Summer Fun: Ceud Mile Fàilte!

We crossed off "go to a cultural festival" from our list today as we attended the local Scottish Games, for the third time (see 2009 and 2012.) And this was the best weather yet!!  Not sweltering and sauna like, but dry and breezy, which was actually the determining factor in our getting up to go this morning.   All the vendors and participants commented on the great weather.

Like years past, one of the highlights was the food:  fish and chips, Scotch eggs, Haggis puff, steak and ale pie, shortbread, and frozen lemonade.  Alas, no delicious Empire biscuits, but there were some really good Welsh teacakes, if you don't mind the cultural cross-over.

Similarly, we enjoyed hearing all the bagpipes and watching some of the dance competitions, this year seeing the Sailor's Hornpipe dance, which is performed in sailor suits and includes movements mimicking rope pulling, swaying on deck, and other sailorly things (apparently, some places say only sailors can perform it!  And it dates back to the 16the century; even Captain Cook encouraged the dancing of it for exercise.)

We missed the caber toss, but I did take a Gaelic lesson!  From a man who majored it in at a Scottish university.  Talk about a challenging language.  Verbs are in the beginning of sentences, nouns have gender, there is no simple "yes" or "no", pronunciations are hard or soft based on dipthongs and the addition of an "h" changes everything, and prepositions conjugate!  I won't repeat the lesson here, as I barely followed it (spoken languages aren't my forte.)  But I did learn that "sláinte," or "cheers" is pronounced slanch-e.  It was fun, but I don't think I'll be pursuing it.

Sis visited all the clan tents, earning a little treat, while Bud most enjoyed buying pickled onions and Jelly Babies from the vendors.  I picked up Maw Broon's Afternoon Tea Book, which seems to have interesting commentary and a style that resembles a scrapbook.  I think Maw Broon is a cartoon character (ah yes, since 1936, apparently.)

On the grounds of an old estate, which partly reminded of us of our hotel in Winchester (but smaller)

I love a pipe band.

Trying hads at a harp

In the magic tree

We finished the day listening to Mac'Talla Mor while Sis climbed around inside the wonderful magical old tree with numerous trunk offshoots undulating around the ground, all enclosed by the voluminous leafy branches.  You could almost believe you'd be transported to Brigadoon through there!

Family Lexicon

1. What do you call that long sandwich filled with meats and cheeses?
2. How do you refer to a fizzy drink in a can?
3. What kind of food has the brand-name Manwich?

Depending upon where you live, you'll answer those questions differently (and if you are in England, you might not even know that last one.)  Recently, the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) was completed, after more than 50 years (see here for 100 of their entries, including Adam's house-cat and mulligrubs).  It got me thinking about my own family's peculiar words and expressions, both regional and personal, some of which I've chronicled below, a few of which I was shocked to find in the 100 entries.  Interestingly, I believe Pop coined many of them and I don't think the Hungry family has made up any new ones. Yet.

• swazu--an unplanned side trip, with connotations of fun, exploration, and freedom
• tump--to turn/dump over (I think this is mainly on the Texas coast)
• "calf-rope"--a cry to cease and desist, like "uncle," in children's games (in DARE!)
• "le ruse to catch meddlers"--temptations
• fixin'--getting ready to
• "a chicken's gonna sit on your lip"--the only response to pouting!
• Yahooti (spelling uncertain)--the house elf/creature that causes mischief like missing socks or misplaced items
• cattywampus--the characteristic of being in disarray (i.e. "the sheets are all cattywampus!")
• epizootus--illness
• nor'ther--thunderstorm heading south
• lagniappe--something extra, in a positive way (also in DARE)
• "Christmas Gift!"--the equivalent of "Merry Christmas" said as a greeting on Christmas morning (also in DARE)
• "love you like a rock"--hard, strong, stable, indestructible, forever
• "alligator gets the baby"--a game a friend of my dad's came up with one summer, kinda like chase (Aunt Banana was "the baby.")
• "slide for life"--a game the same friend came up with one summer, metaphor about taking risks
• "family fun at its finest"--ironic.
• "Phi Beta Papa"--declaration of Pop's intelligence, practicality, or resolution of something challenging
• "nicest time of the day"--dusk; a quiet reflection on the day
• "Bammie's cruise"--a boat ride across the bay, around, and back, best at the "nicest time of the day"
• "FW"--a prostitute of French persuasion, used as an adjective to describe perfume, clothing, decor that is rich, opulent, tawdry
• "That's a baby."--when you don't know what else to say (esp. because of the Golden Rule!)
• "Guess Who?"--the usual way to sign a greeting card to a loved one, started by my paternal granddad
• "Championship!"--like "cool" or "great"; I think this originated with that same friend of my dad's, whose nickname actually was Champ.

-=-=-=-=-
I would say:

1. A sub or sometimes a hero.  (And I just don't get the use of "grinder" here in CT.)
2. A soda (I grew up calling it a Coke, regardless of the flavor.)
3. A sloppy joe.

Murphy

"Murph," Sis groans, stretching out the syllables.

"Murph!" Sis punctuates the air, excited or annoyed.

"Murph, Murph," Sis says affirmatively.

It's her all-purpose word, both good and ill, clear through context and delivery.

Where did she get it?  Mama.  Mama copying our cat, Morgan, who would "murph" when hassled.  Mama thought it was funny and would poke him sometimes, then would copy him to the kids.  Sis has now made it her own.

Homonyms

Bud proudly announced, "Mommy, my favorite thing starts with my favorite letter: Night!"

Except the poor boy isn't nocturnal. He's medieval.

And so came another iteration of my lecture, "How English is an Odd Language."

I spelled "knight" and "night" on the big kitchen chalkboard, then pointed to the chalked words "ate" and "eight" from a few days earlier.

Homonyms.

We talked about how English came to be odd--just like America with its diverse multicultural, multinational populace, English is a combination, a linguistic melting pot, full of words from other languages. Of course, now they're going to think English was invented in America, but I can cross that bridge later.

And Bud spent the rest of the day coming to me with more "sounds the same, spelled differently":

Hear and here.

See and sea.

Eye and I.

Not too shabby for a boy who can't read or spell.