Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)’s Comments (group member since Sep 20, 2013)

Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all)’s comments from the Net Work Book Club group.

Groovy wrote: "That's the first I heard of that. I never would have De-Thawed it was pronounced any other way:)"

Defrost is a word, like in the north you have a defroster in your car for ice on the windshield. You defrost the refrigerator, but thaw a steak.

Don't go down with the ship just yet, MrB. We had the flu over the holidays and I've been swimming against the current trying to catch up.

"De-thaw" is not a word. Thaw is, and it means...well, it means to thaw. If you take something out of the freezer, it thaws, it does not de-thaw.

Geh.

Yeah and then we can feather our nests with the proceeds!

One of my students was in NY during that big snowstorm and he says the same thing: the panic buying was as if war had been declared for the foreseeable future, not a two-day snowstorm!

I'm glad he invited the chicken over, they fell out when the chicken accused the duck of Peking at his private messages...

Feet up, cuppa tea, good book...sweet! Back in my Iowa daze, my mother made sure everything essential ran on natural gas (stove, oven, heating, hot water) and we always had oil lamps put away. Then if the snow came, we dug in and made cookies and played Little House while our neighbours who had all-electric had to go stay at the Y.

Free as a bird, that's the idea, the poultry of motion!

Yeah, somebody sure laid an egg here...we'll have to scramble back to its original purpose!

Another phrase I abominate is when someone is working on a project of whatever kind and they are told that they need to make some changes to "sex it up." If you mean you need to make it more interesting or attractive, for goodness' sake say that!!

Well it's because the convents and monasteries took the kids in and raised them. Monasteries were the centres of medical care, poor aid, and education as you know. I bet if we knew what to look for you'd find the British "foundling names" that date back to the Middle Ages as well. Maybe all those St Johns or whatever.

There are many Spanish and French surnames that tell you that somewhere maybe a couple of centuries back, someone was abandoned on a convent doorstep or left in the "turn", or simply picked up along the roadside half-starved after a plague or war or whatever.

Dieudonné (given by God) is one, Depardieu is another. "Deodato" in Latin was often given to oblates, small boys dumped at monasteries by parents who wanted to get rid of yet another mouth to feed, by giving a son to the church.

In Spanish there are many. De Jesús, de Dios, Exposito (because some children were left "exposed" to the elements and if they died, well too bad so sad) de la Cruz or Cruz by itself. I know there are more but I can't think of them right now.

There are other names that indicate a convert from Judaism to Christianity to avoid the Inquisition. St Theresa of Avila's surname was "Ahumada"--"smoked" as in "passed through the fire and lived." My own husband's mother's surname, "Llamas" (flames) indicates the same thing. One of my good university friends was a rabbi who took one look at my husband and said, "Is he Jewish? He looks Jewish." He does indeed. So he asked my husband, "For you, what is God?"
"A mystery" replied my husband.
Rebbe Serber's eyes sparkled. "He's Jewish!" he said triumphantly.

I think DPG is a reference to Gerard Depardieu, turned inside out. Depardieu...means someone was an orphan at some point in his family tree, as it means "for God's sake" (that they rescued the child.)

They fly over the world, don't they, when he shows the little boy the whales and all that...

I found that particular one in the library when I was about 12, in English, and loved it because at that time they were showing a lot of "cast of thousands" Egypt/Rome movies on TV and the drawings caught them so well. I will say, they are funnier in French.

Special for Groovy Girl:
Mission Cleopatra (you can see this on Youtube, natcherly)
[Intro : Snoop Dogg]
Yeah, believe it
J-A-M-E-L with the big D-O-Double G ! Woof !
D-A-Z, DPG Family, ooh wee (ooh wee) yeah yeah

[Couplet 1 : Snoop Dogg]
You say you wanna party with us
Well, come on baby let me see you get up
And, quit playin', you know what I'm sayin'
We got a whole lotta food if ya plan on stayin'
We got a sayin', no matter where you at in the Bentley or
The ghetto, we keep the hot metal
Settle, down, and pass it around
Cuz we havin' a good time while I'm in yall town
French eyes and with french fries and with French thighs
D-O-Double G and I'ma do it to ya ten times
Flizzy, hizzigh, wizzie
Operation Cleopatra, comin' right at ya
J-A-M-E-L I'm tryin' to holla at ya homie pick up ya cell
D-P-G hell yeah, I got some suckers on my tail could ya make'em bail?

(Ça fait plaisir)

[Refrain]
We're gonna party (pour voir les meufs)
So get the party started (eh vous habitez où ?)
We're gonna party (we gonna shake it up... do it to ya)
We're gonna party, come on come on (yeaaaah)
So get the party started (mais c'est super !)
We're gonna party (we gonna set the mood on the groove)
Party all night 'long

[Couplet 2 : Jamel Debbouze]
You say you wanna party with us
Well, come on baby let me see you get up
And, and whats my mothafuka name? Jamel!
Snoop Dogg for mamel
Dogg Jamel, c'est mon nouveau prénom
C'est comme ca que Snoop Doggy Dogg il m'appelle et il a raison
Hé les gars, moi c'est Dogg Jamel
Ok we all the same, ça veut dire "on est les mêmes"
Snoop! Ton copain là-bas qui fume d'la weed
Oh akhalalaladim on dirait mon copain Ahmed
Ahmed, la weed, ti-suite ti-suite, la weed [Jameeeeel]
Ti-suite tous les jours et y'a des gens qui m'énervent
Snoop et moi on aimerait bien les voir avec une minerve
Mais pas la peine de s'vénère
Ce soir on va s'la faire

[Refrain]

Now I've got the Asterix and Cleopatra Rap in my head, done by the Dogg:

"J. A. M. E. L., I'm tryin' holla at ya, homey, pick up yo cell."

But I don't mind! Gotta watch that movie again. It's a French comedy and I love it.

Trouble is that those hand sanitisers are toxic to humans too. I just wash my hands properly, and a lot. (My aunt was a surgical nurse. You do not just wet your hands and rub your fingers together under the tap!) In my case it's a "thing", but it helps. I also carry wipes in my purse for being out on the bus etc.

The other day my bestie was complaining about constant nausea. I saw her change her 1 yr old son's diaper and not wash her hands! I got a bit sharp and said, "Well there's your problem!" Stood in the doorway of the bathroom and saw her "wash" her hands. It just came out all by itself: "Have you never been taught to wash your hands properly?" (Oh dear. Jane Austen again, plus Aunty Jeanne. But she knows me. Conchi, not Jane.) She wondered what I meant, so I showed her. Soap your hands, all over, up to the wrists. In between fingers too by interlacing them briskly. Rinse likewise.

Groovy wrote: "And I would like to add that people who constantly wonder if the glass is half-empty or half-full miss the point entirely--it's refillable, people!!!"

True story: A friend of mine from Australia was here for a year or two teaching ESL. He called me one day laughing his head off because he'd spent over an hour online looking for images of a half-full glass. All the ones he found were half empty!!

Groovy wrote: "Amen, Ori. No truer words have ever been spoken. Who knows what it'll be next."

Gotta remember too that talkshow hosts are paid to puff things. They don't have the actual time to read all those books, watch all those movies, listen to all those CDs they're pushing (which is what chatshows do, they push stuff at the public). They have those assistants who feed them the info they need to do the shows.