’23 A To Z Challenge – C

By the year 2050, the entire world’s skin tone will be beige, and religion will be just a memory.

While I think that the first part of this prophecy is inevitable, I feel that the prophet who claimed it was optimistic – or pessimistic – that it will occur so soon – and the second part will come to pass, only when, as Freud said, The last human loses their fear of Death.

This past century has been one of inclusion and amalgamation.  Widespread, free movement of people, things, ideas, and information is finally breaking the grip of tribalism, isolationism, and the extensive US vs. Them mentality.  “Seasonal” fruits and vegetables have become a thing of the past, with daily airplane flights from Chile and Australia.

Immigration and tourism has opened so many narrow minds to the facts of other races, other religions, other moralities, other social customs, other legal systems, and other languages.  Language is the easiest and most often absorbed.  Here in Canada, because of the Province of Quebec, every citizen, from Inuit to immigrant, must have at least a working knowledge of the poutine that the locals claim is French.  Many French words, phrases, and place-names have crept into the “English” language, because of French explorers in Canada and northern United States.

Spanish exploration and conquest in Central and South America has resulted in the insertion of many Spanish words and terms into the, especially South and Western United States, ‘English’ language.  ‘Lazo’, the Spanish word that also gave the word ‘lace’ to English, and means noose, or bond, became ‘lasso’.  His cousin, la reata – the rope – became the cowboys’ lariat.

All of which deviously brings us to the word of the day

CALABOOSE

An Americanism dating back to 1785–95; through Louisiana French calabouse, from Spanish calabozo “dungeon,” of obscure origin

From the same base comes ‘calabash,’ an organic little dungeon of a gourd, with all the little seeds held prisoner within – the inspiration for Jimmy Durante’s girlfriend, Mrs. Calabash. Good night Mrs. Calabash, wherever you are.

Good night!!  Isn’t this fool done prating yet??

Ditty Bag Of Fibbing Friday

Pensitivity101 had another very mixed bag last week.  To tell the truth, a Ditty Bag is a small sack in which you can carry I-Pods, Ear-Pods, and your Smart Phone and/or tablet, laden with your play list.

1. What is clematis?

Isn’t that the thing that most women claim that most men can’t find??  O?  No!

2.  What is meant by linear?
That’s what the wife claims happens to any of her whiny complaints helpful comments.  Linear, and out the other.

3. What is a gonk?

It’s evidence for Christian Fundamentalists who don’t believe in evolution.  In a mere 60 years time, a lame, fuzzy, British toy developed into Minions.

4. What is a sirloin?

He was the Scottish knight at Camelot – Sir Loin of Beef – the second most famous, after Sit Gadalot Galapagos Gallivant Galahad.  He and his squire did not ride horses.  They saddled up on Highland bulls.

5. What is pumpernickel?
   

Now that COVID is dying back, instead of Canadian citizens, it is a renewed campaign from Tourism Canada to urge people to travel to Sudbury, in Northern Ontario, to view “The Big Nickel” outside the largest nickel mine in the world.

6. What is canasta?

It’s the contents of a tin of snails.  Oh, let’s give it a fancy French name – Escargot – and pretend that it’s somehow gourmet food.  Do you have to be as arrogant and irritating as a Frenchman to eat these things, or does eating these nasty slugs that ought to be stepped on in the garden, make one arrogant and irritating??  Je ne sais pas!

7. What is a Duchess Cake?
   

It’s one of those blue deodorizer puck things that they put in the urinals, over at Will and Kate’s place.

8. What is density?

That’s what I did the day of the Super Bowl.  I went into the family room and plunked my ass down in my recliner, with a case of beer below one arm, and a Costco-sized bag of Salt and Vinegar crisps by the other, and didn’t stir for four and a half hours – except to hit the WC during half-time.

9. Where will you find Agnes, Margo and Edith?

I recently found them at my front door.  They were three well-mannered Girl Scouts who politely asked me to purchase some of their cookies.  I was so startled that I bought an entire case, because I didn’t know that children that young were allowed to carry firearms.

10. What is a spatula?

It’s the mutual conversation exercise program that the wife and I indulge in, any given Saturday night when I’ve opened a box of beer, and she’s had 6 or 7 medicinal toddies, and the bon mots flow.  One night, she surprised me when she said, “I love you, and I couldn’t do without you.”  I asked if that was her or the wine talking.  She replied that it was her – talking to the wine.  😳

A Fibbing Friday With Connections

Pensitivity101’s theme was song connections this past week.  As usual, I’m a week late, and a joke short.

1. Who recorded Mouldy Old Dough?

It was a lament by Scrooge McDuck, until he managed to get his money vault climate controlled, and the deterioration stopped.  In today’s electronic banking age, all his little digital ones and zeros are spiffy clean and shiny.

2. What colour icing was on the cake in MacArthur Park?
   

If it was in MacArthur Park, it would have been tartan.  It slid sideways in the picnic basket, and touched some of the other food.  That’s how we got Green Eggs and Ham.

3. Who sang they were made out of Gingerbread?

Whoever they were, they were likely British of some flavour.  North Americans are so addicted to sugar that we put it in our breads.  USA Americans purchase so much sweet pastries that they can’t even spell Krispy Kreme correctly.  Canadians are a bit better, but our national coffee shop chain, Tim Horton’s, singlehandedly supports the honey industry.

4. Who sang Tutti Frutti?

The 1910 Fruitgum Company??

5. Who recorded Green Onions?

Booker T (Jones) and the M.G. – which stands/stood for Memphis Group.  The hypercorrect incorrect lie was that it was MGs, and referred to hot-damned MG cars, because it was released at the peak of surfer/hot-rod rock.

6. Who had a boy lollipop?

A lot of people!  The girl lollipops don’t have that long stick.  Just think what you’ve been grasping, all these years.

7. What is a Tangerine Dream?

That’s the witness protection alias of a Dutch international banking and financial institution.  They came to North America as ING, and confused lots of people.  (That’s a low bar to clear)  Folks wondered, Are they lyING?  Are they borING?  Are they gougING? So they became ING Direct.  The fog only became thicker, so they suddenly became Tangerine, and the confusion all cleared up.

8. Sugar Sugar or Honey Honey?

Yes please!  But on alternate mornings.  My incipient diabetes can only take so much.

9. Who sang Sugar Pie Honey Bunch?

Kellogg’s Cereals, and Post Cereals, did for years, until consumer protection groups and pediatric nutrition organizations forced them to reformulate their breakfast foods out of psyllium fiber and bran powder, making the boxes more appetizing and nutritious.

10. Do you need Hot Butter for Popcorn?

Not always.  Sometimes I like mine sprinkled with Tex-Mex flavor powder, but only if it’s prepared by the Muppets’ Swedish Chef.

A Fear Of Fibbing Fridays

So, Pensitivity101 wants to know, “What do you think these are phobias of?”

Ablutophobia

It’s a fear of having to watch old Popeye cartoons.  Does anyone remember when the bad-guy character, ‘Bluto’ suddenly became ‘Brutus,’ because King Features couldn’t keep their books straight?

Androphobia

It is the fear of having yet another Terminator sequel movie released.  It would be sad to see Arnold hobbling around like a geriatric T-800 model with a cane, or walker.

Ataxophobia

This is the fear of the approaching, mid-April deadline, both with the American IRS, (Notice that The IRS spells theirs) and the UK Inland Revenue.  Canadians get another two weeks of paralyzing terror each year – until the end of the month.  It’s no favour!  I say it’s like ripping a Band-Aid off.  Be like Nike, and Just Do It!

Autophobia

This is the quite-reasonable distress caused by having to go out upon the streets and roads with all those Other Drivers.  I’m okay, but they’re all just a bunch of weird accidents, waiting to happen, and probably catching me in the crunch.
Anyone who doesn’t drive as fast as me is an idiot.  Anyone who drives faster than me is an asshole.  Forget World Peace – envision using your turn signals.

Bathmophobia is the fear of the end of the day, when you have three preschoolers and a sandbox.  Soap suds spreading faster than The Big Bang – and when you finally get them all clean, you discover that one of them is the neighbour’s kid.  😳

Chromophobia has suffered technological obsolescence.  50 years ago, the little gear-head greasers plated every piece of exposed metal on their cars bright and shiny silver.  Today’s OY-Generation decorate their penis-substitute Lego-plastic toy cars with neon brothel-lights, rear spoilers whose only purpose is to hold beers while they brag to each other, and modify their exhausts so that little Dachshund cars sound like Great Danes.  They claim that they soup them up!  Yeah, right – soup in a sieve.  😯

Ephebiphobia is the feeling of unease, when you realize that your unmarried aunt has been batting for both teams all along.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Genuphobia is the fear non-Catholics have, of having to attend a wedding or baptism in a Catholic church.  You never know when to kneel, or when to stand up, or sit down.  They’re all up and down like a prostitute’s panties.  By the time you figure it out, they’ve got the hymnbook out, and are singing.

Heliophobia

Ever since Kobe Bryant’s little mishap, it’s what has caused me to decide to not use gasoline-powered aerial eggbeaters as a mode of transportation.  It’s not what I want people to mean when they say, “He was a down-to-Earth person.”  👿

Nomophobia

This is an irrational fear of garden figurines.

Osmophobia was the absolute panic I felt when I heard a rumour that some television network, desperate to replace lost viewers, was going to give Donny and Marie another hour-long variety show.  At their age, they can’t carry a tune in a bucket.  Donny’s ‘little bit Rock and Roll’ would be shuffle and wheeze, and his purple socks would be orthopedic.

Podophobia is a fear of being unexpectedly called upon to say a few words at some community gathering.  Unaccustomed as I am at public speaking – I’m gonna sit down, have another beer, and let the paid performing seals do their job.

Trypophobia

This was the terrible uncertainty that I felt recently.  I went into the office break room early in the morning.  Someone had put out a Tupperware container of fudge brownies, so I took one.  I returned soon after, to see if the coffee machine had finished.  There was now a note on the brownie box.

I Made These Brownies For Shits And Giggles
Half of them have cannabis.
The other half have laxative
Try One. Wait a half-hour, and find out which.

Wiccaphobia

Which way did they go?  How many of them were there?  When did they leave?  I must find them – for I am their leader.

This is the fear that you are going to be assigned another project, because your boss is not sufficiently computer-literate to access the internet and look for himself.  Not only will you have to do extra research, but it will be on constantly-changing websites that can be edited by people who wear MAGA hats, and believe that the world is flat.  😥

Zuigerphobia

It’s the feeling of imminent doom that arises locally, beginning about the middle of September, when we realize that half a million people who want to get drunk and obnoxious, and throw up in a different town, are about to descend on our city for Oktoberfest.  Before I retired, I used to book the week off – not to party, but because I was tired of getting pulled over in DUI/RIDE Program Traffic checks.  That really sucks.  😉

***

I have a phobia that Pensitivity didn’t list.  It’s demifiniphobia.  That’s the fear I felt when I looked at all these big, fancy words, worried that I will only be able to respond to about half the prompts, and end up looking like a half-assed halfwit.

Fibbing Friday XVII

Pensitivity101 gives us some food for thought in this old Fibbing Friday list.  Food and lies??! – I’m overqualified!  😎

How did tartar sauce get its name?
This spicy condiment was developed by a food engineer with a stutter.  He only intended to say that it was a tart sauce, but introduced it to his boss as a tar…tar…tart sauce, and the name stuck – the same way the stuff gets stuck to your clothing if you’re not careful.  When I go to Red Lobster, I always get a lobster bib, even if I’m just having sole.

Why is Mardi Gras (aka Shrove Tuesday) also known as Pancake Day?
It all began in Duluth, where the epicures of Minnesota did not have access to fine, upscale dining establishments like Shoney’s.  IHOP, the International House Of Pancakes opened a restaurant to fill the gap.  Their grand opening happened to coincide with Shrove Tuesday.  They ran an advertising campaign that said, “Don’t be in a flap, Jack.  Celebrate Shrove Tuesday by making it a Pancake Tuesday, with an endless stack of hotcakes.”

The mostly Lutheran, Swedish-Americans didn’t understand this Catholic Shrove Tuesday thing, but they understood cheap inexpensive food, and came in droves.  IHOP repeated the sale for several anniversaries, and soon they were busing in from as far away as Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.  Then the Scots heard about the great food deal, and in no time the Pancake Tuesday term had spread worldwide.

Why do so many people eat fish during Lent?
It’s a way to feel good, and believe that you’re fooling God into thinking that you’re actually giving something up for a week or so.  There may be less fish eaten now, since a Canadian Coast Guard cutter put a few .50 caliber rounds into a trespassing Portuguese fishing trawler a few years ago.

What is the difference between sushi and sashimi?
Sashimi is thinly sliced strips of raw fish flesh, also known in civilized countries as BAIT, to get other fish to bite.  Sushi is thinly sliced strips of raw fish flesh, wrapped around vegetables, and coated with sticky rice, to get pretentious Hipsters to bite.

What is noodling?
That’s how half the University and College students get through their semesters without starving to death – some packs of ramen here, a few boxes of macaroni and cheese there.

How do you clean a fish?
I can’t tune a piano, but I can tuna fish.  To clean a fish, you can put it in the dishfishwasher.  Be sure to remove any detergent and rinse-agent, inserting instead, some butter and lemon juice.  By the time the heated dry cycle is finished, the fish should be ready to serve.

What are Swedish fish?
This is a plot by the Swedish candy industry to destroy America.  They are little fish-shaped gummies.  They are promoted as having NO FAT, and good for you, but are loaded with sugars, mineral oil, which is a lubricant/laxative, and carnauba wax, which puts a great shine on your automobile.

What is a Bishop’s Mitre?

In chess, the bishops may only move at 45-degree angles.  The Bishop’s Mitre is a handy-dandy tool to plot your proposed progress out.

What was the movie, The Shoes of the Fisherman about?
This was the sad but true tale of a dedicated angler with a bass-boat.  His wife would not allow his bilge-flavored footwear in the house, even in the mud room.  He had to take them off and store them in a sealed plastic bag out in the toolshed, and hope that skunks or rats didn’t get at them.

What is the first day after Lent known as?
It has not been officially accepted anywhere, but it is widely known as – SCREW THE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION DAY.  I’ve been good for three or four months – the last week or so, especially.  I’ve eaten more fish than a seagull.  I want a bacon double-cheeseburger and onion rings!  🌯

Tell Me If You’ve Heard This One – VII

I put up the image that says that I Love English, but most of these words come from Latin, Greek, French, Hawaiian, Scottish and Spanish.  English loves immigrants – voluntary or not.  😀

‘a’ā  – [ah-ah] (Hawaiian) Basaltic lava having a rough surface
Mount Kilauea’s ‘a’ā surface flow made for a difficult hike.

ARETE – The aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character
He demonstrated arête by rescuing the kitten from the tree.

ARGUS-EYED – having keen sight, vigilant, watchful
It was important that the sentry was argus-eyed, guarding the castle against foes.
Argus – late Middle English: from Latin, from Greek Argos, the name of a watchman in Greek mythology who had a hundred eyes. After he was killed by Hermes, Hera used his eyes to decorate the peacock’s tail.

BLITHESOME – lighthearted, merry, cheerful
The children’s birthday party had a blithesome atmosphere.

CAŇADA – No, no!  Not my favorite Home and Native Land
(Spanish) A small, deep canyon [kuh n-yah-duh]
Actor Ron Canada isn’t from The Great White North.  He came from a hole in the ground in Mexico.

E-TAILING – The selling of goods and services on the internet or through email solicitation
As long as they don’t wake me, or tie up my phone, trying to sell me duct-cleaning in Pakistani.

GERONTOCRACY – Government by a council of elders
A governing body consisting of old people
A state or government in which old people rule
Despite being one, I was going to say that the old farts have screwed things up enough, let the younger ones have a chance.  Then Canada elected [Trudeau Junior], and the Woke stupidity started to really pile up.

GLABELLA – The flat area of bone between the eyebrows, used as a craniometric point
He had a unibrow, a straight line across his glabella.

GLAIKIT – foolish, giddy, flighty
Scottish author Irvine Welsh’s stories are filled with glaikit – the strange and particularly clownish behavior of his Glaswegian characters.

HYPOGEAL – underground, subterranean
Plants that show hypogeal germination grow relatively slowly, especially in the first phase.

NETIQUETTE – The rules of etiquette that apply when communicating over computer networks, especially the internet
Internet trolls display little to no netiquette, often insulting others online.

PARTRICIAN – A person of noble or high rank; aristocrat
A patrician by birth, she was seen as a suitable match for the prince.
Note!  Does not apply to Meghan Markle – see courtesan, or gold-digger

PATULOUS – spreading widely from the center
The tree’s patulous branches gave the family a lot of shade.

SHIPPEN – Dialectical, British – a cow barn, or cattle shed
The cattle had to seek shelter in the shippen before the storm arrived.

TABERNACLE – A house of worship; specifically, a large building or tent used for evangelistic purposes
A receptacle for the consecrated elements of the Eucharist, especially an ornamental locked box used for reserving the Communion hosts.
Also – a swear-word-light, often used by predominantly French-speaking Canadians.

VERJUICE – An acid liquor made from the sour juice of crab-apples, unripe grapes, etc., formerly much used for culinary and other purposes

WHOOP-DE-DO – [hoop-dee-doo – hwoop – woop]
Lively and noisy festivities, merrymaking
The festive party was their annual New Year’s Eve whoop-de-do.

I just got the word that enough is enough, and it’s time to move on.  1960’s garage rock says that Surfin’ Bird is the word.  Have a listen.  😀

’22 A To Z Challenge – K

 

I went looking for sauerkraut, –I don’t know why.  I should be able to smell it – and found a Cabbage-Head instead.

I am sometimes sooo… happy that I am saddled with the simple name of Smith, when I research the meanings of other people’s.

A reader made me aware of surname.com, but it only concentrates on English, Scottish and Irish names.  Bing has become more reliable, offering results from several sites.  One of them often does the job.  I also rely on Google Translate, though it does have its drawbacks.

I recently ran into a new, female blogger, who had married a man by the name of Kohlhepp.  This is a rare German name that I had never run into, here in ex-Berlin, Ontario.  I had to look it up.  The biggest problem with Google Translate, is that it does so literally, word by word, rather than idiomatically, with the meaning of the entire phrase or clause.

When I entered Kohlhepp, I got back cabbage–jerk.  Now, does jerk mean a sharp tug, or is he the guy with the big desk in the corner office?  Another rare, local German name is Dreisinger.  I know that it means Three Singers – but which three?  The Magi??  Larry, Shemp and Moe??  A Christian-based name from a church choir??

I may snicker a bit to find that Kohlhepp is a cabbage harvester, but in Germany, that’s an important job.  Somebody gotta make all that sauerkraut.

Here in Canada, we have an up-and-coming Federal politician named Poilievre.  In French, pois are peas, and lievre is a form of ”lever,” which means to lift or raise.  If Tennessee Ernie Ford were still alive, he would Bless his little pea-pickin’ heart.

’22 A To Z Challenge – H

 

Benny Hill!  Benny Hill!  Benny Hill!

What can you say about Benny Hill?

He was a mediocre actor, a funny TV comic, and a brilliant writer and comedian.  To be the writer and comedian, he was also a brilliant linguist, sometimes making puns and jokes in two and three languages.

He got “Son of a bitch!” past the BBC censors by claiming that a French skit character spoke of, ‘Ze sun, over ze beach.’

He talked about having a bent wood chair in his dressing room.  Not a Bentwood Chair – but a bent wood chair, because his dressing room was in the damp, BBC basement.

With the moving of a couple of letters on a sign, he turned
Dr. Johnson
the
rapist

Into

Dr. Johnson
therapist

Not only was he familiar with French and German, but quite knowledgeable about regional British accents, where, if you travelled 50 miles, the common folk could not be understood, and bread rolls had changed names.  Sometimes he used words and phrases that those born on this side of the pond didn’t recognize.

Once, he wrote a bit, making fun of a commercial from Cheer detergent, which had just begun selling in the UK.  We’ll take two dress shirts, and pour blackberry juice on both of them.  Then we’ll wash one of them in Applaud detergent, (So no-one could accuse him of making fun of Cheer) and the other one in Ben’s Cleanso.  Flash out – flash in.  And there you see it friends (Both shirts still badly stained)  Not a haip o’ the difference.

HAIP

haip = “wattle, sheaf or heap of straw etc.”
(Therefore – something small, or inconsequential)
And you thought that the word for H was going to be Benny HILL.

I took its meaning from context, but I had to wait for Al Gore to invent the Internet, and then wait some more until stable genius (Like Mr. Ed), Donald Trump perfected it, to meet its parents online.  I still haven’t, really.  I finally found one word-site which gave the definition, but only said that it was British dialect, and very rare.  It did not say what area dialect, although I suspect Northumbria/Yorkshire – up north, away from London and the universities, where the poor folk live.  If this word were coined in the US, it would be from Appalachia.

Helpful fellow-blogger and word-nerd Daniel Digby, just introduced me to wordhistories.net, a Frenchman living in Lancashire, who blogs about etymology.  At first I shook my head about a Frenchie in England but it makes as much sense as a Quebecois in Ontario.  It’s 300 miles from London to Paris, and 300 miles from Toronto to Montreal.  Perhaps he’s more successful wrestling search engines than I am.  When I get back from Merriam-Webster on Wednesday, we can have a few laughs.   😆

Tweets For Twits – Just Deserts Course

If you didn’t know yet, God is on Twitter.  He has a few more things to say about the human condition, which He takes no blame or responsibility for.

In an ideal scenario, the President of The United States, and the worst person in the world, would be two different people.

I genuinely can’t remember making you all this stupid.

To paraphrase me: Being gay is not a choice.
Being an asshole is.

America: Where a black man can’t take a knee on a football field for 30 seconds, but a cop can take a knee on his neck for eight minutes.

Most people who doubt a woman’s claim of assault, do NOT doubt that I had a son who rose from the dead.

You should not vaccinate your children – unless you are absolutely sure that you want them to live.

Next time, no people.

There is life in outer space, and it is intelligent, and that’s why it is staying far from you.

If gay people are a mistake, they’re a mistake that I’ve made hundreds of millions of times, which proves I’m incompetent, and cannot be relied on for anything.

The idea that you evolved from apes is disgusting.
Isn’t it nicer to believe that you all descended from one couple and their incestuous children??!

Just because Jesus died for your sins doesn’t mean that you should keep committing them, assholes.

THE FIVE STAGES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
Denial
Guilt
Depression
Acceptance
Drowning

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day.
Teach a man to fish and he’ll contribute to the global over-depletion of the oceans.
So give him a salad, maybe??!

The answer to the question, “Can people really be that stupid?” is always yes!

If you can’t get along with CANADA, you’re not human.

Standing up for what you believe in isn’t a virtue, if what you believe in is awful.

I am now the most unverified account on Twitter, and the biggest unverified entity in the Universe.

150 different species go extinct every day.
You keep not being one of them.

Six feet away, or six feet under.

I apologise for this virus interrupting the global catastrophe already in progress.

Saying “guns don’t kill people” is like saying “defibrillators don’t save people.”

Artificial Intelligence is not a threat to Humanity.  Natural stupidity is!

Somewhere in China, there’s a bat getting high-fives from every other animal he meets.

It’s only been a short time, but Steven Hawking has already proven, to My Face, that I don’t exist.

Fuck you!

Marriage is between a man and a woman – except gay marriage, obviously.

The people who call out my name Sunday morning aren’t as much fun as the ones who call it out Saturday night.

These are not His final words, just the last ones in this post.

Flash Fiction #283

PHOTO PROMPT © Jan Wayne Fields

THERE’S ONE IN EVERY JOCKSTRAP

Yeehaw!!  It’s Canada Day, and, as usual, the city was celebrating with a big Multicultural Festival in the downtown park.

Bruce had spent most of the afternoon sampling the food and drink – perhaps too much.  He approached another food truck.  “Gimme two crispy tacos.”

I tell yu befoe, we no sell tacos.  Yu go way now please.

Okay, okay, don’t get yer serape in a twist!  Gimme a chicken quesadilla.  You got any’a that Japanzie beer, Kirin, in one of them kegs?

We no sell beer.  We sell flowah.

Sir!  Park Security. Please come with us.  You need a rest.

***

If you’d like to join the fun with the Friday Fictioneers, just go to Rochelle’s Addicted to Purple site and use her Wednesday photo as a prompt to write a complete 100 word story.