This Scottish badger is sad because it (and its friends) have eaten all the peanuts and peanut butter. The people who run the hide were experimenting to see whether badgers like raspberries. Turns out, they don’t.
Daily photo: sad badger
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Monthly Archives: December 2013
Vernacular Spectacular #13: “bachelorette party” vs. “hen’s night”
Outside the long-running reality series, one doesn’t hear the word “bachelor” used to refer to unmarried men that often anymore, and hardly ever has an unmarried woman been referred to as a “bachelorette” (“spinster” skipping straight to “single woman”). Consequently, in the US, the only time in her life a woman might be called a “bachelorette” may be at the party to celebrate how she’s about to get married.
“Bachelorette party” sounds red-faced and boozy, and so captures the contemporary prototype pretty well. Hen’s night brings chickens into it. I get that they are female chickens and that it’s sort of like the counterpart of stag night, only instead of virile deer frolicking about there’s a bunch of clucking. Hen’s night is unequivocally the classier term, and sounds like something for which it’s perfectly fine to bring mum.
Jeremy’s winner: Continue reading
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They should have got this girl to sign Mandela’s memorial service:
Here’s a bikie gang I might be interested in joining.
Finally:
Beckie reads Six-Gun Snow White by Catherynne Valente
Why did you read this book? I loved The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, and Wild West Snow White seemed like a fun premise
Has Jeremy read it? Yes
42 word review: Snow White in the wild West. Darker and less whimsical than I was expecting. Beautiful writing with creative turns of phrase that were fun to read aloud. Imaginative reinterpretation of the fairy tale elements. Not perfect, but I’m having trouble remembering flaws.
Overall rating: 4 tame foxes (out of 5)
Daily photo: lynx
The Louisiana swamp section of the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans was fantastic.
Jeremy listens to Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
Why did you read this book? We bought it for Beckie to read aloud while I drove us around New Zealand. We had such success on the last car trip with The Basic Eight. I think this came up on Amazon as recommended for people who liked that book. (But, the whole thing with the Basic Eight is that it was often funny. While the protagonist Vera Dietz is witty, the tone of the book is more melancholic throughout.
Has Beckie read it? Yes. Maybe I should be skipping this question for Beckie-Read-Alouds.
42 word review: High-school girl (literally) haunted by guy who was best friend, turned mean, then died. Best parts: protagonist’s voice, relationship with ex-alcoholic-now-workaholic father. Plot sometimes relies on characters’ actions that make little sense; doesn’t quite come together at end.
Overall rating: 3 zippo-lighters (out of 5)
Daily photo: hibernating butterflies
Monarch butterflies spend their winter hibernating at Pacific Grove, California.
Vernacular Spectacular #12: “kiwi” vs. “kiwifruit”
Apparently the kiwi used to be known as the Chinese gooseberry, and it was due to fear of communism and the Vietnam War that folks in the United States and Australia went along with the New Zealand rebranding of calling it “kiwi.” At least this is what we were told last month when we visited the Tropical Fruit Museum.
Kiwi is a great word; among the cutest of all fruit names. And yet, it’s a cuteness borne of jingoistic hysteria and racism. So, we have not just a frivolous comparison of words but a full-fledged moral dilemma. Also, the name “kiwi” only flies because Americans are ignorant of the bird, and it also leads Americans to think New Zealanders are called “kiwis” because of the fruit rather than the bird.
Jeremy’s winner: Continue reading
Daily photo: Verdon Gorge
We spent a fun hour on a pedal boat at Verdon Gorge, France.
Vernacular Spectacular #11: “debit” vs. “EFTPOS”
What an ugly acronym, EFTPOS. I think it stands for Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale. (This is correct: although I dislike the acronym so much that it took me a few moments just now to muster to type it into Google to confirm.)
Or something, I can’t even bring myself to care enough to Google it.
“Credit or debit?” is a cute little close-of-transaction phrase. “Debit” sounds like it should be a diminutive form of “debt,” which is charming although I guess also incorrect since the point is exactly that you are using your own money to make the purchase rather than somebody else’s.
Jeremy’s winner: Continue reading