Oh, I know, -t! I used to hate it that "madchen" was a neuter noun! Girls aren't neuter, damn it! Then I found out that any word ending in "chen" takes the neuter form. Still, quit trying to unsex me, you nasty gender-assigning language.
'Lessons'
The Great Write Way, Chapter Two: Twice upon a time...
A place for Buffistas to discuss, beta and otherwise deal and dish on their non-fan fiction projects.
Supressing any urge to take part in the discussion of the German language, since I don't speak German.
Heh. That one is easy to remember because of the outrage.
Gar, just be thankful it isn't French. Because, am I remembering "le vagine" correctly? Vagina in French is in the masculine?
Vagina in French is in the masculine?
Oh, now, if that's true, it's just wrong.
Vagina in French is in the masculine?
Boggles.
Boggles some more.
Does that mean all the vaginas belong to men? As in, the male owns the female, therefore, her vagina belonga him? So glad my ancestors got smart and left the country.
"vagin" = noun masculine.
Language is very very strange, sometimes.
Theories on the gender of vagin.
It's interesting--it looks kinda like the gender of the word was resolved by shape (-in) rather than meaning. Which is something I think French does--chemin is masculine, whereas most of the other words for roads (rue, route, allée, chaussée, etc) are feminine.
And vagine was already taken.
This is why I now say, "Va-jay-jay".
(Thanks Dr Bailey)
Witch
I return to the cottage in the gloaming. As I pass, I take a flower from my basket and lay it on Oma's grave. Inside, I light the candle and take out the rest of the contents: several plump tree ears, a mound of fiddleheads, early berries. Last autumn's nuts, from a squirrel's forgotten cache. A handful of slender onions. A string of trout.
Before she died, Oma taught me how to find all these things. She taught me that when you live in the forest, you can't fear it.
Last of all, I take the wolf's tooth from my basket and set it in the middle, next to the candle.