Word or Words of the Day and Discussion

[GotGarlic]

prejudice

An unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion, etc.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

jump down someone's throat:
To criticise with excessive and unexpected harshness.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jump_down_someone%27s_throat>

 

[PrincessFiona60]

anthelmintic:
A drug for the treatment of intestinal worm infestation.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/anthelmintic>

 

[PrincessFiona60]

analemma:
An egg-shaped or figure-eight curve that results when the Sun's position
in the sky is plotted out over the year.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/analemma>

 

[PrincessFiona60]

heretofore:
Prior to now, until now, up to the present time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heretofore>

 

[PrincessFiona60]

lampoon:
To satirize or poke fun at.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lampoon>

 

[PrincessFiona60]

exanimate:
1. Lifeless, not or no longer living.
2. Spiritless, dispirited.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/exanimate>

"e's an ex-parrot!"

 

[PrincessFiona60]

hallux:
The big toe.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/hallux>

 

[CWS4322]

With a new batch of chicks hatched, we were trying to figure out how to sex day-olds. I learned a new definition for eminence in the process (and will never be able to hear "His Eminence" ever again without thinking of how to tell a rooster from a hen...).

em•i•nence (ˈɛm ə nəns)

n.
1. high station, rank, or repute.
2. a high elevation; hill or height.
3. (cap.) a title of honor, applied to cardinals (usu. prec. by His or Your).
4. an anatomical projection, esp. on a bone.
[1375–1425; late Middle English < Anglo-French < Latin]

 

[Mad Cook]

Interestingly enough, miel is also the French word for honey.

I took five years of French in school. Then I went to Paris and realized I must have learned some other language, because what they spoke in Paris bore no relation to the French I was taught.

Out in the "sticks" most French people are very kind to you when you try your best to speak French but in Paris I've found some (but not all) people can be a bit sniffy about their language. Not just with the English either.

On the other hand, I was sitting in a café one day when a cat wandered in and made a bee-line for me. I was making a fuss of it when the waiter came to take my order. We had a short conversation in French about the cat and he went off to get my order. When he came back he asked if I was Belgian and when I said I was English he looked astounded and said "But you can't be. The English don't speak French". I was quite flattered as my French is fairly basic despite 7 years and "A" level French at school.

 

[Addie]

Out in the "sticks" most French people are very kind to you when you try your best to speak French but in Paris I've found some (but not all) people can be a bit sniffy about their language. Not just with the English either.

On the other hand, I was sitting in a café one day when a cat wandered in and made a bee-line for me. I was making a fuss of it when the waiter came to take my order. We had a short conversation in French about the cat and he went off to get my order. When he came back he asked if I was Belgian and when I said I was English he looked astounded and said "But you can't be. The English don't speak French". I was quite flattered as my French is fairly basic despite 7 years and "A" level French at school.

My sister took French in school also. But she was lucky in that she had a teacher from France. So she spoke Parisian French and her husband spoke Canuck French. Neither one could understand the other. And the arguments always started as to who spoke the right French.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

With a new batch of chicks hatched, we were trying to figure out how to sex day-olds. I learned a new definition for eminence in the process (and will never be able to hear "His Eminence" ever again without thinking of how to tell a rooster from a hen...).

em•i•nence (ˈɛm ə nəns)

n.
1. high station, rank, or repute.
2. a high elevation; hill or height.
3. (cap.) a title of honor, applied to cardinals (usu. prec. by His or Your).
4. an anatomical projection, esp. on a bone.
[1375–1425; late Middle English < Anglo-French < Latin]

 

[taxlady]

My sister took French in school also. But she was lucky in that she had a teacher from France. So she spoke Parisian French and her husband spoke Canuck French. Neither one could understand the other. And the arguments always started as to who spoke the right French.

The first time I went to Paris, I had 5 years of French, first with a teacher from Paris and then with a teacher who had lived in Paris. But, my French was so un-fluent, that the French were kind to me. They seemed to appreciate that I made the effort. The second time I went to Paris, my French was much better and the Parisians were mostly awful to me about my French.

And now I speak Québecois (Canuck French) with a bit of Danish and Parisian accent thrown in.

When I spent a few hours at the airport outside Paris in 2011, I got no attitude about my French, a few funny looks, but no attitude. Just as well. I would have said something snarky if I had gotten attitude.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I know enough French to get in trouble and still not be able to find the bathroom.

 

[CWS4322]

I studied French in university (4 years--Parisian) then went to Quebec City for French immersion and realized that at best I could comment on mundane things. After 8 months in Quebec City, I could speak it fairly well (albeit with a Germanic accent--but that is also true when I speak Swedish) but then went to NB where the French is Acadian. I can still read it and speak it, but am hopeless at writing in French.

 

[CWS4322]

I had to share

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Now I won't be able to think of His Eminence without a grin.

 

[taxlady]

Now I won't be able to think of His Eminence without a grin.

That's why she told you.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

She's a brat!!! And so are you...it's why I love both of you!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

meadery:
A place where mead is made.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meadery>