My Friends Were NOT Losers or Suckers

A few months ago I thought back to the 1960s, a tumultuous time in the world and in the United States. One hot spot in the world was Germany. After World War Two, the country was divided, with Austria again becoming independent, with the victorious Allies occupying the country. Germany was divided into occupation zones, with each of the four major Allies (the U.S., Britain, France and the Soviet Union) administering a zone. The eastern part of Germany was in the Soviet zone; thus, it became communist dominated with a pro-Soviet German government eventually installed. The thing was, lots of Germans, including many highly skilled workers and well educated people, crossed over into the western areas of Germany. By the early 1960s, the East German government, supported by the Soviets, cracked down on people leaving their sector, and they began building a wall to halt the out migration to West Germany. This all caused a crisis. Then not long thereafter, the U.S. announced they had evidence that the Soviets had shipped missiles to Cuba, a communist nation only 90 miles from the U.S. shore and run by dictator Fidel Castro. This REALLY caused problems and it looked as if the world could experience a nuclear war, as President Kennedy leaned on the Soviets to remove the missiles by ordering a naval blockade of Cuba. Finally, after many tense days, which included air raid drills in schools, the Soviets withdrew the missiles.

With these things going on, not many people paid as much attention to the then increasing tensions in South Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia. It was one of those countries that had been created by splitting the main country into a communist dominated North Vietnam, and a pro-Western government in South Vietnam. American foreign policy began to focus on stopping the spread of communism to South Vietnam, as we were eventually told and given to believe, that if South Vietnam became a communist nation, we could expect to be fighting Vietnamese communists in the streets of Los Angeles and Seattle, not to mention perhaps in Boise, Idaho. Thousands of U.S. troops were sent to South Vietnam, and while the reasons may seem odd today (almost funny, if the result hadn't been so bloody), the call to nationalism and American fear of communism was quite real in those days, and politicians of both major parties did not want to end up on the wrong side of the issue. We in the public were told how we were close to ending the threat in South Vietnam, but in fact, the situation grew worse, and soldiers by the tens of thousands were sent to try to end the conflict, with more than 50,000 dying by the time Americans were completely withdrawn from South Vietnam. 

A few months ago, as I thought about those times, I looked online for two friends who died in Vietnam. These guys were from right in my neighborhood. "Gary" was like 4 or 5 years older than me and the guys I hung around with. Now, if you're 10 and another guy is 14 or 15, that's a big difference at that age, and Gary was like a big brother to some of us, even though he wasn't a tall guy in that sense. Gary joined the Marines a few years later. He was sent to Vietnam and killed in action in 1967. Then there was "Robbie." He was just a year or 2 older than most of us and we all played ball together in the schoolyard and did all the things that young people and teenagers do. He was also not a tall guy at all. As the war became big news in the second half of the 1960s, he talked of wanting to be a Marine and to serve in Vietnam, or "Nam," as he would say. When he was still too young for military service, I think many of us thought and hoped the war would be over before Robbie might end up in it, and some of my firends poked fun at his gung ho attitude, perhaps to ease the thoughts of what might happen to him. Well, the war continued and Robbie joined the Marines. In the first few days of 1970 he was killed in action. The thing that most of us feared had happened.

 

I found my two friends online and I saw their photos from all of those years ago (both in their uniforms). I sat and cried and I'm not doing well at keeping my composure as I write this. Since I saw their pictures, word has come out that there were likely bounties paid by Russia to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan, and then word came that the "little man" (dis)serving as president of the United States called American wounded and dead soldiers "loosers and suckers." These things alone, along with his disparaging comments about John McCain and attacking the parents of a soldier killed in action, should be QUITE ENOUGH to tell any American all they need to know about the despicable creature and his mob-like culture occupying our White House. He is worthy of nothing but contempt. 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Fidelity-This word is closely related to "fealty," a Latin-derived word borrowed by English via French, and it is related to "confide," a word borrowed by English directly from Latin. Further, it may be distantly related to "bide" and "abide," both words from the Germanic roots of English. "Fidelity" goes back to Indo European "bheidh," which had the notion, "to trust," with extended meanings like "to convince" (bring someone to trust in your feelings about something), "to obey" (put trust in someone by following their orders). Italic rendered the "bh" as "f," which gave Latin "fidere," meaning "to trust," and the noun "fides," meaning "faith," which produced the adjective "fidelis," meaning, "faithful," which produced the noun "fidelitas," meaning "faithfulness." This was taken into French as "fidélité," with the same meaning, and English borrowed the word in the first half of the 1400s (initially as "fidelite?").            

The Golden Girls Episode: Dorothy's New Friend

"The Golden Girls" was a comedy series set in Miami, Florida (it wasn't filmed in Miami) and originally telecast on NBC from 1985 through 1992. The basic gist of the show is that four women, 3 widowed and 1 divorced, share a house together and develop such a strong family-like friendship, they deal with and overcome their differing personality conflicts, as they support each other in life's challenges, including that of aging.  

This episode is from "Season Three" and it was first telecast in January 1988. Sometimes shiny new objects distract us from our long time reliable fixtures. Sometimes too the shininess obscures the flaws in the new object, some of which may be worse than just little blemishes. In this episode, Dorothy is captivated by a new friend and it takes her some time to see "the shiny new object" for what she really is, a person who feels that tolerating antisemitic discriminatory policies don't make her a bigot. 

Cast for this episode:

Dorothy Zbornak .......................... Bea Arthur
Blanche Devereaux ....................... Rue McClanahan
Rose Nylund .................................. Betty White
Sophia ............................................ Estelle Getty
Barbara Thorndyke ........................ Bonnie Bartlett
Murray Guttman ............................ Monty Ash

This episode opens with Sophia preparing some food for her new 84 year old flame and Rose and Blanche getting ready for the annual charity masquerade ball at the counseling center where Rose works. Rose has gotten a horse's outfit for herself and Dorothy, although she hasn't decided which of them will be the head and which will be the "behind." Dorothy comes in disgusted with life, but she is encouraged by the others to get active, so she decides to go listen to a lecture that evening featuring a local author named Barbara Thorndyke. We later learn from Dorothy that she introduced herself to Barbara after the lecture and the two discussed a variety of topics, much to Dorothy's delight. She invites Barbara to the house where the writer meets Blanche and Rose, who prove too unsophisticated for the condescending Barbara and she makes an excuse to leave. Blanche and Rose agree they don't care for Barbara.

The next day Rose and Blanche plan to go to a movie and they ask Dorothy to come too, but she tells them Barbara has invited her out. They tell Dorothy they think Barbara is snooty, but Dorothy tells them that is unfair, as they don't know Barbara. When Rose tells Dorothy she'd have more fun going to the movies with them, Dorothy turns patronizing, patting Rose on the hand and telling her two friends, "I promise, we'll do something together real soon. Okay?" Blanche and Rose feel they may have been too hasty in their judgment of Barbara after such a brief first meeting, so they decide they want to invite Barbara to dinner and give her another chance.

Barbara comes to dinner, but she continues to give her attention to Dorothy, while pretty much ignoring Blanche and Rose. Blanche grabs her attention with some criticism of one of Barbara's books. When Barbara snobbishly begins to explain what a metaphor is to Blanche, Blanche sets her straight, but Blanche has to explain it to the clueless Rose. hahaha When Barbara prepares to leave, she offers Dorothy a ticket she has to a writer's symposium, and Dorothy accepts. Barbara leaves without even saying goodbye to Rose and Blanche, and Rose tells Dorothy the symposium is the same night as the masquerade ball, but Dorothy makes it clear she will be joining Barbara and not going to the masquerade ball with Rose and Blanche, even though the masquerade ball is very important to Rose. Later Blanche and Rose let Dorothy know how they feel about Barbara, with Rose telling Dorothy that Barbara only pays attention to her, because Dorothy looks up to Barbara, and Blanche chimes in that Barbara likes to make others feel stupid, as when she used Latin to ask for someone to pass the salt at dinner. Dorothy gets very angry when Rose says that Dorothy has every right to have her friends, but that it also takes a good friend to point out another friend's mistakes, and that she feels Dorothy is making a mistake by befriending Barbara. Dorothy tells them they have no right to tell her who her friends should be, and she stomps off.

Dorothy meets Barbara for lunch at a restaurant with a "literary theme," where the menu is in the shape of a book, with "Chapter 5" being the lunch menu, featuring such dishes as, "The Crepes of Wrath," "The Old Man And The Seafood Salad," "Edgar Allen Poe-tatoes" and "George Bernard Slaw." Dorothy tells Barbara that their friendship has put a serious strain on her friendship with Rose and Blanche, who feel left out. In her often condescending way, Barbara makes it clear that she doesn't understand why Dorothy is so close to the other two women, but she tells Dorothy she wants to make an effort, so she wants to invite everyone, including Sophia, to dinner at the Mortimer Club, the most exclusive club in town. Dorothy still fails to grasp Barbara's attitude toward Blanche and Rose.

On the evening of the dinner, Barbara appears at the the house with her much younger date, a student from one of her writing classes. The bell rings and it is Sophia's date, Murray Guttman, the 84 year old, who is dressed in a flashy tuxedo. Barbara shakes Murray's hand and then asks to see Dorothy privately in the kitchen. She tells Dorothy they have a problem because of Murray Guttman. This is important, so I'll do the dialogue here:

Barbara: "He can't come to the club."
Dorothy: "Why not?"
Barbara: "Guttman."
Dorothy: "What are you talking about?"
Barbara: "Guttman, he's Jewish isn't he?"
Dorothy: "I don't know. What difference does it make?"
Barbara: "A big difference, the Mortimer Club is restricted."
Dorothy: "Barbara, why are you a member of a club like that?"
Barbara: "Because they serve a great breakfast and the parking is free. Besides, it's their policy, not mine."
Dorothy: "Yes, but you tolerate it."
Barbara: "Dorothy, I tolerate a lot of things; for instance, I'm tolerating this evening with Rose and Blanche because of my friendship with you."
... A little more dialogue ..... then:
Dorothy: "Boy did I misjudge you. You know, Blanche and Rose were right. You are not the kind of person I want as a friend. Why don't you go to the Mortimer Club by yourself?"
Barbara: "I don't understand."
Dorothy: "Let me spell it out for you: Go to hell!"
Barbara walks out.

When Blanche and Rose come into the kitchen to find out what happened, Dorothy apologizes for her behavior and her failure to see the real Barbara. Rose asks if this means Dorothy will be attending the masquerade ball, and Dorothy tells her she's had a lot of practice lately, so she'll be honored to be the "horse's behind" at the masquerade ball. The three REAL friends embrace.   


Photo is of the 2005 Buena Vista Home Entertainment Season 3 DVD set

WORD HISTORY:
Snare-This word is a distant relative of "narrow," a word from the Germanic roots of English. "Snare" goes back to Indo European "(s)ner," with the notion, "to twist, to twist together, to wind (long 'i'), to constrict." This gave Old Germanic "snarh(o)," meaning, "string, rope, cord," "perhaps" with the additional meaning of "rope or cord tied to form a noose or ring." This gave Old English both "sner," meaning, "string for a harp or other musical instrument," and "snearu/sneare," meaning, "noose, snare for trapping animals." This was certainly reinforced in late Old English by the related Old Norse form "snara," which had that meaning, and which was from the same Germanic source. The original "string, rope, cord" meaning has essentially died out in English, as we have those separate words to use, but the "loop of string, rope or wire used for trapping" is still very much around. Musically, circa 1700, the strings or wires under tension on a drum were called "snares," thus by the 1800s giving that particular type of drum its name, "snare drum." The verb form was derived from the noun, and by the second half of the 1500s was usually rendered as "insnare," before the modern "ensnare." There is quite an array of relatives in the other Germanic languages, all in some way having to do with "string, rope, looped rope, snare." Here are just a few: German has "Schnur" (string, cord, electrical wiring/cable), Low German "Snoor" (band of string/cord), Dutch "snaar" (string, cord), Icelandic "snara" (snare trap, loop, noose), Swedish "snöre" (twine, cord), Danish "snor" (cord, string), Norwegian "snare" (?) (snare trap).   

Caesar Cocktail: Here's To Canada!

This drink could be called a "Bloody Mary," Canadian style, and indeed, like its close cousin, it is considered by some to be a hangover cure, as well as a popular drink in its own right with our friends and neighbors in Canada. And make no mistake about it, Canadians are our friends and neighbors, in spite of the nasty nutcase named Donald Trump with all of his bluster and insults. He's a disgrace!

Ingredients (per drink):

1 1/2 to 2 ounces vodka
3 to 4 ounces tomato juice
2 ounces clam juice (easily found in supermarkets)
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
2 to 4 drops hot pepper sauce (or 1/4 teaspoon sambal oelek*)
celery salt for glass
lime
leafy stalk of celery 
ice

Spread a little celery salt on a small plate. Rub the edge of a 10 to 12 ounce glass with a piece of lime, then dip the glass into the celery salt to give a coating to the glass rim. Put some ice cubes into the glass and add the vodka, the clam juice, the Worcestershire sauce and the hot sauce (or sambal oelek). Then add the tomato juice to fill the glass; so, you may use more or less than the amount I have in the recipe. Stir well. Garnish with a leafy stalk of celery and a slice of lime. Here's to our friends, the Canadians! "May no orange haired horse's ass put our friendship asunder."

WORD HISTORY:
Ounce-This word for a "measured unit of weight" is related to a large number of words, including "inch" (a word borrowed by English from Latin), and to "one" and "an" (both original English words from its Germanic roots). "Ounce" goes back to Indo European "oinos," which meant, "one." This gave its Latin offspring "unus" ("one"), and then the derived "uncia," which meant, "one twelfth part of  something." This passed into Latin-based Old French as "once" (initially "unce?"). English borrowed the word in the early 1300s. From what I can find, English is the only Germanic language to use a form of "ounce."

Memories: Am Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt

"Am Hauptbahnhof Frankfurt" means, "at the main train station Frankfurt," and it is located in the heart of Frankfurt. The sign with the big blue "U" in the photo below is for the "U-Bahn;" that is, the "Untergrundbahn" (underground railway, subway). *

The "Dippegucker Restaurant Am Bahnhof" was a longtime favorite of mine. They had "Hannen Alt Bier" as one of their beers on tap, and that in and of itself was enough to make me a good customer. I was sad to learn that it closed a few years ago, although I believe their second restaurant in Frankfurt, near the Eschenheimer Turm,** is still open. I have so many good memories of this restaurant right across from the main train station, by Münchener Straße. It tended to be a busy place, and the area around the train station had much hustle and bustle, as rail travel in Germany, and in Europe in general, is very popular and economical. One of the waiters at the Dippegucker was from France (Paris, I believe?), but unfortunately I now cannot recall his name. Then there were two delightful waitresses, as well as a couple of guys with the kitchen staff. They came to know me, and when I returned to Germany one time, after maybe a two year absence, they all said how they had missed me (hey, I've got some people fooled, so shhhhh, don't tell). I would guess in May or June of 1989, just months from the "Wall" coming down, of which there was absolutely no inkling, at that time. I was leaving the next day, and the whole staff came out and had drinks (shots) with me and wished me a safe trip home. It may have been Jägermeister, which was popular back then, but I just forget, except that it was free. Hey, I told you I missed the place! They were near to closing time, so they were not neglecting customers. If any of those people happen to read this, I think they may remember this and I hope all is well with you!

 

This is the KoreaHaus Restaurant (below), which was also located across from the Hauptbahnhof, but at TaunusStraße. I may be wrong, but I think it was called the "Pan Asia Restaurant" in the earlier 1980s? I'm not sure when I took this picture, but perhaps in the late 1980s. Very good food and super nice people. One time many years ago, I had come down with a cold and two of the staff made such a fuss over me, I was tempted to tell them I had a cold the next time too. Haha, just joking! Ahhchoo! Online sources say the restaurant is permanently closed.

The top of the Hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt can be seen over the streetcar with the Jägermeister ad. 

  
  

* German is famous for stringing words together into super words, and "Untergrundbahn" is a good example. Its three parts all have relatives in English: "under," "ground" and "bane." The first two mean exactly the same as their German relatives, but the third needs explanation, which is in this link, as I did the word history for the compound "Autobahn" in this article: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2011/07/german-question-part-one-hundred-twenty_28.html 

** The "Eschenheimer Turm" is a castle-like tower that was built as part of the protective wall around Frankfurt in the Middle Ages. 

WORD HISTORY:
Shed-English has more than one word of this spelling, but this is the verb meaning, "to part with, to give up something, to give off something (often skin, shell, horns or hair), to get rid of something." It goes back to Indo European "skei(t)," which had the notion, "to cut, to cut off, to separate (from)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring, "skaithanan," which meant, "to divide, to separate." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "sceadan," meaning, "to separate;'' thus also, "to distinguish (between, from);" thus, "to decide" (that is, "to separate and distinguish one idea from another") and "to give up something or to give off." This later became "scheden," then "sheden," before the modern version. Relatives in the other Germanic languages: German has "scheiden," meaning, "separate (including 'divorce'), divide, distinguish (between, from), to leave/move away;" Low German Saxon "scheden," meaning, "separate, divide;" Dutch "scheiden," meaning, "separate, divide, divorce, part from or disconnect;" West Frisian "ôfskiede," meaning, "separate, divide, part (with, from) and also, "skiede," meaning "divorce." Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish do not use forms of the word.

A Friend in West Virginia, Part Twenty-Three

At one point, my friend told me his dog had died. Whether this was actually true, I don't know, as I didn't ask others who know him. Over the years, my grandmother's dogs and my own dog were very special and important to me. I sent my friend a special E-card about the loss of a pet, but he wouldn't even pick it up. I didn't care about the money for the card.

No Political Correctness Among Friends

First, if you love political correctness, this won't be for you, although maybe you really need to read or hear things like this. Please don't limit yourself on humor and having some fun poked at you, "fight back" by humor. You're missing some fun and you'll feel far better about yourself than trying to always figure out how offended you are. We have to be able to take some kidding, but also some actual guff. If you can't do that, I don't know how you'll get through life when things really get serious. Now, please don't take this to mean that I'm saying we should all go around calling others names, as you'll read below. There is common sense in play at all times in our lives. I guess I would have to say, this is the most difficult article I have written here, because it is not easy to show how so many things happened, without using the actual .... ah, "language" that was used. That made the decision hard. That "language" is pretty tough, but that's just the point of this article, and please think in terms of this: if reading or hearing some "expletives" is the worst things you have happen to you in your life, DAMN ... I mean, DARN, you'll have had a HELL of ... I mean, a HECK of a good life. There are most certainly some valid points to particular aspects of "political correctness," but a lot of what has happened over the last few decades is not political correctness, but rather neurotic behavior used by some to flex a certain control over others. As I have written here before, none of us is really "sane," whatever the hell that actually means, but some folks have climbed onto the political correctness pony and ridden it to the point of absurdity, as they feel "offended" by all sorts of silly shit, to put it bluntly. The more they are catered to, the more they need to feel offended to keep getting the lift they need to feel control over others. As I've also written here before, if this silly shit continues, none of us will be able to speak to one another, for fear of uttering what the other person may feel is an offensive word or thought. If you have watched the CBS comedy "The Big Bang Theory," there is much "anti-political correctness" in the show, and while occasionally the characters get their feathers ruffled by one of the other characters, usually by Sheldon (played by Jim Parsons), they all end up understanding and getting along. They DO NOT see each other as "the enemy;" at least, not for long, and they see how none of the real or perceived insults will end the world any time soon. Do you think there's a lesson for society here?

Anyway, more than 25 years ago, there were three of us who hung out together constantly; like, I mean, EVERY DAY! Besides myself, there were Toomie Bill* and Eileen, aka, "The Eye In The Sky." ** Oh, there was also "Rocky," the dog, aka "Rock." Unfortunately, Eileen died about 2 years ago, and I still really haven't dealt with that fact in my mind, if you know what I mean. She was a big woman, and she had endured a lot of snide comments about her size, but she dealt with the comments, and she was very capable of firing right back. Now, I can't tell you what was in her mind, and I'm sure the comments hurt at times, but she also accepted who she was and she could turn her weight into a punch line. She and Bill were always arguing, and one time, I don't remember what it was about (it didn't take much), but she said, in reference of how to shut him up, "I'll sit on him!" I'm going to tell you folks, I laughed so hard, I thought I was going to pop a blood vessel! All I could imagine was, Eileen sitting on Bill and his eyes bulging out of their sockets! Bill would call Eileen, "F---in' b--ch." She didn't get all down and out about it or whiny, she retaliated! He called her that ALL THE TIME! The arguments between the two of them went on every day... like 20 times a day! I'm serious. Bill's temperament lent itself to teasing him, and me and my one liners could skewer him quickly. He could get a little whiny and he'd say, "He shouldn't be sayin' that about me," which would bring Eileen to quickly say, "Oh geez! What a puss!" He would just bristle, followed by, "Shut the f--k up, ya f---in' b--ch!" Eileen just totally loved it when I'd piss off Bill, and we would double team him, at times. He would cuss us and call us all sorts of names, and the madder he got and the more he cussed us, the more she loved it! Sometimes, if he stopped for gas, we'd have him so riled up, he would be talking to himself on the way to pay for the gas, and he'd turn back to us and shout some obscenity! She would laugh hysterically. I'd get a good one liner in on Bill and he'd say, "He thinks he's f---in' funny!" So Eileen would say, "He made me laugh!" He'd just burn up! We would be watching television and Eileen would sit on the couch and Rock would bring his tennis ball to her, which she then would hold down with her foot. Rock would bark and bark, causing Bill to yell, "Give him his f---in' ball, ya f---in' b--ch! I can't hear the TV!" Bill is a "telephone person," he LOVES the phone, so if you cut him off of that, LOOK OUT! One time the three of us were supposed to go somewhere and he called Eileen, who lived just a few houses up the street. He came storming out into the kitchen and shouted, "That f---in' b--ch took the phone off the hook!" I couldn't stop laughing. Another time, I don't remember what I said, but he shouted at me, "SHUT THE F--K UP!" I acted very subdued and asked, "You mean that's gettin' on your nerves?" And Bill screamed, "F---IN' YES!" So I looked skyward, folded my hands and said, "Lord, there IS justice in the world!" Eileen loved it! Years later, after Bill had moved away (which deserved another, "Lord, there IS justice in the world!"), he was in the hospital for quite some period of time. He improved, but he temporarily lost his voice, which when I told Eileen, prompted her to ask, "What will happen to the phone company?" (because of his love of the phone) Then Bill's partner, Toomie Bob (hey, that's the way the names go), emailed and said the doctor was going to do something to restore Bill's voice. All I could think was, "Bob.... can't you pay that doctor NOT to give Bill his voice back?" (Hm, I wonder if Bob had actually thought about that too?) Also after Bill had left town (did I say that deserved another, "Lord, there IS justice in the world!"), he called me three times one night, but I wasn't home. The third time, after some choice words for me on my answering machine, he left a phone number. When I got home, the answering machine was blushing and had its fingers in its ears, so I said to myself, "Oh boy, Bill called again!" So anyway, I called the number he had left. He had a call blocking service for unidentified numbers, and I had an unlisted number, so the call could not go through. This was so long ago, I had WEB TV, which was internet service and equipment that could be hooked up to your television. Your TV screen displayed the web pages. So I wrote an email to him, which I knew would get under his skin. "All three times you called, I was not home, so I figure, there must be a God. Then I tried to call the number you left and it said the call couldn't be completed. Now, I KNOW there's a God!" The next morning, 6 a.m. the phone rang (I was an early riser, so I was awake). When I answered, Bill didn't say, "Hello," or "Good morning," he said, "You're a real f---in' comedian!" Hahahahaha! I laughed so much, I later called Eileen at her job and she LOVED IT!  

Time has reduced my recollection of most of the specific things that went on or were said, but if you'd heard them by chance, you'd have thought the three of us hated one another, but in the end, it wasn't that way AT ALL! You could NOT have been around us for more than 20 or 30 minutes without leaving with a headache from laughing. I don't care how serious you took life. I kid you not. The awful thing was, we didn't film all of this. But back then, there would not have been a way to get it onto television, as far as I know, because such language would NEVER have been allowed, for one thing. It's a shame, because it would have been a big hit! 

* On the border between the states of Ohio and Pennsylvania is a man made reservoir, called Pymatuning Lake. The lake is part of state parks for both states. On our first trip to Pymatuning, we stopped at a State Trooper office on the way, just to be sure we were not off course. Bill could not say the word, "Pymatuning," which he pronounced as, "Ponatoomie," so when he talked to a State Trooper there, he cautiously asked, "Which way to the lake?" The officer then asked, "Which lake?" (Lake Erie is just north of there.) Now Bill had to say the word, and he said, "Ponatoomie." The officer smiled, but he knew what he meant, and he told us the answer. Well, that started me to calling Bill, "Ponatoomie Bill." He was very temperamental, and that name ticked him off, so I deliberately shortened it to, "Toomie Bill," just to piss him off that much more. Which it did! Hahahahahahaha!

** One of my favorite songs was an Alan Parsons' Project hit from the early 1980s called, "The Eye In The Sky." So, with EI-leen," who many shortened to as if, "Eye," I started calling her, "The Eye In The Sky," which is the name Rocky recognized for her. I'm not kidding.
 
WORD HISTORY:
Correct-The main body of this word, related to a number of words, including "regulate" (a word borrowed by English and of Latin derivation) and "right" (a true English word of Germanic derivation), goes back to Indo European "reg," which meant "to move in a straight line, to guide or to direct." This gave Latin "regere," which meant, "to rule, to lead." The prefix is from Indo European "kom," meaning, "near, with, by," which gave Latin "con-/com-/cor-;" with the variations according to the spelling of the main word, and generally meaning "together," or indicating "completeness." The two parts gave Latin "corrigere," which meant, "to straighten out, to make changes to better something, to make or set right." Its participle form was "correctus" (bettered, improved, proper), and this was borrowed into English in the early 1300s as "correcten" (verb). It wasn't until the mid 1600s that the adjectival form was borrowed from French. By the way, close English relative, German, borrowed the infinitive form "corrigere" directly from Latin in the 1300s, but with the spelling, "korrigieren." As noted above, English borrowed the participle form of that infinitive. 

Randy & Some Spanish Sailors

Way back in 1981, I believe it was, I left a baseball game early at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium one evening. As I walked up W. 3rd Street, a group of about ten guys came over to me. One guy asked me a question in broken English, a question I no longer recall. Anyway, I asked the guys where they were from, and the spokesman answered, "Spain." He explained their ship was docked  right by the stadium at the Port of Cleveland and that they were out to see a little of the town before heading back to the ship. Well four or five of the guys decided to go along with me, while the others chose to return to the ship. I took them to a few places and they had a good time and when the time came for them to get back to their ship, they asked me to come along. Maybe I was daring, I don't know, but I accepted, although I thought, "Randy, you're going to end up at a bullfight in Barcelona." These guys were great. They gave me some type of Spanish melon and some Spanish cheese, and what else but some Spanish beer, the word for which is "cerveza" (see Word History), since they taught me the word that night. It was a great experience. They all were very friendly and one guy they teased a little, because he was from Basque country in Spain, up in the north of the country, on the border with France, in the region of the Pyrenees Mountains. All of these years later, I still think of these guys on occasion.    

WORD HISTORY:
Cerveza-This word for "beer" goes back to Indo European "krhem," which had the notion of "heating liquids." This gave its Old Celtic offspring "kormi," meaning, "heated or brewed liquid." Borrowed by Latin from some form of Celtic, where it had come to mean, "beer" (Welsh and Irish had such forms). In Latin it was "cervisia/cervesia," and meant, "beer." In Spanish, a Latin-based language, it was "cerveza," and North American English has essentially borrowed the word, as there are imported brands of beer from Spanish speaking countries, especially Mexico. 

A Friend in West Virgina, Part Seventeen

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

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

"Bang the Drum Slowly," Young Robert De Niro

One of my favorite movies is "Bang The Drum Slowly." When I was in college many years ago, one of the nearby movie theaters had matinee specials, I believe it was on Wednesdays. I had a long spell between classes then, and I'd frequently take in the matinee special. That's how I saw this movie. It wasn't really advertised, nor did it have any big names in starring roles (at that time), but it was about baseball, and I loved baseball; plus, if I remember right, the matinee special only cost fifty cents (remember, that was 1973 pricing and money value). One of the main actors in the movie went on to become fairly well known years later in the first several seasons of "Law and Order;" this was Michael Moriarty, who played Assistant District Attorney Ben Stone on the television series. The other main actor became a Hollywood staple and is known to anyone who hasn't been living under a rock for decades; that actor is Robert De Niro. The movie was based on a novel written in the mid 1950s by Mark Harris,* and the movie prompted me to read the book. I believe I bought it in paperback, which in those times was likely 50 or 75 cents, but don't trust my memory.

The movie centers around a mediocre major league baseball player, a catcher, Bruce Pearson, played by Robert DeNiro, who is a bit slow on the uptake, and the target of many jokes from the other players. He receives a death sentence diagnosis from doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota (he is from Georgia). His roommate during the season, a star pitcher and an insurance salesman, Henry Wiggin** (played by Michael Moriarty), had accompanied Pearson to Minnesota, and he wants to give his friend a final season. Pearson's diagnosis makes Henry look at Bruce in a whole new way, causing him to forget the poorly educated farm boy, the non-hip, mismatched clothes, the poor hair style and the incessant tobacco chewing (and spitting) of the forlorn catcher. Maybe he doesn't really forget, but he comes to see that these things aren't actually so important after all, and that a hip image can't save a person from one of the experiences common to all living things .... death.

The team, from New York City, but given the fictional name, the "New York Mammoths," is expected to be one of the top teams in baseball, and a possible World Series champion. Henry, also known by the nickname, "Author," because of his writings,*** plots to keep Bruce on the team as spring training begins, and he also tries to get the players to stop making fun of Pearson, but he dares not tell them why; knowing full well that the team manager, Dutch, played by Vincent Gardenia, would never put a dying player on the roster. The thing is, by accident, Dutch hears that Pearson and Wiggin were in Minnesota over the winter, and he tries to find out why, which leads to some hilarious scenes and dialogue, as the cantankerous and dry Dutch tries to unravel the story of the two players. Yes, while the basis of the story is about a dying man, the story is also part comedy, and Vincent Gardenia was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Dutch.**** At one point, Dutch utters a great line in reference to himself, "When I die, the newspapers will write in their headlines, 'Sonofabitches of the world have lost their leader.' "

I can't go further without giving away too much of the story and, therefore, ruining the movie for those who haven't seen it. The movie combines seriousness, comedy and sadness, all in one. If I remember right, then "Today Show" movie critic, Gene Shalit, gave the movie a special mention, as a film worth seeing, even though it then had no major stars, but the movie helped showcase De Niro's and Moriarty's talents, thus aiding their careers. Check this movie out, it will make you laugh, and it just might make you shed a tear.   

*There was also a television production of the book done in the 1950s, starring a then little known actor from Cleveland ... Paul Newman.

** Remember, the book was written in the 1950s and the movie was made in the early 1970s, both before anything like the astronomical player salaries of more recent decades. Players often had, and needed, off season jobs to supplement their incomes.

*** Pearson always mistakenly calls him "Arthur."

**** Gardenia appeared occasionally on CBS's hit comedy series, "All in the Family," in those days of the early 1970s. He played Frank Lorenzo, the husband of Edith's friend and neighbor, Irene, who was a feminist and a Catholic, who drove Archie up the wall.  

Photo of the Paramount Home Entertainment DVD

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WORD HISTORY:
Death-This word is closely related to "dead" and "die," both from the Germanic roots of English, but with "die's" use in English perhaps coming from Old Norse(?) "Death" goes back to Indo European "dheu," which meant "to die." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dauthos," which meant, "the state of being dead, not being alive, death." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) the noun "deaþ" (þ="th"), with the same meaning. This later came to be spelled "death." Relatives in the other Germanic languages, many of which mean "dead": German "Tot," ^ Low German Saxon and Dutch "dood," West Frisian "dea," Danish and Norwegian "død," Icelandic "dauði" (ð, also essentially equivalent to "th") and Swedish "död."

^ The high Germanic dialects underwent what are called "sound shifts," and one of those shifts often made the "d" sound into a "t" sound; thus, Low German and Dutch "dood," is rendered in standard German, which is heavily based on Old High German, "Tot," a grammatically masculine noun; thus, "der Tot." Interestingly, many German dialects use the "d" spelling, with even southern Bavarian having "doud."