“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse wh0 re. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” James Nicoll
My daughter and my in-laws are Aussies. When my wife and I lived in Melbourne, I tried to get my son-in-law and my wife’s niece’s husband to explain the sport to me. After several tries over a period of years, we all agreed it was hopeless. My son-in-law is a quantum physicist. He can explain the properties of the quantum state to me better than he can cricket. But then, ‘spooky action’ and ‘quantum entanglement’ seem to make more sense than cricket.
I agree about Wallace’s mom (his dad is pretty cool, too). I can’t keep a flashlight. The LED bulbs, which are supposed to last a lifetime, burn out soon after I get them. I’m assuming the ‘lifetime’ in question is that of the bulb (it sure isn’t the lifetime on anything else). Therefore, I have to use the flashlight (or ‘torch’) on my phone, just like Wallace’s mom does.
I also write books (sci-fi novels). The research has forced me to keep on learning despite my advancing age (72). I usually have at least five books going at one time in addition to the research I do online. If I don’t have something to read, I get nervous.
My dad also joined the Army Air Corps, but he fought the battle of Texas, pushing recruits off of towers and out of airplanes. He did get to fly P-39s and trained as a belly gunner on the bombers, but they never sent him overseas. My mom fought the battle of Detroit, building those bombers.
“The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse wh0 re. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.” James Nicoll