Son-in-law Eric's sunflower. Mila was so excited to see this. ------------
Calvin: I like to verb words.
Hobbes: What?
Calvin: I take nouns and adjectives and use them as verbs. Remember when 'access' was a thing? Now, it's something you do. It got verbed. Verbing weirds language.
Hobbes: Maybe we can eventually make language a complete impediment to understanding.
On the subject of language, I love idioms and here is a link to idioms and their origins.
Blackmail
The word "blackmail" became popular in the 1800's and comes from the clan chieftains who ran protection rackets on farmers in Scotland. If the farmers didn't pay the mail (an old term for rent), the chieftains would steal their cattle and crops. Since this was considered evil, it was considered "black". (I've never heard this before...wonder if it is true.)
I read about this one in a novel recently:
Mad As A Hatter
"Mad As A Hatter: refers to mercury nitrate that was used by hat makers to make fur pelts softer and suitable for hat use. After years of mercury exposure it would make the user quite mentally unstable.
Wow that sunflower is beautiful. Very nice and cheerful. I have a book on sayings like that - and it is very interesting to see how terms came about.
ReplyDeleteWhat a perfect sunflower!
ReplyDeleteOh, and how about google-- it was recently added to Webster's as a verb.
How interesting! And I love the Calvin and Hobbes joke.
ReplyDelete