Vaboomer -- Baby Boomer Views & News

Chloe Rhodes: Guest Author du Jour -- Foreign Phrases in Everyday English

 

While hao jiu bu jian hasn't made it in the language in the original Chinese, its word for word translation has: Long Time No See. See below Chloe Rhodes', guest author,  fascinating sample of "foreign" words and phrases in English. Her new book, "A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi" is up for grabs here...check in if you would like to be in the drawing.

 

A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi"

By Chloe Rhodes
Author of A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi":

The Origin of Foreign Words Used in English

Picture this scenario: You're having a tête-à-tête with an old friend from your alma mater, who is a wine aficionado. So you pick an al fresco table at a chic little café, and order from the a la carte menu.

However, your companion won't stop exchanging double entendres with the woman in the sarong at the next table. So you're stuck listening to the klutz of a waiter droning on ad nauseam about the soup du jour. At that point, you're ready to say hasta la vista -- but you don't want to seem like a diva.

Try to say all that in "English." You probably wouldn't change a single word. How else would you describe such a scene if it weren't for the thousands of foreign words and phrases we've snuck into our conversations over the years? We all use them without a second thought. But how much do you really know about the origins of the borrowed words and phrases you use every day?

Let Them Eat Pie! (a la Mode)

Did you know, for example, that when you place an order for apple pie a la mode, that you are using a phrase that dates back to the days of King Louis XIV? His court became such a standard of good taste that the British aristocracy wanted to do more than dress in French fashion; they wanted to use their phrase for it, too. In the seventeenth century the term was anglicized to become alamode -- a light silk used to make scarves. And at some point in small-town America, the combined flavors of cooked apple, sweet pastry, and cool, creamy vanilla represented the very latest in fashionable, cutting-edge gastronomy, giving the term its modern meaning of "with ice cream."

And there's hundreds of other examples from France:

laissez faire, joie de vivre, fait accompli, faux pas, I could go on but you'd only become blasé. And with good reason; English speakers have been word collectors since the fifth century, when the dialects of Anglo-Saxon settlers, Celts, and Norse invaders were cobbled together to create Old English. When the Norman conquerors arrived in 1066 it must have seemed natural to steal some of their vocabulary, too. By the end of the thirteenth century, more than 10,000 French words were absorbed into English -- and we still use 75 percent of them today.

But we've done more than add a French lilt to our lingo. Those Normans also introduced us to Latin. In medicine, we have words like post-mortem and placebo, while in legal language, Latin phrases such as in camera and quid pro quo are still bounced around the courtroom. And others have crossed over into broader use; an agreement or contract signed in good faith is said to be bona fide. However, in everyday use, the phrase has become interchangeable with the word genuine and usually describes someone or something whose authenticity can be trusted.

Plunder of War:  New Words?

More foreign phrases joined the fray during the marauding, seafaring days of our English-speaking ancestors, who filled their boats with strange Asian spices, exotic fabrics, and loads of new words for all the animals, garments and foods they had discovered.

Even ketchup, that favorite sidekick of French fries, is an import, starting life as a spicy pickled fish sauce in seventeenth-century China. The word is a Westernized version of the Malay word kichap, which came from koechiap, meaning fish brine. The sweet red version we love with began to take shape when American sailors added tomatoes, which are excellent for preventing scurvy. In 1876 John Heinz launched his infamous tomato ketchup and the rest, as they say, is history.

And there are stowaway words in your wardrobe as well as your pantry; your pajamas, dungarees, and even your bandanna have their origins on foreign shores. Bandanna comes from the Sanskrit word bandhana, meaning to tie, from the tie-dying technique used to decorate scarves and handkerchiefs in India. The anglicized "bandanna" was incorporated into the English language during the days of the British Raj, though they're now more popular with wrestlers and cowboys who want to give their look a certain panache.

And while the Brits went abroad to gather additions for their dictionary, in seventeenth-century North America, words were coming to the English language by the boatload. Soon words from Italy, Poland, German, and Eastern Europe were leaping off immigrant ships and landing in the American English lexicon. To uncover the backstory on some of these, from alter ego to zeitgeist, explore the pages of A Certain Je Ne Sais Quoi -- The Origin of Foreign Words Used in English by Chloe Rhodes, published by Reader's Digest, and voilá! Soon you'll easily be able to schmooze with everyone at the next cocktail party without making a single faux pas.

© 2010 Chloe Rhodes, author of A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi": The Origin of Foreign Words Used in English

Author Bio
Chloe Rhodes, author of A Certain "Je Ne Sais Quoi": The Origin of Foreign Words Used in English, is a freelance journalist who has worked for The Telegraph, Guardian and The Times as well as numerous other respected publications. She lives in North London with her husband. For more information please visit www.amazon.com.

Tents for Haiti: The Rainy Season is Coming

I am a member of a social networking site called Haiti without Borders and the following post tells of the dire need for temporary shelter for earthquake victims given the coming rainy season in Haiti. The telephone number at the end of the post is one you can call for a donation of a tent(s) or money for tents. We all have so much...be generous.

"Earlier on Thursday, that is two days following the devastating earthquake, Mr. Houver said in a press release: "What we need is tents, tents and more tents. We need large or individual tents, whatever is available, and financial support quickly."

Ms. Pineiro explains this isn't a call to fish out a musty old tent from your attic -- the logistics of coordinating individual deliveries of tents from individuals would be daunting. But she says her group will need a major cash infusion to buy tents in the coming days. She says the IOM has about 10,000 tents in Haiti left over from a previous hurricane relief operation and is trying to get them out into the field. But she says the current IOM plan is to provide shelter to 1 millions Haitians, an effort the group estimates will require about 200,000 tents.

Everyone wishing to donate a tent to help shelter a family is encouraged to do so. If you don't have one, share this information with your friends. With the rainy season fast approaching it is an urgency to shelter upwards to 1 million that are without a home in Haiti. If you have a tent you wish to donate, please call us at: 407-844-9765."

"How Football Explains America" Book Review

by Nancy Mehegan
I stumbled upon this book and found it fascinating.  The title is "How Football Explains America" by Sal Paolantonio.

Restless America Seeks a Sport

Rugby was the first game played by major college athletes in America, prior to football.  Rugby was a primitive Old World game, sleepy, with a mass of humanity in movement.  But rugby didn't fit America.

Sleepy Rugby too Slow

The 1800's was the time of the Wild West and the U.S. thirst for new territory.   The rugby rules forbade anyone picking up , carrying the ball.  Not enough happened -- just a mass of people moving.

The college boys at Harvard made the "first move"  They modified the game -- called it the "Boston Game", which allowed running & carrying the ball.  Harvard & Yale adopted the new game.  Princeton & Univ of PA still played the old "sleepy" game.  In November 1876 they held a conference and all schools adopted the new game. 

Hero Needed

Now there was a "hero" -- a man singled out who carries the ball.  And America loves heroes.  The wetern expansion offered America the rugged individualist and many heroes:  Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, etc.

Manifest Destiny & the "First Down"

The concept of the "first down" in football came from a conference in 1882. 

Capture territory.  Hold it.  Advance.  It's now all about possession.

The Huddle -- the Sacred Circle

RIGHT TO ASSEMBLY:  The huddle reflected Americans right to assembly.  Peacable Assembly is uniquely American. 

Football because of its brutality lends itself to the need for a huddle, a place to regroup -- to find patterns within the chaos.  There is almost something 'sacred' about the huddle -- a kind of 'religious congregation' -- where players make a plan and promise to keep the faith to the plan and each other.  A way of fostering teamwork -- in a game that had been tarnished by violence of the old world soccer & rugby.  Something magical happens -- in the huddle men become brothers.

History of the Huddle

The modern-day circular huddle, was invented by Gallaudet University quarterback Paul Hubbard in 1892. Gallaudet was the first school intended for the advanced education of deaf and hard-of-hearing students. When quarterbacking, Hubbard realized that his hand signals could be read by opposing players.  To remedy this, he had his players form a circle so that his sign-language signals could be sent and received without anyone on the sidelines or on the opposing team seeing.

The huddle began to appear in more and more football games.