A Favorite TV Show of the Past, "Good Times"

One of my favorite shows of the 1970s was "Good Times," produced by Norman Lear, who also did "All in the Family," "Sanford and Son," "Maude," and "The Jeffersons." "Good Times" was a comedy about a black family, the Evans family, of a husband and wife, 2 boys and 1 girl, living in the housing projects in Chicago. The show dealt with poverty and the struggles of the parents to make ends meet, as well as try to plan for their daughter's future college education. Much emphasis was put on education as a way to escape the almost hopelessness of life in the "ghetto." James, the husband, played by John Amos, works at a variety of low paying jobs, as he lacks education, something he wants his children to avoid. Teenage daughter Thelma, played by Bern Nadette Stanis, is a good student, and the proud parents have big expectations for her, as she does for herself, but a couple of boyfriends enter into her life, bringing her temperamental father to go ballistic! The youngest son, Michael, played by Ralph Carter, is also a good student, who aspires to become a Supreme Court justice, or is it the parents who want that FOR him? This issue was a theme of one episode. Then there's teenager James, Jr., better known as J.J., and the oldest child, played by Jimmie Walker, who has no apparent desire to go to college, and his poor grades and bad attitude toward school contrast with the other two kids, but the scripts dealing with this also became an issue in real life for John Amos and Esther Rolle (who played the wife and mother, Florida), as they felt the J.J. character, who quickly became the most popular on the show to many viewers, was sending the wrong message about education and responsibility, in general. Jimmie Walker quickly became known for shouting "dy-no-mite," an expression he used to dub himself, "Kid Dynomite," besides J.J.

Interestingly, in real life, Jimmie Walker was much older than his character in the show; in fact, he was not all that much younger than John Amos, who played his father in the series. On the other hand, Esther Rolle was much older than the "presumed" age of her character in the series.* If you think this all mattered, it didn't, as everything worked, and the show did well in the ratings for the first several seasons. The show's theme song also was a popular and catchy tune in those days, although trying to understand a couple of lines of the lyrics gave many people fits.

As I mentioned, the show often dealt with poverty, but usually in a comedic way, and in one episode, one of the family's neighbors is retired, but she is so short of money, she also supplements her diet with canned dog food. To help the lady out, the family invites her to dinner, as Florida has a large roasted chicken ready, but when the lady shows up, she tells the family that her pride will not allow her to accept dinner, without her providing the main dish ....... meat loaf! The family members each assume that the meat loaf is made with dog food, and in one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen on television, they try to avoid eating. When neighbor and regular character, Willona, played by Ja'net Dubois,** shows up asking to join the family dinner, because she had burned her own dinner, the family members all jump up and try to give her their own seat, pulling and tugging at the poor woman, to the absolute delight and hysterical laughter of the audience (the shows were filmed in front of a studio audience). I can't even type these words without laughing, as I recall that scene. As I mentioned, there were serious scenes during the series too, including about gang involvement by J.J. and later by Michael, and also an episode about James reuniting with his father, whom he hadn't seen since the father had left when James was just a kid.

If you've never seen this show, or if you haven't seen it for a while, check it out, and I can pretty much guarantee you'll be singing, "Ain't we lucky we got 'em .... Good Times!"

* To my recollection Florida's age is never mentioned in the series, but James' age of 40 is mentioned as part of his trouble in getting a job he sought. Using that age, coupled with references to James and Florida having attended school and school dances at the same time, makes me say Florida's "presumed" age.

** A semi-regular cast member was Johnny Brown, who played the apartment building superintendent, Nathan Bookman, and who was often referred to as "Buffalo Butt" by the residents. Prior to "Good Times," Johnny Brown had been on NBC's "Laugh-In," a highly popular weekly comedy for its first few years.

Photo is from the 2003 Sony Pictures Home Entertainment DVD. (All seasons are available on DVD)

WORD HISTORY:
Bed-This common word goes back to Indo European "bhedh, which had the idea of "to stick (pierce);" thus also, "to dig  ("piercing the ground)." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "bathjam," meaning "plot of land for planting, garden," but with the further meaning, "dug out area for animals to sleep," then also the idea of "sleeping place" in general. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "bed," with the meanings "planting area" and "sleeping place." The spelling later varied between "bed" and "bed," before the latter winning out. The verb was derived from the noun in the 1200s or 1300s, initially with the meaning, "to give someone a place to sleep," but it didn't take long to add the meaning, "go to bed for the purpose of sex," the main meaning of the verb form in modern times. The other Germanic languages have: German "Bett" (bed) and "Beet," pronounced as if "bait" (plant bed),^ Low German Saxon also has "Bett" (meaning both bed and planting area,^^ West Frisian "bêd," Dutch "bed," Swedish "bädd" (bed, foundation), The other Germanic languages have words that are now essentially out of use.

^ Both words are really the same word, but eventually, from what I can tell in the 1600s, "Beet" emerged as a variant of "Bett" to become the word for "plant bed." While I'm far from certain of this, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that "beet" (the root vegetable, also called "beetroot" by some) and "bed" are related, as beets are "dug out of the ground." If they are related, it would be distantly, as long ago Germanic borrowed the word for the root vegetable from Latin, which may have borrowed a form of the word from Celtic. To be honest, many sources say Latin likely borrowed the term from Celtic, but they sure don't give evidence of this.

^^  Some low dialects seem to use "Bedd," and perhaps even "Bad", as I "believe" the spelling "Bett" was taken from standard German, which is based more on the high Germanic/German dialects. Low Saxon used "Bedde" up until a few centuries ago, as far as I can find, so the "Bett" spelling seems to indeed be borrowed from what is now standard German.

Give To Charities, But With Care

As we approach the holiday season, I hope we can turn our thoughts to the many legitimate charities which seek to help others. Certainly many people are in great need, and those in need are right here in the United States, as well as in other parts of the world. Job losses and low wages due to downsizing, outsourcing, technology, and just plain greed, have put tremendous stress on an increasing number of families and individuals. Many of this nation's poorest residents are CHILDREN. * So, if you can spare even a small amount, please give to the charity of your choice. Remember, some of the lowest of lowlifes are out in force at this time of year looking to scam well meaning people out of their money. They call, they send emails, they send letters or cards, but don't ASSUME any request for money or for your credit or debit card info is legit until you check out the organization. Technology has advanced so much and so quickly, scammers can hide their own number by using phony telephone numbers, or duplicate phone numbers of legitimate businesses or people, which will be displayed on your caller ID. This is called "spoofing." Similar can be done with email addresses. NEVER give ANY personal information out over the telephone or online to someone who has contacted you, no matter who they say they represent, including your bank or some local, state or federal governmental agency. This is a link to some helpful advice about preventing charity scams:  http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0074-giving-charity

Also, please don't forget the animal charities.

* See Time: http://time.com/3588844/child-homeless-study/

WORD HISTORY:
Appeal/Peal-"Appeal" is a compound of "ap" and "peal." The "ap" goes back to Indo European "ad," which meant "at, near," which gave Latin "ad," meaning "to, towards," and "ap" is simply a variant of "ad." The "peal" part goes back to Indo European "pel," which meant "drive, beat, thrust." This gave its Latin offspring "pellere," which meant "to drive, to push." The original Latin compound "appellere" seems to have been used for "to drive or to direct a ship to a certain place." While presumably the same word with a modified spelling, the meaning of "appellare" also changed; "to address, to call by name;" thus also, "to summon," perhaps from the notion of "directing a ship," to "directing a person toward another or to a place by calling their name, addressing them."  This gave the legal meaning, "to call for a review and reversal of a verdict;" as well as "to accuse someone," thus, "call before an authority." Old French, a Latin based language, inherited a form of the word as "apeler," with the legal meanings, but also, "to call to someone, to call out." English borrowed the word in the early 1300s with those same meanings, but eventually the meaning of "calling for a review and reversal of a verdict," prevailed in the legal sense, and the "call out to someone" meaning continued as, "make a serious request to someone." The noun form came from the verb in French as "apel," which was also borrowed by English in the early 1300s. German also later borrowed a form of the noun from French as "Appell," the main meaning of which is "roll call, muster," but it also means "appeal." "Peal," meaning "ringing of a bell or bells," is simply a shortened form of "appeal" from later in the 1300s, with the notion of, "bells calling out to summon worshipers."

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who Is Richest Of Them All?

I suppose everyone has heard the tale of "Snow White," made even more popular in the U.S., and indeed, the world, in the late 1930s on by the Walt Disney animated screen version, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." The story was first popularized back in the earlier 1800s by famous German storytellers Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm, also simply known as "the Brothers Grimm." The tale is about envy by Snow White's stepmother, who is so insecure, she uses a magic mirror to reassure herself by asking, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest one of all?"* She is comforted to hear the mirror answer that she is the fairest, until Snow White's beauty eventually becomes the mirror's answer, terribly shaking the stepmother who then tries to have her killed. The stepmother gets a hunter to kill the girl, but he leaves Snow White to what he believes will be certain death in the forest. Snow White comes upon a cottage owned by seven dwarfs who go digging for gold and ore every day. She tells them her story and the dwarfs ask her to keep house for them, which she accepts. The stepmother, however, asks the question of the magic mirror, only to learn that the hunter failed to kill the girl. She then sets out to accomplish the task herself, but fails three times, each time learning that Snow White has survived when the mirror tells her that Snow White is still the fairest.

While the story is about envy over beauty, it could just as easily be about envy over money. People with such insecurity can do just about anything when their egos feel threatened, including wage and benefit cuts and jobs shipped to low wage countries, where not only low wages prevail, but where there are often less environmental regulations; after all, what's a little pollution, when it comes to these insecure maniacs making more money. Just about anyone perceived to be standing in their way can become a victim. They're trying to get that answer from the magic mirror, "YOU are the richest one of all."  

* There are some variations in the English versions, as the original German couldn't be made to rhyme easily in word for word translation into English. The German is, "Spieglein, Spieglein an der Wand, wer ist die schönste im ganzen Land?"  Literally, "Little mirror, little mirror on the wall, who is the most beautiful in the entire land? (or, 'in all the land')." Some English versions, in order to have the words rhyme, had the stepmother use a handheld mirror and say, "Mirror, mirror in my hand, who is the fairest in all the land?" German "Wand" (interior wall, partition) is related to English "wound" (not the word for "injury," but from "wind," with a long "i"). It goes back to the time when many building materials were fashioned from branches and twigs "wound" together. German also has "Wall," but it is used only for fortification walls and earthworks and a "Mauer" (closely related to "mural"), a word German borrowed from Latin, is an exterior wall, usually including walls around a city. The famous (infamous) wall that divided Berlin was also called "die Mauer," a feminine noun; thus, "die" is the article, "the wall."

WORD HISTORY:
Enough-This word, meaning "be sufficient, be of the necessary amount," is actually a compound going back to Indo European "ko(m)," which had the idea of "with, near," and whose Old Germanic descendant was "ga/ge." The second part goes back to Indo European "hnak/hnek," which had the notion of "attain." The two gave Old Germanic the compound "ganogaz," which meant "be sufficient, be of the necessary amount." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "genog," with the same meaning. This later became "inough/ynough," before the modern version.^ Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "genug," Low German has "noog," Dutch has "genoeg," West Frisian has "genôch," Danish and Norwegian have "nok," Swedish has "nog" and Icelandic has "nóg."

^ While English is from the West Germanic branch of the Germanic languages and is closely related to German, it is even more closely related to Low German, which is natural, as the ancestral homeland of English (Anglo-Saxon) is north/northwestern Germany, an area where Low German is still spoken with some regularity, although it has been in decline for quite some time, as standard German, based more so on high dialects, has been reducing the number of Low German speakers. Anyway, the "ga/ge" prefix on Low German words is pronounced "ya," as opposed to standard German hard "g" sound. So English "ynough/inough" reflects the connection to Low German pronunciation, and you must remember, the "gh" sound was pronounced in English years ago, but it morphed into an "f" sound, while the "gh" spelling was continued. Further, dialectal English pronunciation has given English "nough," corresponding to its Low German and North Germanic relatives (see above).

America Is A Poorer Place

The 2010 Census has confirmed what many Americans already know, often from firsthand experience; that is, Americans are poorer. Nearly one half of the nation is now living in poverty or with low income, this totaling to more than 146 million people, as the middle class shrinks further. I'm sure the conservative pundits will say something like, "Don't believe these numbers. The country is just great. We're number one! You're unpatriotic if you believe otherwise." Folks, this is what tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, wage and benefit cuts for other Americans, and program cuts for the poor has brought us. IT DOESN'T WORK! (Unless, of course, you're in the upper income strata.)

WORD HISTORY:
Low-This is the word generally used as an adjective. The verb form is from a different source (I'll try to remember to do it soon). This word goes back to Indo European "legh," with the general notion of "to lie/lay." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "legaz," which meant "lying flat, lying at or near the ground." While Old English had the related "licgan," the ancestor of "to lie (down or flat), recline," it wasn't until the 1100s that the related Old Norse "lagr" ("low") began general use in English as "lah," with a (more or less) long "a." This later became "lohe," before the modern spelling. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has the now little used "läge," Low German Saxon has "lääg," West Frisian "leech," the now almost extinct North Frisian has "leeg," Dutch has "laag,"Danish has "lav," Icelandic has "lágur," and Norwegian and Swedish have "låg."

Paying The Piper-Part Six-Incomes Fall, Poverty Rises

Yesterday, the Census Bureau released figures showing the nation's poverty rate climbed to 14.3% (figures go through 2009), the highest since 1994. There are now 43.6 million Americans living poverty, the most since the 1960s. The number of people without health insurance also increased, presumably as businesses tried to cut costs during the economic downturn, and the new health care law doesn't take full effect until 2014, if it survives Republican attempts to repeal or kill it by refusing to fund certain parts of it.*

While I don't believe George W. Bush is a bad person, his economic policies, and those policies that have been put into place in the last three decades have taken a TERRIBLE toll on many Americans. Newly released figures show that the median income for Americans fell nearly 5% between 2000 and 2009.** Of course incomes for the top 20% rose, and how much do you want to bet that the increases at the very top 1 to 2% were higher than most?***

I've noted here before that "Morning Joe," on cable channel MSNBC, is one of my favorite shows. Today, host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, and none other than conservative Republican commentator Pat Buchanan talked about these very figures I've mentioned above. Buchanan said that he has had "big differences with his party" over many of the economic policies of the last few decades, most put into place by Republicans, although at times with help from some Democrats. Buchanan threw some figures out, and I have no idea how accurate these figures are, but he said that during Bush's eight years in office, more than 50,000 manufacturing plants closed in America! As a result, he stated that 6 million manufacturing jobs ("the highest income jobs for working class Americans," he added) disappeared, with many of these jobs going to China. Scarborough mentioned "three decades of American decline." Remember, these were two Republicans talking about this, not two Democrats.

If you're a Republican, God bless ya! We need differing points of view, as neither political party has a monopoly on good ideas, and certainly neither has a monopoly on virtue. I just hope you'll go look into that mirror and say to yourself, "I think we've got a problem here." That's a start! Don't be in denial! What is terribly troubling to me now is to hear Republican officeholders acting as if they had nothing to do with creating the economic situation this country is in. It's as if they learned nothing! That's a recipe for more decline. (A Word History is below the notes)

Related previous article:
http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2007/06/you-wont-need-time-machine.html

* The health care bill (now law) was not great, but it was a start. A number of Republican members of Congress and some Republican candidates are indicating they will try to repeal or "de-fund" the health care law, if Republicans take over Congress in the November elections. The Republican senatorial candidate in Alaska (Joe Miller) has noted that with a Democratic president, no repeal will be possible, as the president will veto any such legislation, but Miller advises that he will aim to "de-fund" the law, thus effectively killing it.

** See the Wall Street Journal for today, the front page article, "Lost Decade for American Income," by Conor Dougherty and Sara Murray.

*** I'm not against people making money, even lots of money, but in my lifetime I've found that most Americans are pretty sensible. We want businesses to make money, we understand it, we get it! There will always be those who resent someone who made a dime off of them, but they are in the distinct minority, probably like 2%. The other side of the coin is, however, Americans also know when they see excess, and we've seen excess. There has been a tremendous transfer of wealth to the upper incomes, and they were already, well, the upper incomes.

WORD HISTORY:
Poverty-This word goes back to the Indo European root "pau," which meant "little, few," and which then spawned the Latin offshoot "paupertas." (Latin is an Indo European language related to English, but further down the family tree.) Old French, a Latin-based language, continued with "poverte," and English then acquired the word from French in the late 1100s. Initially it was spelled as the French word, "poverte," but later took on the modern spelling. It is closely related to both "poor" and "pauper." In Old English we used a form of the base "earm" to relate words connected to poor and poverty, and in our close relative German, they still have "arm"(not the same as the body part, which is spelled the same in German), which is obviously close to our old word.

Suburban Food Stamp Use Rises

A recent report has shown a significant increase in the percentage of suburban Cleveland households receiving food stamps. Food stamp use has largely been seen, and pretty much confined to, American inner cities, but this report shows how increasing poverty has now passed the road sign saying, "Now Entering Suburbia." Between 2002 and 2007, the overall number of Cuyahoga County residents receiving food stamps increased 40%, so that now 14% of all county residents received federal food stamps. The biggest increase came not in Cleveland proper, but in suburban Cleveland, where the number of people receiving stamps doubled in that time period. At the same time, the percentage of people in Cleveland proper receiving food stamps increased from 21% to 26%. I would have to believe that Cleveland is not alone in this disturbing trend, but that many American urban areas are seeing a similar rise in poverty, especially those areas where manufacturing jobs have been disappearing faster than chocolate-walnut brownies at a picnic. All the while, federal statistics show the wealthiest Americans receiving an increasing share of overall national income.