What to do with a long Sunday? I can say with all confidence that I would be out riding the long miles on a hot morning, then maybe a dip in the sinks and a visit to the flea market for a bag of greens and some sweet potatoes. Now is that rumored downtime the busy long for, time unspoken for and time unscheduled.
Perhaps some light scrapbooking followed by watching the cat eat the tiget balm?
Maybe a little browsing at JoAnne's Fabrics followed by a good cry?
I know what will not be happening. There will be no bathroom painting, soccer watching, or folding of laundry. The three of those activities share a common thrill level for me.
Let's try a different approach with this particular blog post since it is going so poorly. I will propose two simple questions and see if you can help me with either.
First, it has come to my attention over the years that fruits, nuts, and vegetables that must be peeled are commonly said to grow in groves, while for those that you eat the skins right from the tree or bush are said to grow in orchards. Why?
Secondly, I accidentally listened to some baseball talk on the radio and these people mentioned someone throwing a no-hitter game although they clearly described players hitting the ball. If people hit the ball how come they call it a no-hitter? And is it a hyphenated thing or is it "no hitter?"
Thanks for any clarity on these important issues.
Juancho
20 comments:
First, it has come to my attention over the years that fruits, nuts, and vegetables that must be peeled are commonly said to grow in groves, while for those that you the skins right from the tree or bush are said to grow in orchards. Why?
Because we like words. Words are nice. :)
I have no idea about either of your questions. I did, however, learn something from the radio the other day which is that male ants have two purposes on this earth which are to have sex and to die.
You could ponder this for weeks.
I just had a funny vision of you two commentating a baseball game.
Baseball? What's baseball? ;)
So far that's exactly how I pictured it going.
Like a Christopher Guest movie.
"This pitcher has a hard time focusing late in the game out of his inferior P function."
You got that wrong. If he's got an inferior P function, he probably CAN focus! ;)
I considered that darn it!
Now you've got a project for the summer -- becoming an expert on type talk. ;) Sorry to have hijacked BRC. ;)
Hry, this is the most traffic around here in ages.
I believe it's hyphenated (no-hitter), and it's called that because the batter did not make it to first base from his own doings (Hitting the ball).
yep, a no-hitter is a game that registers no runners on base from hits, i.e. the baseballs that were hit end up in gloves and the batter is out.
I'm on the Orchard/Grove question but if I remember correctly, it has to do with the Cold War; or maybe with the Normans and the year 1066. We'll see.
and yep again,
Looking further I found that Grove comes to us from Old English purely while Orchard comes to us through Old English by way of Old French and ultimately Latin. Grove is defined as "woods" and Orchard is defined originally as "thicket" and both interpreted either way at different times.
This is similar to why we have pork and pig, beef and cow, and why we have many similar doubles in our language: the Frenchies. The Norman Conquest of England added an extra layer of befuddled Latin, called Old French, to an already somewhat Latin-influenced Old English.
Citrus seems to be the identifying difference between Orchard and Grove but only in American English. There is no rule, just depends on how silly you'd like to sound bucking the system.
That guy on the rollable(!) nail cart smokes a gang of weed. Don't kid yourself.
Thanks Rev. Once again I am doing it wrong.
And now Magnum, the conspiracy runs much deeper than citrus. Consider the evidence-
Grove: Walnut, Pecan, Banana, Avocado, Coconut, Mango.
Watermelon grows in a patch though, so maybe ground crawlers don't count.
Orchard: Cherry, Peach, Apple, Blueberry...
WHY?? We Must know. Nobody in their right mind would ever say "coconut orchard or apple grove." Dig deeper. I believe the Freemasons are involved, but you didn't hear it from me.
And I can' overlook the obvious that a no-hitter involves a few hits so they need to change the name.
a hit in baseball is defined by the hitter getting to base. that doesn't happen in a no hitter. Believe me; baseball is extra super boring during a no hitter.
Nut plantations are the exception in American English, just as when we describe the olive "groves" in Italy (the word "grove" does not have a partner in the Romance languages). The Banana, mango, avocado, and coconut have never truly been an American English product, so those are exceptions based on geography (Mi'ami and Hawai'i don't count).
Fight me if you must, but I will put a rear-naked choke hold on your etymology issues; you're gonna need a lot more Vicodin to deal with this whirlygig of whoopass!
That's all smoke and mirrors broheem! And if baseball can change what words mean (hit) then they need to go ahead and call the ball a chicken.
oh yeah sure, and name the wood you hit the chicken with after some flying rodent? Not likely.
omg you're right! Nothing makes sense now. Nothing!
Perhaps I could concede that baseball or BIG BASEBALL is lazy, but we already knew that.
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