In my college German classes, I learned that, unless one is careful, instead of saying that you want the vacuum cleaner, you might say you want a blow job.
In Japanese the wrong inflection will take you from "sponsor" to "pimp" as my friend learned when she thanked her sponsors in front of the local Chamber of Commerce.
My grandfather was born in 1901. My Mom's life in Georgia during the 30s might as well have been in the 19th century. They had mules and didn't get indoor plumbing until the late sixties. My ex-GF the medical student? Her father and uncle were in Holland during the Nazi occupation and had to sneak out at night to steal turnips to survive.
Hec, my dad, who's 68, didn't get indoor plumbing or electricity until he was 11 years old. I remember being amazed at the stories he told me of keeping their milk in a bucket in the well to keep it cool, and of riding horses into town, etc. (think the film Coal Miner's Daughter, and you've got it--especially since my dad grew up about six miles away from Loretta Lynn).
It blows my mind, still.
My father's parents died before I was born. My dad blames DDT which they used to mix up in buckets with water to spray. They mixed it up with their HANDS! I think that serious drinking and smoking had something to do with it as well. Along with no health care at all. My grandmother died a ward of the state of California because no one had the money to take care of her medical bills.
Luckily I was into my twenties before my maternal grandfather died (from the exact same lung cancer my aunt died from last week) and in my late thirties before my gram died, basically from being 96. I even got to know two of my great grandmothers since they both died at age 93.
My mother, from looking at her, will live to be 120.
My mother grew up without indoor plumbing or electricity. Her town didn't get such things until after she moved out in 1953 or 54. She is 72 this year.
I just made pan-seared scallops in a garlic, butter, and lemon sauce over angel hair.
And sweet iced tea with lemon.
There will be chocolate pudding with whipped cream for dessert.
Sunday is my day off of diet and exercise.
My dinner is made of win.
I want Allyson's dinner.
My dad's parents were born in 1907. Granddaddy died when he was 76 and Grandmama when she was 90. Daddy just turned 71 last month.
My mom's parents were born in 1889 and 1895. Her dad died when he was 62/63 (long before I was born) and G'mama died when she was 90. My mom is 68.
My great-great-grandfather in the direct paternal line lived from 1824 to 1900. He and my great-great-grandmother (his second wife of three, who lived from 1835 or so into the early 1870's IIRC) are the most distant ancestors buried in my childhood church's cemetery.
My parents and grandparents didn't have electricity until sometime around 1950.
Get into great-greats, and it just gets confusing for me, because I swear they're all named Thomas if they're men, and Elizabeth if they're women. Add in a few surnames like Wilson and Jackson, and oy! Disambiguation is hard!
Flashbacks to bad language talk:
Hil - if you studied your Hebrew from the Torah and siddur, you've done great job.
Ha! Shir, I hope you don't mind me laughing -- it's only because that sounds exactly like something I would do!
Of course not! That's one of my better funny "oops" stories. It's just that in Hebrew nail, as a verb, has only one meaning (as in knocking nails with a hammer), and it's one of the sentences I use a lot.
I guess this is another example to the "Why You Can't Translate Directly From Hebrew To English" book, right before "leave me in you mother" (H translation: for the love of God, leave me alone!) and after "talk to me postcards" (H translation: be honest with me) or "end of the road" (H translation: it was a blast!/it really sucked, don't waste your time on it).
Hey. Sudden change of post topic before she'll squeeze it to death. Guess who woke up early today and made banana muffins so this day will be better? whistles
