Shelby Foote, the Mississippian who wrote a very readable history of the Civil War, describes the reaction of Southerners to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation on p (Continue Reading)
Pat’s Polemics
On-going brilliance
With both hands……..
05/04/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentAn ad popped up: Relieve stiffness…. etc. Hey! I need stiffness and whatever I have I’m holding onto with both hands!
A silly plot come true
04/29/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentA recent television series depicts a British Prime Minister who hires an international assassin to blow up a British ship so he can take credit (Continue Reading)
One solution
04/21/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentGiven the gradual turning of the U.S. population toward a non-White majority and its attendant racial strife, why not give free birth control devices to (Continue Reading)
Lost Cause Redux
04/21/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentThe Lost Cause is an affectionate term to refer to the “cause” of slavery. The Lost Cause was followed by The Fascist Terror State. The (Continue Reading)
Lest we forget……….
04/15/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentWe may find a figure rising above the turmoil of history to legendary status. All well and good as long as we see that figure (Continue Reading)
T Rex or T Redux?
04/09/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentThe word often is often pronounced with a t. The below citation from Dictionary.com explains:“HOW TO PRONOUNCE OFTENOften was pronounced with a t -sound until (Continue Reading)
Uncle Joe Stalin, Mary Trump’s Uncle Donald, your Uncle Harry
03/31/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentUncles have a bad reputation. They are blowhards. Their claims ring from the roof tops. Whether car stereos or nuclear medicine, they know all about (Continue Reading)
Imitation is the best form of acquisition
03/12/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentHave you ever noticed that when people are horsing around imitating an accent: Italain, Swedish, Japanese, Russian, Spanish, Chinese – you’re heard it many times (Continue Reading)
What to call it?
02/20/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentMost grammatical features are named by linguists so as to convey their function, e.g. conditional, inceptive, conative, concomitive, etc. The coinages are mostly based on (Continue Reading)
Know your preferred learning channel
02/19/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentI read a lot. When I want to learn a language, I read it. That works OK for me normally, but with Korean I am (Continue Reading)
Perfect example of the complexity of French grammar
02/15/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentExamining French grammar in light of my teaching my granddaughter French, I learned just how much the expression ‘one Xs’ dominates the verb paradigm. “on (Continue Reading)
Left or Right?
02/15/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentNo, not my politics; we know where they lie. It’s handedness. I’ve always known my handedness as “mixed dominance,” doing some things only with the (Continue Reading)
Going way out on a limb……….
02/02/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentIn a cave far up in the snowy reaches of the Himalayas I encountered a master who provided me with esoteric knowledge required for good (Continue Reading)
One of my mistakes in attribution….. to a language
01/17/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentVery popular in my grandmother’s household was Lawrence Welk. Corny or cheesy do not begin to describe him. Popular throughout a certain set does. He (Continue Reading)
Who designed the Viet Nam War Memorial?
01/01/2023 Pat Barrett Add CommentWhen Maya Lin was announced as the winning designer of the projected Viet Nam War Memorial, I am sure I read or heard that she (Continue Reading)
Weight gain and a new diet
12/30/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentYesterday, Dec. 29, 2022, I got the basis of my new diet started, heavy on meat and vegetables and fruit and nuts, light on cheeses (Continue Reading)
An old, old story……..
12/27/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentA couple looking for a place to stay in cold weather in a strange city on Dec. 24……….. we see it portrayed everywhere. The governor (Continue Reading)
Nyah II VR E 34 Oct. 16 2018 lesson 54
12/10/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentMoi, j’ai un mot nouveau. Les sciences en francais on dit l’informatique (computer science). Moi j’ai appris ce mot d’un ami. (here I guessed totally (Continue Reading)
Restart for Word of the Day
12/07/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentThis category has been sore neglected so when I came across a list of buzzwords I thought, “Hey! A trove! I can list one of (Continue Reading)
NyahII Oct 12, 2018 VR 33
11/16/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentQu’est-ce que vous etudiez a l’ecole? What? Study? (I write in marker) It’s not even the same color! Ce n’est pas le meme couleur? No. (Continue Reading)
catch up catch down
11/15/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentWord play. When I moved from Ohio to Arizona I found myself ahead of other students in school. I did that twice, fifth grade and (Continue Reading)
The Link Between Autocracy and Conservatism
10/20/2022 Pat Barrett Add CommentThe link is authority, the principle of authority. Conservative writings are replete with the citing of authority as essential to order and order they consider (Continue Reading)