." This then became "fast," and it has remained such for many centuries. While the original meaning has remained, the further meaning of "quick" began to develop in the 1200s and 1300s, "perhaps" from use of "fast" with words of motion (fast runner, fast horse, fast wagon), but it didn't fully develop until the 1500s. Generally the word is pronounced "fahst" in British English, but with the more nasalized "a" in American English. The meaning, "not to eat for a period of time," comes from the notion of "holding 'fast' to a diet for some observance," not just to lose weight. And its use in the compound "breakfast" means just that, "break the overnight fast." Common in the other Germanic languages, all with the same or similar meaning to their English cousin, but none with the further meaning "quick," which only developed in English: German has "fest" (the German noun "Festung," means "fortress;" that is, "secure/strong place"), Low German Saxon "fest," West Frisian "fêst," Dutch "vast" (the 'v' is pronounced as an 'f'), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian "fast," Icelandic "fastur" (somewhat more limited modern meaning "solid, tight").     

A Trump "Interview"

This was published in August 2016, but it's still relevant!


"Hello, I'm Dan Ratherbe in Philadelphia. I'm here with Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for president. How are you, Mr. Trump?"

DT: "I'm fine, but I already know you'll tell lies about me."
DR: "Why do you say that, Mr. Trump?"
DT: "Because you just said you'd rather be in Philadelphia; you know, the city where those traitorous, good for nothing, criminal Democrats just met, but we're already IN Philadelphia, and I don't need Sarah Palin to tell me that. ........ By the way, Sarah stayed at home during the Republican convention to read some newspapers and magazines. She doesn't want any more trick questions from Katie Couric."
DR: "Well, in that case, what newspapers and magazines do you read?"
DT: "See... there you go! You don't listen well, do you? I said, 'No trick questions!' Geez, you scumbags in the media! When I'm elected, you, Katie, and Megyn Kelly will be locked up along with crooked Hillary Clinton and Lyin' Ted Cruz."
DR: "So Katie and Megyn bother you?"
DT: "No, no! Now you're putting words into my mouth. I didn't say that. I know how to deal with women, especially after I consulted with Roger Ailes; now there's a guy who knows about women! Why do you think I said Megyn had 'blood coming out of her ... whatever?' "
DR: "Sir, Roger Ailes just left Fox News after charges of sexual harassment."
DT: "Didn't I just say he knows about women? Boy, you don't listen. Definitely going to lock you up. Lock him up! Lock him up! Lock him up! Hey, that's got a nice ring to it."
DR: "So you want to lock up the media and your political opponents?"
DT: "I didn't say that! Man you don't listen!"
DR: "What foreign policy experience do you have, Mr. Trump?"
DT: "I know more about foreign policy than anyone. I own a golf course in Scotland, how's that for foreign policy for you? I was just there recently too; heard a British diplomat give a speech there. I didn't understand much of what he said though. Why don't those people learn to pronounce English good; I mean, it's not like they invented the language over there? Maybe I should run for office in the UK. Could put the 'great' back into Great Britain."
DR: "Well Mr. trump, I suppose you are aware that young people favor your opponent by a large margin. They say they don't like the hate and division you and your campaign espouse. What do you have to say about that?"
DT: "Well they're young, they don't know any better. It's up to me and my campaign to teach them, and we're trying our damnedest to do just that."   
DR: What will you do if you lose the election, Mr. Trump?"
DT: "See, there you go. No wonder I'm going to have you locked up. Lock him up! Lock him up! Well, I'm not going to lose the election. BUT, if in the ever so slightest case you media people and crooked Hillary steal the election from me, I have a place to go and rule where they'll really appreciate me."
DR: "Oh? And where is that, Mr. Trump?"
DT: Well I'll give you a hint ... There's a country where the ruler has been a little sick lately. I only know that from my friend Vladimir. He read Kim Jong-un's emails. Boy does Vladimir know a lot about the Democrats too. Whew!"
DR: "So you're talking about going to North Korea?"
DT: "More lies! I never said that! But that country is a mess, and only I can fix it! And in that country, I wouldn't have lies told about me all the time, because they know how to deal with media people and keep them from lying. Oh wow! I can just see troops marching into South Korea, big statues of me on every corner. More and more I like the sound of my slogan, 'Make North Korea great again.' "
DR: "This is Dan Ratherbe in Philadelphia, but I'd rather be anyplace, but here."

WORD HISTORY:
Satire-This word, related to "sate" and "sad," goes back to Indo European "sah," with the notion of "satisfaction, having enough." This gave Latin "satur," which meant "sated, having enough." This became the basis of the Latin term "lanx satura," with the meaning "a full serving of mixed types of fruit." This meaning then expanded from "full serving" ("collection") to, "collection of poetry," then to "poem or poems that emphasized a person's characteristics; thus, the modern meaning of, "story that pokes fun or ridicule at a person's habits, personality, foolish ways, often with a more serious underlying intent." Latin "satur" gave Latin "satira," meaning "satiric poetry or drama." This gave Old French, a Latin-based language, "satire," with the same meaning. English borrowed the word in the latter part of the 1300s, "probably" from French, but with likely reinforcement by Latin, a language still common in those times among well educated people, which naturally included writers.  

Heston And Olivier Star: "Khartoum," Plus Some History

NOTE: This article contains information about the movie "Khartoum," including its ending. If you have not seen the movie before and if you don't want to know the ending (although the ending is really obvious), please be forewarned.

While the historical "siege of Khartoum" took place in 1884-85, and the movie was released in 1966, and I'm writing this in November of 2014, you will see that the wars and killings centered around this general topic are not new, and they remain with us to this very day.

The movie "Khartoum" was released back in the mid 1960s and was loosely based upon historical events in the Sudan in eastern Africa in the 1880s. Charlton Heston starred as British General Charles Gordon, who a few years earlier had served in the Sudan as part of the Turkish-Egyptian governing authority, and who played a big role in ending the slave trade there, giving Gordon a great deal of popularity among many of the Sudanese. Gordon had become well known to the British public for his earlier role in China, where he led a highly successful force of British, American and Chinese troops in support of the Chinese emperor to put down some rebellions. This earned Gordon the nickname, "Chinese Gordon." Laurence Olivier starred as "the Mahdi," a self proclaimed Sudanese religious and military leader, whose name was Muhammad Ahmad. The Mahdi led a rebellion against the governing powers of the Sudan (see more below), and thousands of Sunni Muslim Sudanese who believed him to be the true successor to the Prophet Muhammad, flocked to his cause.

Sudan, or "the" Sudan, as I use (I must have been taught that in school long ago, and it therefore sounds more natural to me), had a complicated relationship with Egypt, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), and Britain. The region had long been linked with Egypt, but much of Egypt and the Sudan was part of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. The British got involved in Egypt in the early 1880s, and this brought calls for the use of British forces to quell the uprising led by the Mahdi, something the British government did not want to do. The Sudan was garrisoned by Egyptian troops, but with some British officers. The movie depicts the British government's resistance to sending troops and instead asking General Gordon to go to the Sudan in an attempt to satisfy those calling for military forces to be sent, and to evacuate British and Egyptian military, governmental and business personnel from the region. Remember, this is a movie and not a documentary, and as such, actual historical events are not always followed, but rather depicted in some fashion to generally represent the historical events, and then too, there is always the need for any film to make money, and thus scenes are often added for tension and to get people interested to pay to see it.

Khartoum was the center for the administration of the Sudan and Gordon arrives there to jubilant crowds, for his reputation is so powerful, people feel they will now be saved from the Mahdi's takeover. While Gordon prepares a defense of the city, he also tries to get the British government to change its policy and to send troops. The movie shows Gordon going to meet with the Mahdi on a couple of occasions during the ten month siege of Khartoum, although that likely never happened in real life, but historically, the two leaders did exchange various communications. Gordon wants the Mahdi to allow the Egyptian troops and administrators to leave unharmed, but while the Mahdi wants Gordon to leave, he will not permit the Egyptians to leave, as they are marked for death. The Sudanese population will then have to submit to strict Islamic law or be executed. Meanwhile, back in Britain, the public wants British troops sent to the Sudan to "save Gordon." The government relents and finally thousands of troops are sent to Egypt, where they spend time training for the hot climate and rough terrain. The government really hopes this delay will force Gordon to abandon Khartoum, save himself, and join these British forces in Egypt, something, however, he will not do. Historically, Gordon had strong, but somewhat out of the ordinary, Christian religious beliefs, and the religious element of his life is depicted in the movie. In his last meeting with the Mahdi, the two use their religious views against one another, as each essentially condemns the other to death as the will of their views of God (Allah).

The pressure on the British government becomes too much, and the troops in Egypt are given the order to move into the Sudan. The Mahdi organizes his attack on Khartoum and gives the order for the assault. The Egyptian troops put up a valiant defense, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, but in the end the Mahdi's forces overcome their resistance and enter the city. Gordon, who is in his residence, goes out to meet the Mahdi's forces. As he appears at the head of some steps, the soldiers cease fire and grow silent. Gordon descends a few steps and one of the soldiers throws a spear which kills him and his body topples from the staircase. Gordon is beheaded and his head is put atop a long pike and carried to the Mahdi, who is terrified by its sight, as he had ordered that Gordon not be killed (historically true). The idea here is, the Mahdi was an astute leader, and he knew that killing the famous Gordon "could" bring substantial British military forces against him. The narrator tells us the British troops arrived just two days later (true), but that the Sudan suffered terribly in the aftermath of the Mahdi's victory, although the Mahdi's rule was short lived, as he too died just a short time later, and the narrator says, "Why, we shall never know," but with the implication that Gordon's religious "threat" or "curse" to the Mahdi in their last meeting had been fulfilled. Historically, how Gordon died is not really known, but the scene in the movie was not "invented" by the filmmaker, but rather was taken from some accounts and from a famous painting depicting Gordon's death. The actual final battle was not really as seen in the movie, as one of Gordon's own men opened one of the gates to the city, allowing the Mahdi's forces to enter. Many of the Egyptians were killed in the fighting, with survivors being executed, and some Sudanese were executed, with the total number being in the thousands. The Mahdi did indeed die just a few months later, "presumably" from typhus.  

The following were consulted for this article:
"Gordon of Khartoum-The Saga Of A Victorian Hero" by John H. Waller, published by Atheneum, 1988.
"Gordon of Khartoum" by Peter Johnson, published by Patrick Stevens, 1985

WORD HISTORY:
Ennet-This now largely British dialectal, but generally antiquated word for "duck," the waterfowl, goes back to Indo European "anet/anat," with the meaning "waterbird, waterfowl." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "anuth," with the same meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "ened/enid," which meant "duck." This later became "enede," before the later version, "ennet," which is also at times written "annet." Other forms in the Germanic languages are: German "Ente," Low German "Aant," Dutch "eend," West Frisian "ein," Danish and Norwegian "and," Icelandic "önd," Swedish "and," but also "an."

Welsh Rarebit (or Is It Rabbit?), A Great Comfort Food

From what I've read over the years, and don't ask me where at the moment, the real name of this dish is "Welsh Rabbit," with "rarebit" simply being a variation. Why it was/is called "rabbit," is unknown, as it has nothing to do with that animal, nor does it have ANY meat in it. Furthermore, it seems to have nothing to do with the Welsh either, in the national sense, but it is rather, from what is known, an English dish. Check the "Word History" below, as "Welsh" had more meanings prior to the modern era, one being "foreign" and another being "inferior," but whether either of these meanings ties in with the name of the dish is not known.

For those unaware, "Welsh Rarebit," the name I'll use, is a cheese sauce eaten over toast. "Apparently" it was developed in England in the early 1700s. There are many variations to the recipe, which generally involves melting fairly sharp cheddar cheese and mixing it with beer, butter, mustard, a bit of cayenne pepper, some Worcestershire sauce and egg (added after the sauce is taken off the heat). The variations include: using sharp American cheese, or Velveeta or Velveeta-style cheese, in place of the cheddar. Also small amounts of other cheese, like blue cheese of some type are added by some (to keep the English theme, use English Stilton, a type of blue cheese). Some use dark beer, some use light beer (in color, not calories), some use milk instead, or cream. Just to make a point, I just looked at an English cookbook I have and the recipe uses cream, not beer. For mustard, an old recipe I once had (I can't find it now) used dry mustard, and in fact, that recipe was the recipe I used the first time I ever made Welsh Rarebit (it used ale, but did not specify light or dark). Others use yellow mustard, while some use brown mustard. Some melt the butter and mix in some flour to make a roux which is used to thicken the sauce by adding the other ingredients to the roux and gradually heating it until all are mixed in and thickened. As to spiciness, I often use Asian chili paste (with no garlic), rather than cayenne pepper, but some recipes call for some hot sauce. Some add a small amount of tomato paste or ketchup, but most recipes I've seen do not use either, although I use ketchup. Some recipes use whole eggs, others call for just egg yolks. As for the toast, some use rye, some use wheat and some use white bread.

 If you've never eaten Welsh Rarebit, or if you've only had the store bought variety, to see what you might like, here's what I'd suggest, as I make a streamlined version of rarebit often, but just for one serving: get a small microwave-safe dish (even a cup), put in a couple slices of sharp American cheese (broken up a little so it melts easily), or a couple of slices of Velveeta cut into cubes. Add about a teaspoon of ketchup, a dash or two of Worcestershire, a little less than a tablespoon (but more than a teaspoon) of milk (I use evaporated milk) or cream, or half and half, a little sprinkle of cayenne (I use about a quarter teaspoon of chili paste), and a little squirt of brown mustard (I use the squeeze bottle, but use what you have; and yellow is fine). Put it in the microwave for less than a minute (if you have the more powerful microwave, maybe it will only need 30-45 seconds). You will want to watch the dish through the window to be sure it doesn't boil over, as I know from experience. I use a cup and I often, but not always, sit an over-sized microwave safe lid on top (it's from a larger microwave dish I have), just to be sure it doesn't spatter. Check to see if the cheese is melted, but if it's not completely, but is close, just stirring it through the hot mixture should complete the melting; otherwise, give it a few seconds longer. Stir it well to mix everything together and pour it over your slice of toast. This version will keep you from the involvement of opening beer; beating eggs, then mixing them with a little of the mixture to temper the eggs so they won't scramble, then blending them into the melted sauce; or melting butter and mixing in flour to make a roux, as this sauce should be adequately thick.  Once you see how you like this version, or not, you can try some of the other variations from above in small servings like this, before you move on to making larger amounts, and perhaps trying out the more elaborate style. Remember, if you use cheddar, it can often get grainy when melted.

Many years ago on the television comedy "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," the main character, Gomer, eats Welsh Rarebit at a little restaurant. He later sleep walks, going to his sergeant and giving him a piece of his mind. A cousin of mine believed the story, but I doubt any such thing will happen to you if you eat Welsh Rarebit, although I ate rarebit three days ago and I got pulled over in the middle of the night by a policeman, whom I promptly told off. After I got out of jail I thought about Gomer Pyle, my cousin and the Welsh Rarebit. Maybe there IS something to that story; after all, I got pulled over, but I don't have a car! How will I explain this to the judge at my court date next week? Hahahaha

In the first photo, I used some fresh sliced serrano chili pepper in this Welsh Rarebit.

 

WORD HISTORY:
Welsh-This word goes back to the name of a Celtic tribe, the "Volcae," the Latin rendering, but who "presumably" called themselves by a similar form. Why they used this word for themselves is unclear, although "some" believe it is linked to the ancestor of modern English "wolf," "perhaps" because they hunted wolves? Lived close to wolves? (Maybe they were ..."Dancing With Wolves" ... hey, maybe they were ahead of their time.) Anyway, Old Germanic borrowed the word as "walhiskaz," and it was a general term used by Germanic for "Celts." The word seems to have taken on the more generalized meaning "foreigner;" that is, "non-Germanic," as later, the meaning varied, depending upon which non-Germanic people was living next to a particular Germanic group: Germanic people in western Europe used it for various Celtic elements present there,^  southern Germanic groups used it for Romans, who lived to the south of them, and the Germanic Anglo-Saxons of England used it for "Welsh," a people on the far western side of Britain, who are a Celtic people, but who do not use any form of this word for themselves, as they call themselves "Cymry" (meaning "countryman"). Anyway, the Germanic term gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wielisc," which meant the more general "Britons, non Anglo-Saxons," and also the derived "wealh," meaning 'foreigners." Since the Anglo-Saxons used many of the Celtic Britons as servants, the word also took on the meaning, "servant, a non-free person," and that notion later evolved into the meaning "inferior." By the way, in German, "Kauderwelsch" means "gibberish;" that is, "speech that cannot be understood, speech that is foreign to one," which comes from the notion of "foreign," and German also even uses a verb, "welschen," to mean, "to speak in an unintelligible way or language."

^ Swiss Germans use "Welschland" to mean the French speaking part of Switzerland. As with other modern national groups, the French descended from a mixture of people, but the basis of the French came from Celtic people long ago. Whether modern DNA will change (or has already changed?) that historical assumption remains to be seen. My point here is only that the German population of Switzerland long ago called the French part of the area by that name, which simply ties in with Germanic people often calling Celtic people by that name.

The Invasion That Gave Us English

I first published this August 11, 2008. I've edited and expanded the original article just a bit and I have added a "Word History."

I'll start this at about 40 A.D. At that time Britain was populated by Celts; that is, a group of tribes of Indo Europeans represented most prominently in today's world by the Irish, the Scots, and the Welsh (and let's not forget the "Boston Celtics!"). In those times, the Celts living on the island were collectively known as Britons.* The Romans had been sending military expeditions into Britain from the mainland for some time, but it wasn't until around 40 A.D. that they really made a major effort to conquer the Britons, which they only partially succeeded in doing, as the Romans were unable to completely subdue the Celts in the north, which is pretty much today's modern Scotland.** Many, but not all, Celts under Roman rule in Britain became "Romanized," as the Roman form of civilization took hold, but the Celtic dialects prevailed over Latin in Britain, although some Latin terms took hold, or Latin forms of Celtic words occurred. The unsubdued northern areas remained pretty wild for hundreds of years afterward. As time passed, Rome began to experience it's own problems, with Germanic tribes inside and outside of Rome's continental borders. The Romans began to withdraw their forces from Britain to help protect Rome itself, a process that was completed by 410 A.D. The Celtic Britons then seem to have tried to get some Germanic elements to serve as a partial defense force for their now vulnerable area. Eventually many of these Germanic people settled in Britain, but they also sent for their relatives on the continent. Gradually waves of Germanic invaders came, only not to protect the Celts, but to overtake them. I've seen various numbers of Germanic invaders used by historians, from 100,000 to half a million, but 100 to 200 thousand  is a pretty good guess, and this was a substantial number for those times; that is, the mid to late 400s A.D.

These Germanic invaders came from the area of what is today northwestern Germany, southwestern Denmark, and northeastern Holland. The bulk of the invaders seem to have been from two particular tribes, the Angles and the Saxons. Elements of Jutes, Frisians and Franks also joined the migration to Britain, but I'll use the term Anglo-Saxons for the collective Germanic invaders. The various Germanic tribesmen spoke dialects (variations) of a hypothetical common Germanic language.*** Archaeologists and historians have generally concluded that the Angles totally pulled up from their homeland in what is part of the modern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, and left for Britain.**** On the other hand only some of the Saxons departed for Britain. The Saxons generally inhabited the area around modern Kiel, Lübeck, and Hamburg in the area of the Elbe River, and many of their descendants are undoubtedly still there today. Bordering the Saxons to the west were the Frisians, who inhabited the coastal territories of modern northwestern Germany and northeastern Holland. The identity of the Jutes has been more controversial over time. There is not a lot of  historical evidence about them before they migrated to Britain, and in more recent times some historians have speculated that they may have been a part of the Saxons, rather than a truly separate Germanic tribe, or that they had vacated their Jutland homeland, an area stretching from modern Denmark into northern Germany, and gone to the area of the Rhine River, a region under the control of the Franks, a large Germanic tribal confederation, as artifacts recovered from the Jutes in England show characteristics closer to the Franks, rather than to the Angles and Saxons.***** The Jutes settled in what is now Kent, at the southeastern edge of England. The idea is, if the Jutes had remained in their Jutland homeland, would they have sailed all the way to that area of Britain to land, thus bringing some historians to speculate that the Jutes came from across what is now famously known as the English Channel; that is, from Frankish territory on the mainland.

Over time, the Anglo-Saxons took over much of the southern part of Britain, but they too seem to have been halted by the fierce Picts (another Celtic tribe) and Scots in the north, just as the Romans had been several centuries before. Further, it seems that a fair number of Celts retreated to the western part of the island, into an area with a ridge of mountains serving as a natural barrier. The Germanic forces were halted there, and this area is today's Wales, the population being known as Welsh, but both Wales and Welsh come from a Germanic term generally meaning "foreign/foreigner," which was often applied to Celtic speaking and Latin speaking people by the Germanic peoples long ago, seemingly from the inability of the Germanic people to understand them. German still even uses a verb form, "welschen," to mean, "to talk in gibberish, to speak incomprehensibly."   

The Anglo-Saxons established themselves in Britain and their dialects formed the basis for English, with the linguistic use of the term "Anglo-Saxon" now interchangeable with "Old English." To this day the one hundred most commonly used words in English trace back to Anglo-Saxon. Later, Norwegians and Danes (also Germanic speakers) went to England and they too contributed to the English vocabulary.

* There had been many other Celtic tribes spread throughout Europe prior to those times; most notably in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) and Gaul (essentially modern France), but by the time I'm using, 40 A.D., they had been conquered and were mainly under the jurisdiction of the Romans.

** One of the Celtic tribes was known as Scots; thus we have the name Scotland, and the name of today's inhabitants thereof, Scots.

*** At least modern linguists believe that there had been a common Germanic language, called Proto-Germanic (sometimes "Old Germanic"), in the linguistic world.

**** The Angles lived in and around the region of the modern German city of Flensburg.

***** Archaeologists compare weapons, clothing, jewelry, housing and burial practices to try to determine relationships between one group to another. "If" indeed the Jutes left their homeland for Frankish territory, one would assume it was not six weeks before they sailed to Britain, for if their artifacts are similar to Frankish items, the Jutes undoubtedly did not pick up these practices in some relatively short period of time. A convincing verdict on the Jutes has not been reached.   

WORD HISTORY:
Begin-The origins of this common word are unknown, and it "may be" a West Germanic invention (English is a West Germanic language). West Germanic seems to have had "gennan/ginnan," the actual meaning of which is uncertain, but the word was used in compounds, and Old English had "onginnan," which meant "to set out to do something, undertake something." Old English also had "biginnan," which meant "to start, to commence." This then became "beginnen," before the modern version.The other West Germanic languages have: German "beginnen" (similar to its English cousin, German has "begann" in the past tense compared to English "began," and "begonnen" in the participle form, compared to English "begun"); Low German Saxon and Dutch have "beginnen;" and West Frisian has "begjinne." All have the meaning "to start, to commence, to begin."

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

This was first published in February 2013


"War Again, Iraq"

First, the lead up to the Iraq war was, and remains, highly controversial. The public was given information at the time to justify the commencing of military operations against Iraq, some of which was later deemed to be untrue, or at least unreliable. The overall subject is far beyond the scope of this article, but as I always mention, if you are interested in a particular aspect of an article, please check out your local library's resources. The information here will be very basic and certainly incomplete for such a subject. It's been difficult to write this article, even though it is basic, as the evidence used to initiate hostilities in 2003 took time for Congress and the media, and therefore, the public, to evaluate. Positions and beliefs of the 2002/03 Bush administration were at times later changed, when contrary evidence was brought forward, but that was AFTER the war had started, and in fact, ended; that is, the invasion phase of the war.

The war in Afghanistan remained settled down by late 2002,* but Osama bin Laden and Taliban leader Mullah Omar remained at large. The Bush administration then chose to focus on Saddam Hussein and Iraq. After the religious fundamentalists had taken over Iran by revolution in the late 1970s, American leaders found Saddam, a secular military dictator, and his nation of Iraq, to be a counter force to Iran. Hostility between Iraq and Iran grew and developed into a bloody all out war in the 1980s, with American leaders openly supporting Saddam, including with financial aid. The war eventually ended in an armistice arranged by the United Nations in the summer of 1988. Saddam, however, was unable to get along with neighboring Kuwait, a nation which had helped him finance the war against Iran. As has already been covered in an earlier segment, Saddam occupied Kuwait, bringing a military coalition together, led by the United States, and including Muslim nations of the Middle East, to oust Iraqi forces from Kuwait. Saddam's forces were quickly defeated, but the Iraqi dictator remained in power by ruthlessly purging anyone within his inner circle thought to be inclined to lead a revolt against him and his regime. Hussein remained a problem in the Middle East throughout the 1990s, and when the 9/11 attacks occurred, initially, it was not unreasonable to at least suspect his involvement in some way. The U.S. believed there had been some meetings between al Qaeda agents and members of Iraq's intelligence service. The ultimate fear was an alliance of some sort, where Saddam supplied biological or chemical weapons to al Qaeda, whose agents would then use those weapons against the U.S. and other nations. The problem was, the lack of evidence of such a Saddam role, or in fact, of any conclusive ties between Saddam and al Qaeda.

Notably, Vice President Dick Cheney tied Iraq to al Qaeda, indicating the administration's belief of a relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda for the better part of a decade. Further, the Vice President told of one of the 9/11 hijackers meeting with an Iraqi agent just a few months before the 9/11 attacks. The public connected the all too obvious dots laid out by the Vice President. Saddam Hussein had and used chemical weapons in the past, a point emphasized by the administration, a point not lost on the American public and others. The question, however, has remained, was the Bush administration already intent on going to war with Iraq and therefore seeking any justifications it could find to do so?**  

The agreement to end the Gulf War (1991) had, as part of a United Nations' resolution, the prohibition of Iraq possessing or developing biological, nuclear or chemical weapons ("weapons of mass destruction," or "WMD," the terms that came to be applied for such weapons). During the 1990s and up until 2003, Saddam's very reputation made a number of people question whether he had truly destroyed his "WMD" cache, or that he was not trying to develop an atomic weapon of some type. In the time just prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration believed Saddam had such weapons, although no real evidence supported that position. Saddam Hussein's defiant behavior also lent credibility to those saying he was hiding biological and chemical weapons and likely pursuing a nuclear weapon.

By March of 2003 more than 200,000 troops, about 3/4 Americans and 1/4 British,*** invaded Iraq after massive aerial and missile bombardment against the country. Saddam's forces collapsed and by April, Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, was taken. A couple of weeks later, in what turned out to be a display of terribly poor judgment, President Bush landed on a U.S. aircraft carrier, complete with a huge banner reading "Mission Accomplished." The President then declared an end to "major combat operations."

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

* It's always a different matter for the population and for the troops stationed there, as there was fighting and civilian and military personnel were killed and wounded.

** The administration had a number of so called "neocons;" that is, "neoconservatives," who believed the U.S. had a duty to spread freedom to all parts of the world, even militarily. They also tended to support "pro-active" military action to defend American interests, as opposed to the "generally" more reactive American historical policy. What does this mean? Well, from its founding, the U.S. was, for the most part, protected from major military nations in Europe and Asia by the great oceans. This certainly developed a sense of  "you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone" isolationist foreign policy. When Europe went to war in 1914 (World War One) and again in 1939 (World War Two), it seems most Americans were perfectly content to remain out of direct involvement in those conflicts, until further events developed. In the early years of World War Two, this isolationism seems to have been much to the consternation of Franklin Roosevelt and his administration, which feared a Nazi victory over beleaguered Britain in the 1940-41 period of the war. As World War Two neared its end, some, what you might call "neocons" of that time, felt the U.S. and other western nations should confront Stalin's Soviet Union, while troops were already mobilized and supplied in Europe, and go to war if need be, with some even believing former Nazi troops should be used, if war with the Soviets broke out. So, you get the idea.

*** While President George W. Bush touted a military coalition against Saddam, the actual military forces contributed by most coalition partners, except for Britain, were small, at least in the invasion phase of the operation.

WORD HISTORY:
Talk-For what is now a very common word, its history is a bit cloudy. This word is something of a variant of "tale" (thus also related to "tell"), which had a verb form in Old English, one of the meanings of which was "tell, relate a story or events;" therefore the spinoff which meant "to talk."^  "Talk" goes back to Indo European "del/dal/dol," which had the notion "to count, to count off (recount) events of a story." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "taljanan," with the same meanings, but "apparently" some of the West Germanic dialects, especially along the North Sea coast, developed a variant, something on the order of "talkonan," which meant "to talk." The East Frisian dialect has "talken," with the same meaning. German has "Talk" (the noun form), but it was borrowed, likely from English, with reinforcement from East Frisian and Low German. I'm not quite sure where Low German got the word; that is, whether it came from the original source, as part of Low German is right up there by the North Sea coast, or whether it came from Frisian or English. Anyway, "apparently" the Anglo-Saxons carried their word to Britain (some Frisians also went), where it remained among the common people (thus not written down, at least in any writings ever found), and eventually became "talken " in the early 1200s, before the modern version and its common usage. The noun developed from the verb in the 1400s; that is, "a speech or conversation." 

^ For the Word History for "tale," see my article:   http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/02/beautys-only-skin-deep.html  

Bridge On The River Kwai Has A Major Lesson

Way back in the late 1950s, I first saw one of the great pictures of film history, "The Bridge On The River Kwai." The film won several Oscars. I was just a kid and my dad had taken us to what was a common place back then, a drive-in movie. The movie was only remotely connected to real history; that being, there had been a bridge built during the war in that part of southeast Asia by the Japanese, who used forced labor of POWs and local civilians, but the film story is otherwise purely fictional.

The film centers around a British engineer unit being held in a Japanese POW camp. The Japanese are building a bridge to help move supplies to their combat forces in Burma. The camp commandant (played by Sessue Hayakawa) has been ordered to have the bridge completed on a strict schedule, so he orders the British officers to help with the construction, an order the British senior officer (played by Alec Guinness) will not follow, as it violates the Geneva Convention, a point of little concern to the Japanese commander. You know how those regulations hamper people from being mean, ruthless, exploitative and nasty; after all, it's dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest, just ask Donald Trump or the Koch brothers. You can't have a bunch of regulations messing up that philosophy. Anyway, the refusal by the British officer to comply with the commandant's order brings harsh solitary confinement for the officer, but after a battle of wills, the commandant releases the British officer with the understanding that the British will help get the bridge built. The British officer turns into a collaborator, his feelings soothed by his belief that he is keeping his men's morale high, as well as getting his men far better treatment than before. Further, he sees the bridge as a chance to demonstrate that the British engineers are better than their Japanese counterparts, providing a boon to British pride. The fact that he is urging his men to build a bridge to aid and abet the enemy is lost on him, so blinded is he by fanaticism. He becomes so obsessed with building the best bridge possible, you'd think he were in charge of such a job in the heart of London.

Unknown to the British officer, a small group of Allied commandos are nearby as the bridge is about to open and allow passage for the first Japanese supply train. The group's assignment is to blow up the bridge. On the night before the train is to cross, the commandos set explosives in place at the base of the bridge and run the wire to the detonator. When daylight comes, the wire is exposed to view by a drop in the water level. This draws the British officer's attention and he points it out to the Japanese commandant. Together, they go down to the river to investigate. As they draw near to the plunger-type detonator, the commando designated to blow the bridge kills the approaching Japanese officer. This brings cries for help to the Japanese soldiers from the British officer, who still doesn't get it, and this results in the death of the commando by Japanese gunfire, just after he told the British officer he is there on orders to destroy the bridge. Another commando (played by William Holden) tries to get to the plunger, but he too is killed. Now the officer suddenly awakens to the reality of his collaboration as he asks, "What have I done?" If you haven't seen the movie before, you'll have to watch it to find out the ending.*

Fanaticism blinds people, even patriotic people who mean to do right. True nations have people with common goals, who make efforts to work together for the betterment of all, instead of paying heed to fanatical ideologies, with plenty of greed and egomania thrown in.   

* The film, while highly acclaimed, did get some knocks from people in Britain, who felt it disparaged them, as the officer in the movie did collaborate with the enemy. Remember, this movie originally came out not all that long after World War Two, when most war veterans were still very much alive, and when feelings about the war were still very raw. The main thing to remember is, the movie is fiction, and as some former British soldiers from those times noted, any such British officer in real life would have been "taken care of" by British soldiers in the camp themselves. I see the overall theme as being applied to far beyond war or a movie.

Photo is of the 2000 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD release

WORD HISTORY:
Bridge-This noun goes back to Indo European "bhruw," which meant "(wooden) beam," and also "log;" and might actually have been the reverse originally; that is, "log" to "beam." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "brugjon," with the meaning "structure of wood built to allow passage over a gap or waterway." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "brycg," which meant "bridge." Later this became "brigge" before the modern version. Common throughout the other Germanic languages: standard German has "Brück," Low German Saxon has "Brügg(e)," Dutch has "brug," West Frisian has "brêge," Danish, Swedish and Norwegian have "bro," and Icelandic has "brú."

"Gandhi" The Movie and History, Part Four

Note: I omitted the fact that besides efforts on behalf of "untouchables," and India's poor in general, Gandhi also championed the cause of Indian women and he used women in his various campaigns, something that was relatively new in male dominated Indian society back then. 

The history of Hindu-Muslim conflict in India is complex. This article is simply an attempt to give readers basic information, but for those interested, there are many books and articles on the subject that can provide far more detail on this very hot issue, which still flares up in modern times. Remember, please support your local library.  

As noted in the previous segments, India was a much larger nation in the time of Mahatma Gandhi, with both Bangladesh and Pakistan comprising parts of the greater whole. The Hindu religion was the largest in India, but Islam held a substantial minority position among India's population, with some areas having Muslim majorities, especially in the northwestern and northeastern regions, but Muslims were essentially scattered throughout all parts of India, just as Hindus and Sikhs lived in Muslim majority areas. The desire of Indians to rule themselves and to end British colonial rule united Indians, no matter what their religious beliefs, and for a time, there was no desire by Indians to divide India into separate Muslim and Hindu majority nations. Muhammed Ali Jinnah, one of the main Indian Muslim leaders going back to the early part of the 20th Century, very much favored one India for quite some time, but his support waned over time. 

Jinnah was born in Karachi, a port city in then northwestern India, and now part of Pakistan. His father was a successful business man and Jinnah later studied law in England, a similarity he shared with Mohandas Gandhi.* Later Jinnah lived in Bombay (now called Mumbai), on the west coast of India, where he had a huge mansion built. Jinnah advocated Hindu-Muslim unity and was, for a time, not only one of the main leaders of the movement to bring varying degrees of independence to the country, but THE main leader; being highly regarded by both Hindus and Muslims. Jinnah's and Muslim ideas began to change as plans for future self-government began to be dominated by Hindu leaders, including Gandhi, who, in spite of his overt inclusive attitude towards Muslims and others, was a Hindu. Jinnah argued for certain protections for religious minorities, and especially for Muslims, but Hindu leaders, pressed by a fanatical Hindu element, did not respond favorably to Jinnah's proposals, which were defeated in a vote of the main Indian political organization, the Indian National Congress. Jinnah quit the organization and his proposals became the basis of Muslim demands from then on if Hindus wanted Muslim support for one independent Indian nation. After a period out of the political limelight, Jinnah became the head of the (Indian) Muslim League.

Gandhi continued to preach non violent resistance to British rule, always with the idea that he and others would suffer, and have to accept, the consequences of their attempts to free India. While Gandhi preached against British colonial rule, even calling it "evil," he refused to participate in any "war on the British." There is a scene in the movie "Gandhi," where he and others are sitting outside and he tells them, "We've come along way with the British. When they leave, we want to see them off as friends." This certainly represented Gandhi's basic real life feelings, not just something depicted in the movie. While certainly not all Indians agreed with him, his leadership, and the revered stature in which he was held, kept Indians from direct all out hostile conflict with the British.

Gandhi's inclusive behavior towards non Hindus, especially towards Muslims, brought an increasing disenchantment with him from fanatical Hindu elements. As India moved toward independence during World War Two,** Gandhi was confronted with the possible, and likely, division of his country into an independent Muslim nation, under the name Pakistan,*** and the majority Hindu state of India. His attempts to preserve one Indian nation only left Muslims dissatisfied and many Hindus angry that he was too considerate of Muslim demands. Gandhi and many Indians, but certainly not all, opposed helping the British during the war, and Gandhi's antiwar speeches and protests by Indians brought massive arrests by the British, including the arrest of Gandhi. During his imprisonment his wife died, and Gandhi was chronically ill (he was in his 70s). Fearing he would die while in their custody and that his death would then spark a violent uprising by Indians against Britain, the British released him from prison. 

Gandhi and other Indian leaders then faced the nasty divide between Hindus and Muslims. The war ended and Britain made it clear they would grant Indian independence, but the religious issue remained at the center of controversy, and, in spite of attempts by Gandhi, Jinnah, and others to work out a solution, the matter remained unresolved. Muslim leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah, dissatisfied with efforts to keep Muslims within some sort of Indian state, announced he wanted a separate Muslim nation of Pakistan as the only acceptable solution to the religious divide between Indians.**** To put pressure on the Hindus and the British for the creation of an independent Pakistan, Jinnah called for a "direct action day" by Muslims set for mid August 1946, with strikes and protests seemingly meant as the definition of such "action." When the day arrived, events went awry, with some violence in various parts of India, but especially in and around the northeastern city of Calcutta, in the province of Bengal, an area of very mixed Hindu-Muslim population, but with an overall Muslim majority. Terrible violence erupted as Muslims rioted, and then Hindus rioted. As many as 10,000 people were killed, with many bodies horribly mutilated, as one side tried to get even with the other (remember folks, this was all in the name of "religion"). While the violence halted after a few days, periodic and terrible episodes of mass killings took place in the region for months, and Gandhi went there to try to stop the carnage, but he was unable to undo the mistrust that had by then developed between the religious sects. In August of 1947, India was formally given its independence, but without Pakistan, which was partitioned (there was about a thousand mile gap between Western Pakistan and Eastern Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh). All hell broke loose as millions of Muslims living outside of Pakistan picked up as many belongings as possible and headed for the new border, while Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan tried to reach India. Heavy fighting broke out and at least a half million people died. Gandhi, the father of the nation, was devastated that he couldn't achieve a peaceful unified country. Since those times and as a result of the partition and all the violence, India and Pakistan have led a very troubled existence as neighbors, a situation which continues to this day. 

On January 30, 1948, Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse shot Mohandas Gandhi three times in the chest, killing Gandhi as he walked to a prayer service. Godse hated Gandhi's non violent approach to politics and religion, and he resented Gandhi's close association with Muslims over the years. Hindu militants believed Pakistan should not have been granted a separate state from India. Godse was tried and executed by hanging. The trial demonstrated to Hindus that it was one of their own, not a Muslim, who killed Mahatma Gandhi.

Note: There are many books about the life of Gandhi, but to do these articles, I relied heavily upon notes I made a number of years ago from: "Gandhi: A Life," by Yogesh Chadha, published in New York by John Wiley and Sons, 1997. I once owned the book, and while I'm not certain, I believe I donated it to The Cleveland Public Library in about 2009. The movie "Gandhi" is available on DVD.

* Both Gandhi and Jinnah also came from rather well off families of business background, putting them into relatively high social position in Indian society. The movie "Gandhi" depicts the subject's social position early in his life when he mentions "I always travel first class." The movie also shows Jinnah's standing when several of the Indian leaders meet at his elaborate mansion, complete with servants. As the movie correctly shows, Gandhi eventually chose to associate himself with the poorer elements of Indian society, which was by far the majority of the population, and he arrives at Jinnah's mansion for the above mentioned meeting, having come by "THIRD CLASS." Gandhi could just as easily have lived a pretty comfortable life, with fine clothes and a nice residence. Jinnah, on the other hand, retained his wealth.

** There had also been proposals to create Pakistan as a state within a state; that is, Pakistan would have been a mainly self governing region, but would have remained a part of India. 

*** The war only helped Gandhi keep the moral high ground against British rule. Britain declared war on Germany, including in India's name, but the Indian leaders were never consulted beforehand. Gandhi pointed out that Britain wanted to fight "German" tyranny, while at the same time they continued to rule India.
  
**** This sounded easier than it was to accomplish, because while Muslims constituted large majorities in the northwest and northeast, millions of Muslims lived scattered throughout the rest of India, while Hindus and Sikhs lived within the majority Muslim regions in the northwest and northeast. Property also became a big issue later, including Jinnah's mansion, which was in Bombay, a part that remained in India.

Photo is of DVD edition released in 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment.

WORD HISTORY:
Yoga-This word traces back to Indo European "yewg," which had the notion of  "join together, unite." This gave Sanskrit, an ancient Indo European language still used to some degree today, primarily in religion, "yoga," with the same basic meaning, but with the context of "joining with a great spirit, god." This then passed to Hindi, one of the main languages of India. By the 1800s the word began to be used by British military, governmental and civilians in India with the idea of "exercise and mediation used to control the body and mind as one." As interest in eastern religions grew by English speaking people, the use of "yoga" spread, as did the word itself.