Archive for the 'Thursday Thirteen' Category

Feb 28 2008

Thursday Thirteen: Origin of Words

Published by auria cortes under Thursday Thirteen, You Tube

George Carlin is one of my favorite comedians. His comedy is a nice combination of insight and laughs. Many are not aware that Carlin Filthy Words routine (listen to the embedded video) was central in the US Supreme Court decision to rule that the government has the right to regulate what appears on the public airwaves. 

In honor of George Carlin, I dedicate this week’s Thursday’s Thirteen to Origin of Words.  

  • Dreadlocks - It seems that back in the day Caucasians would call a black persons hair dreadful. Over the years, the black community took ownership of the word dreadful and named their hairstyle dreadlocks.  (Source: a documentary on hair that I saw, but can’t remember the name)
  • Bimbo - This term for a floozie or loose woman, especially one of low intelligence, is from the Italian bambino, or baby. (Source)  
  • Crap - The word crap, meaning excrement, is from an English dialectical word originally meaning chaff or the discarded husks of grain. (Source) 
  • Dork - The original sense of dork is penis. It is probably an alteration of dick, dating to the early 1960s. (Source) 
  • Dryrun - The earliest known usage of dry run dates to 1941 and is originally US Army slang for practice or dress rehearsal. But why dry? It either refers to booze or sex. Dry has been associated with the abstention from alcohol since the 15th century and was a common term during the Prohibition years of the 1920s and 30s. It is certainly possible that a military dry run lacks the kick or rush of actual combat, much like a dry drink lacks the kick of alcohol. The possible sexual connection is from the term dry fuck, or frottage, the rubbing of a couple’s bodies together while clothed. (Source)
  • Dyke - This term for a lesbian is a clipped form of bulldyker, an American slang term that dates to at least 1906. The origin is unknown, but the fact that bulldyker is the earliest known form by several decades limits the possibilities significantly.  (Source)  The word dyke is used as a derogatory term towards lesbians.
  • Ghost - Germanic origin. It dates back to the Old English period and the word gast. The general sense of the word is a spirit or soul and it is used in various specific contexts. (Source)
  • Jaywalk - This term for crossing the street in the middle of the block is U.S. slang dating to the early years of the 20th century. It comes from the sense of jay meaning a stupid person, a rube. (Source) 
  • Keeping up with the Joneses - The expression keeping up with the Jonesesgot its start in 1913 as the title of a comic strip by Arthur R. “Pop” Momand. The strip detailed the lives of the McGinis family, who were envious of their neighbors, the Joneses. By the mid-1920s, the phrase was in common use. (Source)  
  • Ku Klux Klan - Ku-Klux is a variation on the Greek kuklos meaning circle. The Klan is obviously from clan, with the k used for alliterative purposes. (Source) 
  • Redneck - A redneck is a white, working class US southerner, often with provincial and insular attitudes. It is most likely a reference to the sun-burned necks of those who work in the fields all day. But it could be a reference to either anger or pellagra, which can both turn the neck red. (Source)
  • Spic - Spanish-speaking individuals with limited grasp of the English language say, with an accent,  “ I don’t spic English.” Hence, the word Spic is used as a derogatory terms towards Hispanics and Latinos.(Source: Read it in one of my favorite books – When I was Puerto Rican) 
  • Widow’s peak - A widow’s peak is the sharp angle of the hairline on the forehead of some people. It’s so called because it resembles the peak of a hood traditionally worn by women in mourning. (Source)                   

    • Click HERE for past Thursday Thirteen posts

11 responses so far

Feb 21 2008

Thursday Thirteen: When a good book ends

Published by auria cortes under Thursday Thirteen

books.JPG

Recently Rosie O’Donnell wrote the following on her blog: 
i am so sad when a good book ends
i slow down
trying to drag it out
make it last longer 

Rosie’s post inspired this week’s Thursday Thirteen.  

I know I’m reading a good book when: 

  • As Rosie stated, I begin to slow down towards the end of the book because I don’t want the experience to end.
  • Characters feel so real that I pick up the phone to call to make sure they are okay. (yes, I’ve done this) 
  • The description and storytelling is so good that I forget I’m reading a book.
  • I buy the book for people in my life.
  • I call my sister or a friend to read a passage out loud.
  • I ask people if they read the book so we can participate in a pretentious conversation.
  • When I log onto amazon.com and leave a comment.
  • I read other books written by the author.
  • Get inspired and start working on my own novel (hoping my book will turn out just as good).
  • Sulk because I get a nagging feeling my book won’t come close to the masterpiece I just read. 

What? I have less than thirteen points? Well, I guess you are right. But that’s all I got. Why don’t you help me finish my list in the comment section? 

Click HERE to read previous Thursday Thirteen posts

4 responses so far

Jan 31 2008

Thursday Thirteen #1: Facts and Thoughts on Catcher in the Rye

Published by auria cortes under Thursday Thirteen, You Tube

It’s funny how the mind works.  

A few days ago I was reading Aaron Crocco’s post where he mentioned how lyrics inspire him. He included the lyrics to John Legend’s Save Room. I responded with my own personal favorite lyrics – John Lennon’s Working Class Hero (click on the video above to hear the song).

Since my mind was on John Lennon, it quickly moved on to the book The Catcher in the Rye (Why? Read comment #7 on the list below). And this is how this week’s Thursday Thirteen was born.  

1- Most people know that the the author of Catcher in the Rye is J.D. Salinger. But most don’t know that J.D. stands for Jerome David. 

2- Here’s the opening paragraph to Catcher in the Rye: If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. 

3- Salinger based Catcher in the Rye on a short story he wrote for The New Yorker, Slight Rebellion Off Madison.

4- Catcher in the Rye sells 250,000 copies per year. I suspect this is one of the reasons he hasn’t published since 1965. He’s living off royalties and writing for his own pleasure.  

5- Salinger was so incensed by Hollywood’s treatment of his story “Uncle Wiggly in Connecticut” that he has refused to sell the movie rights to any of his stories to Hollywood. It is reported that his last will and testament has a stipulation blocking any Hollywood adaptations of his works after his death. Source

  

6- I have several favorite quotes from Catcher. This one is my favorite: “People never notice anything.” This quote impacted my life more than any other quote I can think of. The moment I read that line I promised myself that I’d notice everything. Now I’m labeled as an over thinker. But I don’t buy that. I believe that most people don’t think enough.

 

7- Mark David Chapman, the man who murdered John Lennon, was obsessed with Catcher. Like Caulfield, Chapman hated phonies. Chapman reportedly became incensed when he learned that Lennon lived in the Dakota building – an expensive apartment. He felt that Lennon was a phony singing songs about the working class when he (meaning Lennon) lived a plush lifestyle. Read Chapman’s plea to the parole board in 2000.

 

8- Between 1961 and 1982 The Catcher in the Rye was the most censored title in US high schools and libraries. Source

 

9- In a cab ride, Caulfield asks the driver where the ducks go when the lakes freeze. The cabbie didn’t know the answer. I don’t know it either. Do any of you know?

 

10- When I first read Catcher, I pronounced Phoebe as fobe. The teacher never corrected me. Years later, this still embarrasses me. Phoebe is Caulfield’s ten-year-old sister.  

11- John H. Hinckley, the man who shot Ronald Regan, had a fascination with Catcher and also Jodie Foster.  

12- I always fantasized that Salinger was born poor. He wasn’t.  J.D. Salinger was born and grew up in the fashionable apartment district of Manhattan, New York. He was the son of a prosperous Jewish importer of Kosher cheese and his Scotch-Irish wife. Source 

13- Some believe that Salinger is still publishing under the name Thomas Pynchon. (Source) I checked Wikidedia and there is a bio of Thomas Pynchon. Wouldn’t it be great if the bio is false? But no, it seems that Pynchon and Salinger are indeed two different people.

Click HERE for past Thursday Thirteen 

15 responses so far

« Prev