Save the Words

The English language is changing everyday. We always talk about the new words that are being used, and the slang that is being introduced into our modern day dialect. The words we lost are never really acknowedged, and they deserve to be. I will obviously not be able to get to all of them, but here are a few that may tickle your fancy. We all know the word satisfaction and it is still in common use today, but you have probably never heard of satisdiction. Satisdiction is the act of saying enough. It occurrs when you are satisfied with what you said. In latin satis means "enough", and diction means "expression"; using the Latin roots you can see how satisdiction came to mean what it does. Nathaniel Ward said, "They desire not satisfaction, but satisdiction, whereof themselves must be judges." Another lost word is abecedarian, which is a name for one who teaches about the alphabet or pertaining to the alphabet. The word derives from latin, but is also made up from the first four letters of the alphabet respectively (ABeCeDarian). Now instead of saying abecedarians, we say Elementary School or lower level teachers. When you want to call someone stupid, you call them stupid, but years ago a simpleton or a fool would be called a ninnyhammer (Justin, I know you will enjoy calling people ninnyhammers if the opportunity arises!) There isn't much etimlogy of why this word came about, but in my opinion it sounds like something a Brit' would say. There are a lot of fun words that are no longer found in general English dialect, but should still be recognized. To take a look at more words like the ones above click here. Obscure words are cool, so don't forget about them!

Mia's Blog... Society's Impact

For the past month I have been reading news articles following the
Tayvon Martin homocide. For those of you who do not know, Martin was a
17 year old boy from Florida who was shot by a neighborhood watch man.
The point that has people talking was it is thought that Tayvon was
innocent and unarmed; he was only going to the corner store to buy
skittles and a bottle of iced tea (which were the only objects found
on his person). Not only does his innocent nature cause a riot, but
people believe he was targeted because he's an African American and
the watchman was hispanic.
The watchman made a call to the police announcing suspision of the
"coon"; a racist name. He was told to not follow through with the
suspect, but he did anyway. The watchman was not arrested.There is
much more detail to the story that you can read about here
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/03/trayvon-martin-case-timeline-of-events/.
I'm writing this blog for the purpose to emphasize the power of
society. Tayvon's parents have aquired about a million signitures
demanding the watchman's arrest and further investigation. The team
recieved many support on Twitter from celebrities like Justin Bieber,
and abc recieved 418 phone calls in one day so Tayvon's story is
heard. Sound familiar? (#TeamKevin).
Tayvon's family and us Knights are not the only people making an
impact on our government and social levels. Kony 2012 is also a video
virus infecting computers all over the world with a plea to help
America capture a child rapist/murderer in Africa. Our world has
changed with the advancement of technology. Now our voices can be
heard. These are just three examples of a few voices spreading
throughout the web for a good cause. It won't stop. We have entered an
age where the common people have a big voice and a way to unite for
justice.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xpnz9y_new-witness-911-tape-proves-tayvon-martin-attacked-george-zimmerman_news

Mia's Blog... "An English Takeover!"

A current issue being discussed by American officials is if English should be the official language of the United States. The bill was introduced about a year ago proposing the make English the official language on a federal level, instead of just an assumed standard. The controversy of this bill raised the voices of many different group for America is supposed to be the country for all back rounds to thrive, yet English is required in our education systems to be mastered.
I do not believe that America should have an “official language”. Yes, we are, for the most part, a country that speaks English; however, we are a new country of the world made up of the decedents of mostly European tongues. In order to function together in day to day life, a standard has been made to learn the universal language of English for proper communication and living. Many different races function within their own community, in America, who all speak the same language and when they need to communicate with the rest of America they are able to speak English for the most part. We teach our children, and those of immigrants, how to properly speak English so they can get by in the world communicating and forming their lively hood. This does not mean it should be stamped as our official language. America is the home of immigrants and opportunity. We are the most diverse country and, especially with the rise of bilingual citizens, we cannot be defined as one type of people. Yes, English is the most abundant first language spoken, but the numbers are not high enough to label the language officially as the Keeper of America. The determining of an official language will not change anything, it will only state an unspoken known. The world knows in America the universal language is English, yet the world also knows America is the land of many languages. The mixture and diversity leaves the people to have no choice but to learn this common word of English or about thirty percent of the citizens of America who are immigrants will be lost in this country. They and we are defined as Americans. This category, including thousands of different cultures and races, cannot be grouped in any other way. Countries across the sea also teach English in their school systems to prepare them for the possible migration to the Land of the Free for better communication. I feel like English is not the language of America, but the language of the world. America is the meeting point of cultures and interaction of multilingualism, representing the world as a whole. Our country represents all things free and universal, and labeling will not contribute but take away from this beautiful opportunity and essence.

How Mr. Carty came to be Mr. Carty.

There are many people in the United States, which also means there are many last names. Most of the time it is easy to see where last names come from i.e. Kilpatrick is Irish, von Steuben is German, and DiMaggio is Italian, but last names go deeper than that. Last names were often given to a person based on their line of work or their personality. John Smith may have started out as a black smith, and Dave Miller may have once been (yes, you guessed it) a miller. The last name Carty is predominantly Irish, but it's also an anglicized form of the Gaelic last name Ó Cárthaigh,which is a byname that means "loving". So Mr. Carty's ancestors were probably a very loving, Gaelic bunch. My last name, Hoffmann, has a little more history behind it. Hoffmann is a German/Jewish last name that was given to a farmer that owned his own land. It later evolved into a status name for a manager of a farm. The name evolved to become Jewish because many Jews held managerial positions on non-Jewish estates. My father is not currently a farm manager, but centuries ago I would have been working on a farm instead of working on this blog post. Another German surname is Drechsler. It is a varriant of Dressler which was a occupational name given to a turner (someone who makes small objects out of wood or other materials). The name Drechsler evolved into the standard German term for a wood turner. A nice Italian last name like Biasi goes back pretty far. It is a variant of the surname Biagi, which comes from the Latin, Blasius, which was a Roman family name, which was a byname for someone who had a speech or gait defect (from the Latin blaesus meaning 'stammering', or the Greek blaisos meaning 'bow-legged'). It is fun to learn where your family may have started out. Whether you are a loving Gaelic, a farm managing or wood turning German, or a stuttering, bow-legged Italian, you should be proud of where you came from. If you'd like to find out about your ancestors just Click Here .

Nathaniel Philbrick Interview

Nathaniel Philbrick is the author of, "Why Read Moby Dick". In the interview he tells us that Herman Melville's "Moby Dick" is his favorite book of all time. At one point in the interview he says we should all read it because, "it's as close to being our American Bible as we have." He talks about the chapters that often times veer away from the plot line to explain things like; the inner workings of the ship or to give a biology lesson on whales. Philbrick appreciates these breaks from the immediate story, and calls them, "wormholes of metaphysical poetry that are truly revelatory." He also goes on to explain how "Moby Dick" is a book that needs to be read after you have some life experience under your belt. You cannot fully appreciate the story if you've never seen or been through what the characters are experiencing. Philbrick says that Melville got some of his inspiration from meeting the writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and reading his material, which had a dark side that Melville would later come to use in the book. He was also inspired by the writing of William Shakespeare, and used similar language patterns in "Moby Dick". Philbrick states that, "the level of the language is like no other,". It was interesting to hear someone talk about "Moby Dick" and have more to say than, "Whale Ho" or "There she blows!". Philbrick is obviously very learned in this department and it was nice to listen to him speak about what he really loves.

A Generation of Potterheads!

Laugh all you want, but I am a complete Potterhead! A good amount of our generation grew up reading Harry Potter; it was what you looked forward too! Often times book series come to define some aspects of a generation. Whether you love the books, hate them, or have no strong feelings one way or the other you know about Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is a British genius! She came up with a multi billion dollar idea in a coffee shop. This idea spread all over the world, and the books were translated into over 60 different languages. People of all ages were living in the Harry Potter era. Many Twihards try to say that the Twilight series is as famous or more famous, but the fact is Harry Potter has done what no book series has done before. With seven books, eight movies, and a theme park, Harry Potter has caught the attention of the entire world. The effect of the Harry Potter series can be summed up in a scene from the fifth book, "The Order of the Pheonix". Ginny casts a spell, Reducto, and all of the prophecy balls come crashing down towards the gang. "It began somewhat faintly, gathered steam, built almost to a sense of the inevitable. All you could do was get out of the way." (Cited Work) It has come to a point where if you don't know about Harry Potter than you must have lived under a rock for the past 14 years. Harry Potter will be remembered for generations to come, but it is cool to be able to say that I was part of the original generation of PotterHeads!  I started reading them when I was in first grade and finished the last book the summer after seventh grade. Once I started reading the Harry Potter series, reading became a way of life for me. J.K. Rowling made reading fun and addicting. As the Potterhead generation grows up they will pass down the books to their kids, who will no doubt pass it down as well. Harry Potter is an era that shall not perish from this earth.

Like, Whatever...

Hallelujah! A nerd with a Scrabble t-shirt is finally sticking it to the slang speaking man! Taylor Mali is a quasi genius. He found a way to encourage people to speak with conviction, without having them fall asleep in the process. No one wants to be lectured about how they talk like a neanderthal, or how they don't sound like they believe in what they are saying. Mali uses humor to sneak in a real issue at hand. "it is not enough these days to simply QUESTION AUTHORITY. You have to speak with it, too. " How can anyone see you as a learned scholar, when you cannot complete a sentence without saying "like". I'm not trying to be a hypocrite, so I will admit to falling into the trap of modern day slang every so often. People like Mali remind me that I should rebel against the easy ways of modern slang, and return to proper Standard English. Some of the greatest leaders, like Martin Luther King Jr and Abraham Lincoln, were great leaders because of how they captured an audience with their conviction and tone. Mali mentions how our, supposed, declarative sentences no longer declare anything. "What has happened to our conviction?" Should we be okay with the fact that we like don't care about what we are like saying anymore? No, we should not be okay with that! We should all make a concerted effort to improve our conviction and our speaking tone in general. We shouldn't be talking in questions whenever we have a  conversation with someone. Let us all take what Taylor Mali said and keep it in our back pocket it for future reminiscing.