Ship My Pants

Hello and welcome to a pre-Thanksgiving Saturday here at the Wannaskan Almanac. Today is November 19th.

What do you get when you cross a linguist with a non-native speaker of English? 

Other than five kids who make up the sum of our parts, lots of word analysis at the dinner table.

"Why do you say 'you guys' when you're talking to ladies?" he asks. "You guys. You guys. You're not guys!"

Umm, because our 2nd person plural is just "you" and that sometimes doesn't feel sufficient or specific enough?

When he was in charge of the Word of the Day in Toastmasters, he would give a thorough lesson in the etymology of the word taking us all the way back to its Latin or Greek roots. For Christmas one year, I bought him the Oxford Essential Dictionary of Word Histories.

He takes pride in his Czech language with its precision and once claimed there were no Czech words that had more than one meaning. I delight in pointing out examples like stolice which means both "stool" and "bowel movement" - just like in English.

One night, he observed how many of the daily casual phrases we use in English are littered with violence. Apparently I "shoot" a lot. 

"Shoot, shoot, shoot," he says. "It's so violent." After he said it, I noticed how much I did say it. With little people ears constantly tuning in across the house, I always considered it an upgrade from a certain swear word that sounds like "ship" but ends with a "t." 

I overheard a kid at school say, "I have so much homework, I could just shoot myself."

When we're in a world where kids are doing this - it was startling.

I "slayed" that test. I "nailed" the discussion question. I "crushed" the assignment. These are all supposed to be positive.

As a busy mom, I love the efficiency of "killing two birds with one stone." 

"Why would you want to do that?" my husband asks. "It's so violent."

We agree at our house that "shut up" is a phrase that contributes to the conflict. It's one of a handful of what we deem as "kid swear words" on our family blacklist along with "stupid" and "boring."

My husband has a bad habit of saying "ship but with a t" for everything. It's cold outside. Ship. He burns the eggs. Ship. His favorite television program just ended. My youngest child will sometimes say "ship" with a pretty serious face. As a parent and linguist, I'm both concerned and impressed.

"How about a little vocal variety here?" I say to my husband. He looks around and says the first thing he sees: "Okno." which is Czech for "window." The kids giggle and try it on for size. It fits.

The giggling reminds us of how much we liked that old K-mart "Ship My Pants" commercial.

On This Day

Historic Highlights (credits)

1977 - Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visits Israel

Sadat was the first Arab head of state to visit Israel and address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. His visit came under severe criticism both in Israel and in the Arab world. Sadat and Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978 for their attempts to bring a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

1969 - Second Moon Landing

The second spacecraft to land on the Moon, Apollo 12 was the 6th manned flight of NASA’s Apollo program. Crew members Charles Conrad Jr. and Alan L. Bean became the 3rd and 4th humans to step on the surface of the Moon. The first 2 were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

1969 - Pelé’s 1,000th goal

The Brazilian footballer, often considered to be the greatest athlete of the 20th century, made his 1,000th professional goal against Vasco da Gama at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

1943 - Janowska camp uprising

The concentration camp in occupied Poland was set up in 1941. In November 1943, in anticipation of the advancement of Soviet troops, the Nazis tried to evacuate the camp and used the inmates to remove traces of executions and mass killings in the past. On this day, the inmates staged an uprising and attempted to escape. Most escapees, however, were recaptured and killed.

1794 - Signing of the Jay Treaty

The treaty, officially known as, Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and The United States of America, was signed between representatives of the United States and Britain. It called for the British to surrender northwestern posts to the U.S. and for them to consider the United States as a most favored nation for trade between the two countries.

Happy Birthday to You!🎶 

1941 - Tommy Thompson, American politician, 42nd Governor of Wisconsin

1917 - Indira Gandhi, Indian politician, 3rd Prime Minister of India

1888 - José Raúl Capablanca, Cuban chess player

1831 - James A. Garfield, American politician, 20th President of the United States

1600 - Charles I of England

Remembering You

1924 - Thomas H. Ince, American actor, director, producer

1918 - Joseph F. Smith, American religious leader, 6th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

1850 - Richard Mentor Johnson, American politician, 9th Vice President of the United States

1828 - Franz Schubert, Austrian composer

1798 - Wolfe Tone, Irish patriot

Speak kindly and make it a great Saturday!

Kim