Friday, January 12, 2018

The verb galvanize is an eponym.  It derives from the name of Italian physician and physicist Luigi Galvani (1737-1798).  The word is used with two very different meanings:  galvanize--to apply a protective metallic coating to an underlying piece of metal; galvanize--to stir into life, as with an electric shock.  The idea of stirring into life was the original meaning.  Read more and see graphics at http://americanenglishdoctor.com/wordpress/galvanize/ See also https://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/eponyms/eponym_list_g.html

In Norway prior to the 1860s families did not use fixed surnames.  They used a patronymic pattern in which children were named after their father.  Hence, John Andersen = John, the son of Anders.   Mari Andersdatter = Mari, the daughter of Anders.  Anders himself would be named Anders Olafsen = Anders, the son of Olaf.  The full family unit could include Anders Olafsen (father), Mette Evensdatter (mother), John Andersen (son) and Mari Andersdatter (daughter).  Mette Evensdatter will not have a name corresponding to her husband.  But don’t be confused if a female has the male “-sen” name ending, however:  it means the same thing, and is more common in recent translations or reference works.  In the early decades, names were inconsistently used, which depended on whether the other party was Norwegian.  By the 1880s and later, families began to settle on a hereditary surname.  They were to some degree emulating the upper classes in Norway, who often already had hereditary family names that derived from titles of nobility or were of foreign origin.  In choosing a name, they would choose among four categories for their permanent surname:  patronymic, place namesoccupations, or characteristic names.  Read much more at  http://norwegianridge.com/2011/07/10/understanding-norwegian-naming-patterns/

 The University of Delaware wants to go back in time—back to the days when rows of stately elms stood as emblems of an enviable campus beauty, shading students between classes and draping The Green with a comforting air of seclusion.  Now, after steadily vanishing over the past few decades, the broad-canopy elms are returning, thanks to an ongoing effort to honor the vision of UD’s original landscape designers.  In all, 11 of the beloved trees are being planted this fall along the North Green—some of them plugging gaps where UD’s original elms had been felled by disease or construction projects; others as replacements for a substitute tree called the zelkova that never quite rose to expectations.  The new elms, a cultivar known as ‘Princeton,’ are resistant to the Dutch elm disease that gradually killed many majestic American elm trees in the latter part of the 20th century—only two still stand on the North Green. In time, the elms will more faithfully emulate the “canopy” effect envisioned by Frank Miles Day and Mari an Cruger Coffin, the original designers of The Green and its surroundings.  http://www1.udel.edu/udmessenger/vol25no3/stories/campus-elms.html


If English was an easy language to understand, the word itself would be pronounced ENG-lish rather than ING-lish as we do.  Pronouncing C:  S in cease or K in calm.  Pronouncing S:  S in silent or Z in easy.  Silent letters:  b (comb), c (muscle), d (Wednesday),  g (reign), h (hour), k (knight), p, (receipt) t (whistle), w (wrist)  See also https://mywords.cle.ust.hk/sir/silent_words.php

LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a leading provider of data, analytics and technology, exhibits  at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), showcasing its telematics solutions with Mitsubishi Motor Corporation and JVC Kenwood.  Executives from LexisNexis Risk Solutions will be on hand to discuss their solution with Mitsubishi and other auto OEMs as part of the growing LexisNexis telematics exchange Jan. 9– Jan. 12, 2018 in Las Vegas  https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lexisnexis-telematics-brings-connected-car-innovation-and-oem-capabilities-to-2018-consumer-electronics-show-ces-300579082.html  Thank you, Muse reader!

From the Gilded Age until 1914, more than 100 American heiresses invaded Britannia and swapped dollars for titles--just like Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, the first of the Downton Abbey characters Julian Fellowes was inspired to create after reading To Marry An English Lord by Gail MacColl and Carol Wallace  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/618822.To_Marry_an_English_Lord

Brilliantly evoking the long-vanished world of masters and servants portrayed in Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs, Margaret Powell's classic memoir of her time in service, Below Stairs:  The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir by Margaret Powell and Leigh Crutchley is the remarkable true story of an indomitable woman who, though she served in the great houses of England, never stopped aiming high.  Powell first arrived at the servants' entrance of one of those great houses in the 1920s.  As a kitchen maid--the lowest of the low--she entered an entirely new world; one of stoves to be blacked, vegetables to be scrubbed, mistresses to be appeased, and bootlaces to be ironed.  https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11966836-below-stairs

The Darkest Hour is a 2011 science fiction thriller film directed by Chris Gorak and produced by Timur Bekmambetov.  It depicts an alien invasion.  The film stars Emile HirschMax MinghellaOlivia ThirlbyJoel Kinnaman and Rachael Taylor, as a group of people caught in the invasion.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Darkest_Hour_(film)

Darkest Hour is a 2017 British war drama film directed by Joe Wright and written by Anthony McCarten.  It stars Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill, and follows his early days as Prime Minister, as Hitler closes in on Britain during World War II.  The film also stars Ben MendelsohnKristin Scott ThomasLily JamesStephen Dillane, and Ronald Pickup.  The film had its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on 1 September 2017, and also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.  Gary Oldman's performance was lauded, with many critics noting it as one of the best of his career; he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for his work.  At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the film received nine nominations, including Best Actor in a Leading Role for Oldman and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Scott Thomas.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darkest_Hour_(film)

What’s Fact and What’s Fiction in Darkest Hour by John Broich

Dear Quote Investigator: Here are two versions of stirring words that are often attributed to the well-known statesman Winston Churchill:
Success is never final and failure never fatal.  It’s courage that counts.
Success is not final; failure is not fatal.  It is the courage to continue that counts.  
I have never seen a source for this saying, and I suspect Churchill never said it.  What do you think?
Quote Investigator: There is no substantive evidence that Churchill made this remark.  The saying is listed in the comprehensive quotation collection “Churchill by Himself” in a special appendix called “Red Herrings: False Attributions”.   Richard Langworth, the editor of “Churchill by Himself”, has a website with a webpage indicating that the saying above has been misattributed. 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1825  January 12, 2018  On this date in 1895, The National Trust was founded in the United Kingdom.  On this date in 1908, a long-distance radio message was sent from the Eiffel Tower for the first time.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January_12
Word of the Day  upcycle  verb  transitive) To convert (waste materials, etc.) into new materials or products of higher quality and greater functionality.  (transitive)  To promote into a more productive or useful role.  Wiktionary

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