Finnish Salmon Soup: Lohikeitto

This salmon soup can also be called salmon chowder, and it is a fairly common dish in some parts of Finland, which is understandable, as it is wonderful! You can certainly cut some of the fat and calories by substituting canned evaporated milk (NOT sweetened condensed milk) for the heavy cream. Of course too, you can adjust the salt and pepper amounts to your taste preference.

 

Ingredients  (5 or 6 servings): 

 

1 1/4 pound salmon, in bite-size pieces 

2 cups sliced leeks, mainly white and light green part

5 tablespoons butter

2 cups diced potatoes

1 cup chopped carrot

4 1/2 cups fish stock

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt (remember, the butter and the stock have salt)

3 tablespoons chopped dill, divided use

 

In a heavy-bottom pan, melt the butter over medium heat, add the leek slices and saute until they soften. Add the carrot and potatoes and saute a further two minutes, stirring often (you don't want the veggies to actually brown), then add the fish stock, bring to a boil and adjust the heat to maintain a steady simmer until everything is tender, but not mushy. Add the salmon pieces and simmer another 5 to 6 minutes. Add the cream, black pepper, salt and 1 tablespoon of the chopped dill, stir to mix in. Let the now cream laced soup heat up, but do not boil. Remove from the heat, top each serving with some chopped dill. 

 

  

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Normal (Norm)-The ultimate origin of this word is shaky, but it seems to go back to Indo European "gnoh/gneh," meaning "to know," making it a distant relative of English "know," "can" and "ken/kenning," which are all from the Germanic roots of English, and it is related to "quaint" and to "cognizance," both Latin-derived words borrowed by English via French. The Indo European form gave transliterated Greek "ginosko," meaning "to know." This seemingly gave transliterated Greek "gnomon," which meant "carpenter's square." Latin borrowed this from Greek ("perhaps" via Etruscan?^) as "norma" also meaning "carpenter's square," but also, "a pattern, a model." This was taken by Latin-based French as "norme," essentially meaning "pattern, model, something to be followed (a "rule," both "the piece of wood used for measurement and drawing straight lines," AND, "a policy to be followed"), and English borrowed the word by the 1820s. Latin "norma" (mentioned above) spawned the Latin adjective "normalis," meaning "done following a carpenter's square;" thus also, "done by the rule, done following a pattern or model;" thus, "done in the common way." English borrowed the word from Latin initially in a rather limited way as a mathematics (geometry) term for "having to do with perpendicular, being at a right angle" (later also used with the meaning "perpendicular" as a noun), but later with the meaning "having to do with doing things in the established or standard way," and the word's usage began to become much more common by the early part of the 1800s. The latter part of the 1800s saw usage as a noun for "the common state of something," as in, "The normal for our family is to eat dinner on Sundays at 4 o'clock," and adjectivally as, "A normal Sunday for us is to eat dinner at 4 o'clock." Close English relative, German, also borrowed "normal" from Latin during the 1700s, also meaning, "(pertaining to) normal, usual, regular, standard." Example: "Ich hätte gern(e) einen normalen Kaffee" ("I would like a regular coffee"). 

 

^ Etruscan is a mystery language, "possibly" related to some languages of the Aegean Sea area, including "Minoan." In ancient times, Etruscan was spoken in a fairly large part of what is now Italy, but it eventually died out when Latin came to the area, although some Etruscan words were borrowed into Latin. "Etruscan" lies behind the words "Tuscan" and "Tuscany" (Italian: Toscana), a region in western Italy, the regional capital being Florence (Italian: Firenze).      

Gilligan's Island Episode: Seer Gilligan

"Gilligan's Island" was a comedy that originally aired on the CBS television network from 1964 until 1967. The show's first season, 1964-65, was broadcast in black and white, but the show began airing in color with the 1965-66 season. The basic idea of the series was that seven people had been shipwrecked during a severe storm after the tour boat they were on sailed from Hawaii. The boat was beached on a small uncharted island where these seven representatives from various parts of American society had to learn to get along in order to survive. Gilligan was a good and well meaning guy, but no matter how great his intentions, he always managed to bungle things. The show was the creation of Sherwood Schwartz. After CBS cancelled the show and it ceased production, its original episodes began broadcast all over the world, something that has continued pretty much ever since. The show's popularity spawned three full-length movies in the late 1970s and early 1980s featuring all of the original cast, except Tina Louise, who remained embittered about how the show had damaged her career, as movie and television execs felt she was too tied to her "Ginger" character from the show, and this restricted the roles offered to her. Some of the other cast members were embittered too, until they came to realize how beloved they and the show were to so many people around the globe.    

 

This episode first aired in January 1966 and only the regular cast appears in the episode: 

Bob Denver ................. Gilligan
Alan Hale, Jr. .............. (the) Skipper
Jim Backus ................. Thurston Howell III
Natalie Schafer ........... Mrs. Howell, aka "Lovey"
Tina Louise ................ Ginger Grant
Russell Johnson ......... the Professor
Dawn Wells ............... Mary Ann

 

 

Comment: Interestingly, this episode was filmed and broadcast well before the Internet, but there is a connection between the two in a certain way. Some of the Internet tech people, like Mark Zuckerberg, saw the potential of the Internet as a great way to bring people together from all over the world, but he and the others seemingly DIDN'T see, or fully comprehend, the potential for negatives and misuse, something they perhaps wanted to be reserved just for themselves, when they took people's personal information and followed their every move on the Internet. No siree, none of this Mata Hari-like spying for these power hungry and money grubbing Internet lords, whose companies compiled profiles of each user; perhaps, the word "dossier" is even more appropriate. They sold malarkey to the public that they had to have all of this personal information to use targeted ads; thus, they wouldn't have to do the same as television, radio and the print media and compete with those entities head-on to get advertisers to use the Internet to market products and services on the Web. Then there were those who provided false information on the Internet, some doing so by mistake or by accident, but others deliberately floating misinformation for political purposes (think Putin, Trump and others). There are those who have become very wealthy and powerful people because of the Internet, and they know by controlling it, they may control us. If you think this isn't potentially serious, it is VERY serious, and with the likelihood that abortion will become illegal in several parts of the U.S., there is also "talk," right now just talk, about using people's internet records to track them down for abortion violations. If that happens, everything will be on the table, and control of all of us will be a fact, not a theory. (Note: To be clear, Mark Zuckerberg is not the only tech person involved in all of this, but his success has made him one of the best known, if not THE best known tech person, so I use his name here, fairly or unfairly, and I have no sympathy for him anyway.) 

The episode opens with the Skipper looking and calling for Gilligan, who is getting ready to build a birdhouse for a family of birds nesting in a tree. When the Skipper gets to Gilligan, Gilligan says, "The Professor's checking the lobster traps," and then, "I'm building a birdhouse." The astonished Skipper tells Gilligan he answered his questions before he could ask them, but Gilligan says "I can't read your mind," but the Skipper replies, "Well then how can you tell what I'm thinking?" Now even Gilligan looks astonished. The Skipper tests Gilligan again, and Gilligan reads his mind; so, the Skipper takes Gilligan to the others and tells them Gilligan can read minds, but the Professor says it's "a scientific impossibility." The Skipper has Gilligan read his mind again, and then the Professor gives it a try, and sure enough, Gilligan reads his mind too, then Mary Ann, then Ginger, then Mr. Howell. Now the question is, how does Gilligan do it? This is a question that keeps the Howells taking turns pacing back and forth, complete with an alarm clock to signal that it's the other spouse's turn to begin pacing. Mrs. Howell suggests it could be something in the food Gilligan eats; so, Mr. Howell decides he will eat the same things Gilligan eats. Gilligan is skinny, but Mr. Howell finds out that Gilligan eats a lot, so much, that when Mr. Howell eats the same, he unsteadily goes back to his hut and lies down on the bed, only to be told by Mrs. Howell that he has to get up, because it's time for dinner. hahaha 

 

Ginger puts on the psychologist outfit and begins to ask Gilligan about his childhood and his parents. Gilligan at times answers before she can ask the questions, as he all the while munches on some seeds he has with him. He offers Ginger a couple of the seeds, and she suddenly answers a question Gilligan hadn't yet asked. She now realizes these are not regular sunflower seeds. Ginger and Gilligan go to the rest of the group with the news about the seeds and the Professor tests Gilligan's mind reading powers again, as Gilligan quotes back a complicated scientific formula the Professor was thinking about. The Skipper decides to get Gilligan back to their hut so that he can try to find out the location of the bush with the seeds for himself, but Gilligan is too tired and he keeps falling asleep. Mr. Howell later sneaks into the hut and tries to make a deal with the half asleep Gilligan, where the two split things 70 to 30, and to which the greedy Mr. Howell says he won't let Gilligan take anything less than 30%. hahaha  After Mr. Howell, Ginger makes a sexy appeal too, but Gilligan begins snoring. The next morning the castaways are complaining how Gilligan has disappeared without telling them, but he comes back with bags of seeds for all of them, and they mob him. Now the real problems begin, as the little group finds out that reading the minds of others gives no privacy, and that people have thoughts that are not always noble, but they're just thoughts, not always put into action.

 

Mrs. Howell reads her husband's mind and she finds that he wants to steal her seeds. The Skipper and Gilligan are working on one of the huts, when the always clumsy Gilligan causes an accident with the Skipper, who then reads Gilligan's thought that it wouldn't have happened if the Skipper weren't so fat. Ginger and Mary Ann think bad thoughts at one another, although we don't know what it's all about, except that Mary Ann says she is glad Ginger could read her mind, because she's "too much of a lady to say those things." Gilligan goes to talk with the Professor just as Mr. Howell stomps off from an argument with his wife. Gilligan and the Professor talk about all the bad feelings between the castaways now, and the Professor even notes that these have been the most serious disagreements they've had since being shipwrecked. Gilligan says, "I thought we'd all get along really well if we could read each other's minds," and the Professor agrees, adding, "I thought these seeds might even help world peace," but he stops when he reads Gilligan's thought that this is "a stupid idea." The insulted Professor now stomps off too. Later, Gilligan hears and observes the other six castaways arguing among themselves even further, but they begin to run out of seeds. They decide to try to find the bush, but when they set out to find it, Gilligan has already gone there and sets fire to the seed bush. The Skipper, Mr. Howell and the Professor see Gilligan and the fire and they go to him. He tells them he is burning the bush and all of the remaining seeds. Gilligan tells them they probably think it's another dumb thing he has done, but that before the mind reading seeds, they never fought and argued like they have been doing, and that maybe without the seeds, they can all be friends again. While initially irritated by Gilligan's action, they now see the wisdom in what Gilligan has done, and they are no longer angry. With things back to normal, the Skipper tells Gilligan a series of things he has for Gilligan to do before he can go fishing, and the list is extensive. Gilligan asks the Skipper, "Do you know what I think?" The Skipper answers, "No," to which Gilligan replies, "That's good." hahaha   

 

 

 Photo is from the Turner Home Entertainment/Warner Brothers' Complete Second Season DVD Set 

WORD HISTORY:

Nautical-This adjective is related to "navy," a word of Latin derivation borrowed by English from Latin-based French, and and to "navigation," another Latin word either borrowed from that language, with French reinforcement, or the other way around.^ It is also distantly related, through Indo European, to a word no longer in English; that is, Old English "nowend," which meant "sailor," and which was from the Germanic roots of English. "Nautical" goes back to Indo European "neh/nah," which meant "boat," and this gave transliterated Ancient Greek "naus," meaning "ship," which spawned Greek "nautes," meaning "sailor." This produced the Greek adjective "nautikos," meaning "(having to do with) seafaring or naval matters," and Latin borrowed the word from Greek as "nauticus," with the same general meaning. French took the word from Latin as "nautique," and English borrowed the word as "nautical" in the mid 1500s, with the meaning "having to do with ships, seafaring or sailors." The "-al" ending was taken from French or Latin (see note below), and its origin is uncertain, although it "may" have been taken by Latin from Etruscan, a mystery language, "possibly" related to some languages of the Aegean Sea area, including "Minoan." In ancient times, Etruscan was spoken in a fairly large part of what is now Italy, but it eventually died out when Latin came to the area, although some of its words were borrowed into Latin.

^ As I've noted here on occasion, French is a Latin-based language with some Germanic influences. Back hundreds of years ago when English was more commonly borrowing Latin-derived words, many scholars knew Latin, but they also often knew French; thus, they were familiar with many of the words being borrowed, but it's sometimes difficult to tell which language a particular word was borrowed from, and "navigation" is one of those words, although both languages undoubtedly played some role in the word coming into English.  

Indian Mashed Veggies & Rolls: Pav Bhaji

This dish is commonly sold by street vendors and fast food outlets in India. It seems to have originated in Mumbai on the western coast of India (it was formerly called "Bombay"). Indians use a spice blend called "pav bhaji masala" to season this dish, and this spice blend can be found at Indian and Pakistani shops, or perhaps at some spice shops, but if you keep a good variety of spices in your home, you can just add many of the individual spices to the recipe yourself, and if you're missing one or two, you shan't be banned from fixing or eating Indian food for the rest of your life, although 20 lashes with a piece of spaghetti might be in order. Below I've listed the most common spices used in the spice blend. The use of bread rolls is likely from Portuguese influence ('pav,' pronounced like 'pow,' from Portuguese 'pão;' that is, 'bread'), as the Portuguese maintained a colonial presence in India for centuries, longer than England/Britain. 

 

Fenugreek leaves are used in this dish. The seeds (often ground) and the leaves of the fenugreek plant are fairly common ingredients in certain foods of the Indian subcontinent and they would be good additions to your herbs and spices.

Ingredients:

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

1 large carrot, peeled and cut into about 1 1/2 inch pieces

10 to 12 ounces green peas, canned (drained), or frozen

1 cup finely chopped onion

2 fresh medium tomatoes, chopped

1/4 to 1/2 cup of the water used to boil the potatoes and carrots

spices:

-1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

- 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

- 1 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne or other)

- 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric

- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed (crushed, or even better, grind it if you have a spice grinder)

(optional) 1/2 teaspoon dried mango powder (also called 'amchur')

1 or 2 tablespoons fenugreek leaves

1 heaping teaspoon salt

(optional) 2 tablespoon fresh chopped coriander (also called cilantro)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil + 1 tablespoon butter

3 or 4 tablespoons butter

dinner rolls, split and toasted in a skillet

Boil the potatoes and carrots in just enough water to cover. Cook until tender. You can microwave the peas and tomatoes, if you'd like, or heat them on the stove, then add them to the cooked potatoes and carrots, along with 1/4 cup of the water used to boil the potatoes and carrots. Mash the vegetables with a potato masher, a stick blender, a mixer or use a food processor (you can add a little more of the cooking water, if the mixture is too thick). Toast the rolls in a skillet over low heat with melted butter (you can add a little pinch of ground cumin and a tiny pinch of ground red pepper to the melted butter and then toast the rolls). Top the mashed vegetable mixture with pats of butter. Serve with some raw chopped onion on the side, a couple of lemon or lime wedges and a green chili pepper or two (jalapeños or serranos are good suggestions).

 

Pav Bhaji with a pat of butter, piece of lemon, piece of lime, browned rolls, green chili pepper and some chopped red onion

WORD HISTORY: 

Fenestra-This word is now really only in use among anatomical specialists in English, but believe it or not, forms of it have been around in English and other Germanic languages dating back many centuries. Its history is obscure, although many etymologists and linguists believe it is of Etruscan derivation,^ because its ending of "stra" being the ending of other Latin words borrowed from Etruscan. Anyway, Latin had "fenestra," presumably from Etruscan, and meaning, "an opening in a wall or a roof to let in light;" thus also, "a window, a hatch." It was borrowed into some of the Germanic languages, "apparently" individually, rather than borrowed by the parent Germanic language, Old Germanic; and for instance, long ago the German spoken in what became Switzerland had "feister" for "window" from dialectal Latin "festra." Old English had "fenester," Old High German had "fenstar," with isolated cases of "finestra," all meaning "window." Low German and Dutch (both had "venster," both perhaps from German "fenstar?"). English kept its form as a synonym of "window" clear into the 1500s, when the word was totally superseded by "window" and "fenester" (also spelled "fenestre") became archaic. The 1800s saw the medicinal and anatomical use of the Latin form "fenestra" for "openings" in body parts, mainly in bones, especially in the second half of the 1800s regarding part of the middle and inner ear. German still has a form of the word as its word for "window," that being "Fenster."    

^ Etruscan is a mystery language, but it was "possibly" related to some languages of the Aegean Sea area, including "Minoan." In ancient times, Etruscan was spoken in a fairly large part of what is now Italy, but it eventually died out when Latin came to the area, although some of its words were borrowed into Latin.

Cornmeal Soup

Cornmeal is a food of dried and ground maize. Maize is more commonly called "corn" in North America. Native Americans often used ground or mashed maize in various ways, and the European settlers picked up on this handy product, that when dried, was easy to keep and easy to use to make porridge, soup, "pudding"* or bread. European explorers and traders took the durable product back to Europe, where its ground version joined other ground grains and established a foothold in Italy, where it is called "polenta." Italian immigrants took their recipes for polenta to their new homes in other lands, including to the New World, where they supplemented the existing use of cornmeal by the addition of cheese.

The basic soup recipe was given to me by my friend Gustavo, who is from Brazil. He is an "FOF;" that is, "a friend of Fernando" (private joke). His mother makes the soup, and I put my own touches to it. If you don't like "spicy heat," you can leave out the chili peppers, or remove the seeds and just use the flesh of one chili; one seeded chili in 6 cups of broth is not likely to add very much kick, at all. Also, using bouillon, soup base or store bought broth usually means a high salt content, so that will be the salt for the soup, and you will not need to add more salt. There are some chicken soup bases without salt, so you can always consider one of those, if you watch your salt intake. The thing is, you want to use some kind of broth, as plain water will make the soup bland. I make this soup often, and recently as I made the soup, I was also following an important show on television and I inadvertently left out the soup base. I merrily continued on my way and when I sat down to eat, I said, "Hm, damn this is bland!" I promptly sprinkled on some more cheese, but that didn't really help. Then I realized I had forgotten the soup base. DUH! I added a little base and all was well. Just in time to see Bugs Bunny escape from Elmer Fudd! Hey, I told you I was watching an important show.         

Ingredients (for about 4 servings):

6 cups water or chicken broth or water with chicken bouillon or chicken soup base
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
2/3 cup kale (no large stems)
(optional) 1 to 3 jalapeño or serrano chili peppers
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2/3 cup cornmeal
4 eggs
grated or shaved Parmesan or Romano cheese for topping each serving
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling on each serving

Put the broth, garlic, onion, kale and chili peppers (if using) into a nonstick large skillet over medium heat and bring it to a simmer; simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Using a skillet makes it easier to add and cook the eggs, as a sauce pan may be too narrow to maneuver, unless you're fixing just 1 or 2  servings, but use your own judgment. GRADUALLY add the cornmeal, whisking or stirring constantly to avoid lumps (otherwise you'll have little cornmeal dumplings). Stir in the black pepper. The soup should have some body to it, but it should still be very fluid; this is not porridge. Carefully add one egg at a time to the hot soup (I use a spatula to prevent the eggs from sticking to the bottom). After about a minute, you can turn off the heat and let the eggs finish poaching in the soup. If you like fully cooked yolks, you don't have to be so careful about the eggs, but I like runny yolks. Carefully ladle the eggs and soup into individual serving bowls. Sprinkle a little grated cheese or cheese shavings onto the top of each serving, then drizzle on some extra virgin olive oil.

* The term "pudding" may confuse many Americans, as we typically think of pudding as a milk-based kind of custard, or cornstarch thickened flavored milk dessert, often flavored with chocolate or vanilla, but with other flavors, too. In England and other parts of Britain, puddings can mean a dish of meat, spices and fruit boiled or steamed until solidified into a loaf or sausage.

Before I added the cheese and olive oil. You can see the egg yolk and part of the egg white.

I used a mix of Parmesan, Romano and Asiago cheeses

WORD HISTORY:
Palace-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain, with one suggestion being that it goes back to Latin "palus," the ancestor of English "pale;" that is, as in "fence pale, stake." ^ The idea is that "pales" connect to make a fence; thus, an enclosure, but whether this is the basis of the word "palace" is more than a little uncertain, in my opinion. One of the seven hills of Rome was called "Mons Palatinus," but why that name was used is not really known, although the suggestion that it was based on an existing Etruscan word, "falad," which meant "sky," makes some sense.^^ Anyway, "Mons Palatinus" was part of the original settlement of what became Rome, and later Emperor Augustus had his residence there, and other wealthy Romans also lived there, thus giving the idea to such residences as "palaces." "Palatinus" later became "Palatium," still meaning the hill in Rome, but later it became "palatium," with the meaning, "residence of an emperor or high official." This later became "palacium," and it passed into Latin-based Old French as "palais," and English borrowed the word in the first part of the 1200s as, "palice/palesse."     

^ The noun "pale" is a Latin-derived word borrowed by English from French. It is not related to "pale" meaning, "light in color," another word borrowed by English and coincidentally of the same spelling. 

^^  Etruscan is a mystery language, but it was "possibly" related to some languages of the Aegean Sea area, including "Minoan." Etruscan was spoken in a fairly large part of what is now Italy, but it eventually died out when Latin came to the area, although some of its words were borrowed into Latin.  

Is It 'Rumania' or 'Romania?' Part Two

Historically, the origin of the Vlachs has been tough to pin down and this is a subject far beyond the scope of this very basic article here. Modern DNA testing is shedding new light on many of the world's nationality and ethnic groups. Whatever the case, the Vlachs were a people who spoke, or came to speak, a Latin-based language in the general area of modern Rumania. The Vlachs got their name from the Germanic word that gave English the word "Welsh."*

The Magyars, a tribe, or more likely, a confederation of related tribes from Asia, came into that part of eastern Europe in the 800s A.D., where they eventually conquered and settled in the region. While they call themselves "Magyars," most other people know them now as the "Hungarians." The move of the Magyars into the region brought lots of conflict with other groups, including the Vlachs, and the Magyars took control of the area. Later the Turks gained control of much of the Balkans' area, including the Rumanian region, in the 1500s, but not before two principalities had emerged among the Rumanians, Wallachia and Moldavia. When the Turks took control, the Rumanian princes were allowed to rule their provinces to varying degrees over time, although the controlling princes had to pay the Turks (Ottomans) to do so, and those payments were taken from the people. Meanwhile in Transylvania, which had a large Rumanian population, a number of German settlers arrived during the 1100s at the invite of the king of Hungary, as that area was under Hungarian control, although later it too fell under Turkish rule. Initially these Germans were invited in to help secure the border areas, but continued German settlement took place in the 1200s, but more with the motivation of economic development. While most of these Germans came from various parts of the western Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire), they came to be called "Transylvanian Saxons," and more Germans would come later. By the late 1600s, Transylvania came under the control of the Habsburgs of Austria, who also almost always were elected as German emperors, and who also gradually got control of the Hungarian lands.

The 1800s brought great change, as in the mid part of the century, Alexandru Cuza was chosen to lead Wallachia and and Moldavia. Transylvania remained under Austrian rule, soon to be Hungarian rule when the Austrian Empire was divided into "Austria-Hungary" (also known as the "Austro-Hungarian Empire"). Wallachia and Moldavia still remained under the overall rule of the Ottoman Empire, but this changed when Russia defeated the Turks in a war in the 1870s. In that war the principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia allied with Russia, and the war's victorious conclusion brought independence for Rumania, by then led by Prince Carol, who then became King Carol I of the Kingdom of Rumania. King Carol was of the House of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a noble family from southwestern Germany.  

More will follow shortly...

* For more on the word "Welsh," this is the link to the article with that history: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2014/10/welsh-rarebit-or-is-it-rabbitt-great.html

The following were consulted for this article on Rumania: "Kingdoms of Europe" by Gene Gurney, published by Crown Publishers, Inc. NY 1982

"Romania/An Illustrated History" by Nicolae Klepper, published by Hippocrene Books, NY 2002

WORD HISTORY:
Rome-While "traditionally" the name has been said to come from "Romulus," the founder of the city, the actual base word "likely" is derived from Etruscan ^ "Ruma," a tribal element of the Etruscans, and the closely related "Rumon" was the Etruscan name for what later came to be called the "Tiberis River" (English: Tiber).

^ Etruscan is a mystery language, but it was "possibly" related to some languages of the Aegean Sea area, including "Minoan." Etruscan was spoken in a fairly large part of what is now Italy, but it eventually died out when Latin came to the area, although some of its words were borrowed into Latin.

The German Question, Part One Hundred

"Germany's Weimar Republic" Part Three
"The Occupation Of The Ruhr"

(Just for some background, this paragraph and the note is from Part 99) "The Versailles Treaty made Germany responsible for reparations mainly to Belgium and France. When the Germans defaulted on some aspects (mainly timber and coal) of these payments, French and Belgian troops entered Germany in January of 1923 and occupied the Ruhr, the country's main industrial region.*"

Not only were the French concerned about losing the resources from the German reparations, but they feared that if Germany could not be made to comply with this aspect of the Versailles Treaty, the Germans would gradually get out from under other provisions of the treaty. They saw enforcement as imperative. The Germans called for strikes by workers in the Ruhr; thus beginning months of popular resistance to the occupation. Some German workers and organizers of the resistance were killed or arrested,** which only gained Germany sympathy from other parts of the world. The strikes had the further consequence of damaging the frail German economy, as production of many goods used for both domestic consumption and for foreign trade essentially came to a standstill. Escalating German inflation, already on the rise before the occupation, exploded, as the German government, in an effort to meet its obligations, printed money with little or no backing to give it value. While the German currency lost value, so did the value of French money, as without German reparations, other nations feared for the resilience of the French economy.

World War One and its aftermath really began American involvement in European affairs. Influential American leaders and businessmen wanted a stable Europe, including a stable Germany. This very much coincided with Britain's desires. With the tension of the Ruhr occupation escalating, a committee was set up consisting of two members each from France, Belgium, Italy, Britain and the United States. The committee, called the "Dawes Committee," after American Vice President Charles Dawes,*** devised a plan to restructure German reparations in an attempt to assure payment. America provided loans to Germany to help their economy recover and to help guarantee payment of reparations. Germany would collect various taxes to make the payments. The "Dawes Plan," as it was known, established a lowered payment plan for Germany, but with progressively higher payments over a five year period, with the maximum to be reached and continued in year five. In return, the French and Belgians would withdraw from the Ruhr industrial region of Germany (which took place in August of 1925). The Germans signed on the dotted line and Dawes received a shared "Nobel Peace Prize."****

Next: ""The Cost of a Loaf of Bread-Hyperinflation in Weimar Germany" (A "Word History" is below the notes)

* (From Part 99) "The German government claimed it could not meet all reparations. The Belgians and French argued that the Germans were simply playing games to see if the Allies would enforce the reparations' provisions of the treaty. The British and Americans wanted the amount of reparations to be lowered, which only irritated the French that much more."

** It certainly seems that more than a hundred Germans were killed during the occupation, but an exact number is difficult to determine.

*** Dawes, a Republican who was born in Ohio, came from a banking and financial background. He held financial positions in the former administrations of President McKinley and President Harding, both Republicans.

**** The other recipient, British Foreign Secretary, Austen Chamberlain, shared the award because of his work on a series of European treaties (collectively known as "Locarno Treaty" or "Pact"), but he had nothing to do with the Dawes Plan.

WORD HISTORY:
Republic/Public-The main part of this compound goes back to Latin "publicus/poplicus," meaning "about the people." Where Latin got the word is a matter of discussion, with some linguists believing it was a borrowing from Etruscan (see note). The first part goes back to Latin "res," which meant "matter, thing." Some linguists believe this traces back to an Indo European root "re" or "rei," others are not so certain. Regardless, Latin had "respublica," meaning "matter of the people." This gave French, a Latin-based language, "république." It seems to have been borrowed into English at some point during the 1600s. The word "public" was borrowed into English in the 1400s from French "public," which traces back to the Latin forms given above. Other Germanic languages also borrowed the word: German has "Republik" (capital "R," as all German nouns are capitalized), Dutch and Low German have "republiek," West Frisian has "republyk," Norwegian has "republikk," Swedish has "republik," and Danish has "Republik."

NOTE: Etruscan is something of a mystery language, but it was possibly related to some languages of the Aegean Sea area, including "Minoan." Etruscan was spoken in a fairly large part of what is now Italy, but it died out when Latin came to the area, although some of its words were borrowed into Latin.

Simply Saturday

SATURDAY is simply named after the Roman god "Saturn," although some linguists seem to believe it actually took its name from the planet "Saturn," which nonetheless was named after the god. The name "Saturn" may go back to Etruscan, a language of uncertain origin spoken in what is now modern central Italy. Some linguists classify it as "Tyrrhenian," a language family not all linguists agree upon. The derivation from "Saturn" is not used in all of the Germanic languages, however, besides English, Dutch has "Zaterdag" and some of the Low German dialects, and some Frisian dialects have "Satertag." In Anglo-Saxon (Old English) it was both "Saeterdaeg" ("Saturn day") and "Saeternesdaeg" ("Saturn's day"), before eventually becoming our modern form. Standard German has TWO forms for Saturday, although by far the more common is "Samstag" ("Sabbath" day) which traces back to Greek, then from Greek to Hebrew, and "Sonnabend," which is literally "sun evening;" that is, evening before "Sunday," which is "Sonntag," in German. "Samstag" is used in all German speaking lands, and "Sonnabend" is used more in northern and eastern Germany. The North Germanic languages all use forms that literally mean "bath day," something that certainly carried over to earlier times in America, since Saturdays were commonly seen as the day of the week for a bath, whether you needed it or not.