Little to report. A
blowy day. I had a nice bath. I didn’t go out. Perdita spent some time in the
kitchen with me – maybe the Feliway is kicking in. I got some knitting done,
and spent some time with The Crown. It continues to drag. I’m nearly up to the
famous Panorama interview.
One thing, though.
We’ve seen the initial stages of Diana’s affair with the heart surgeon Hasnat Kahn. She calls him “Dr Kahn”. Perhaps
for the benefit of Americans who might happen to watch? Surgeons here are not “Dr”
but “Mr”, and proud of it, and Diana would have known that. It’s a curious
anomaly which has (I am glad to say) never been ironed out. My appt at the
Royal Infirmary next month to talk about my hip is with a “Mr Macpherson”.
“Horribilis”: It’s
not a matter of church Latin here, but whether the first I is long or short.
(My husband grew up on church Latin too, Mary Lou, and stuck to it obstinately.)
With many words, longness or shortness can be determined by how they are used
in poetry, which has rigid rules. I don’t know what the evidence is, for “horribilis”.
It would be difficult to use it in poetry at all, if the first I is short (as
it is). That would make three shorts in a row. Maybe I will put some small effort tomorrow into finding out what the
evidence is for horribilis. .
Wordle: An odd
thing happened today. I went back to it at lunchtime and found the grid empty,
as if it were first thing in the morning. I typed in today’s answer, and got
credit for a hole-in-one. But my Current Streak had been reduced to one,
although I have not failed since the end of October. Has anything similar
happened to any of you?
I got it today (at
breakfast time, as usual) in five, my least favourite score. Daughter-Rachel
and Theo were with me. Granddaughter-Rachel, Alexander, Thomas and Ketki all
got four. Roger and Mark got three. Roger and my-sister-Helen are flying from
DC to London tonight. She says the weather there is blowy, too.
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ReplyDeleteI expect you are right about the American audience on the medical names. I've never been able to keep track of that in British books, and have to remind myself. I made it in 4 today, and if anyone is interested the Wordle Bot for NYT subscribers suggests SLATE as a favorite first word.
ReplyDeleteI would blame the producers rather than the audience.
ReplyDelete"Annus horribilis" could fit in a double dactyl, a form that uses anapests. However, they are generally silly and unsuited to the meaning.
ReplyDeleteGosh, I completely forgot that Church Latin is probably the link to the pronunciation of Plutarch, Caesar, etc. Even though I grew up hearing it every day. Duh! Chloe
ReplyDelete