Hola! I have been learning Spanish, and Busby has been thinking about languages.
Busby says, “Yes. I have long been aware that, not only am I a little dog, but I am also un petit chien and ein kleiner Hund. Now it seems, I am also un perrito. Apparently, though, I am reliably informed that a dog by any other name would smell as doggy.”
We were surprised to discover that Busby might have distant relatives in Spain. See what you think about the Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz, click on the link below.
We have been testing out our knowledge of dog breeds, and you can too, here’s the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/games/ntt-dogs-quiz
These are Ratonero Bodeguero Andaluz puppies. There is definitely something familiar about these little ones!
CC BY-SA 3.0
We have been listening to this podcast – it’s a few minutes a day and usually a good listen. Busby’s vocabulary has improved no end.
If you enjoy language, you might also like it too. The Word of the Day podcast is produced by a Merriam-Webster dictionary team of experts and is also available as an email to your inbox. https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day
We have been finding out about mondegreens and eggcorns…
We have all done it, misheard something, generally a song lyric, and given it a new meaning. This is a mondegreen. Just mishearing a word or slightly changing a phrase is an eggcorn.
But where do these terms come from?
Above image by DALLE of Lady Mondegreen, or should that be laid him on the green?
Older readers can find out in this article, here: https://www.merriam-webster.com/word-matters-podcast/episode-96-eggcorns-mondegreens-and-spoonerisms
We have been revisiting my own contribution to the world of mondegreens.
At primary school, I believed that God had a new name: Hallowedda. Listen here to find out why.
It has been a very rainy August here, and we have been struck by the relevance of this poem. I liked its message, and Busby grew interested at the mention of (table) tennis.
SPELL AGAINST INDIFFERENCE
by Maria Popova
The rain falls and falls
cool, bottomless, and prehistoric
falls like night —
not an ablution
not a baptism
just a small reason
to remember
all we know of Heaven
to remember
we are still here
with our love songs and our wars,
our space telescopes and our table tennis.
Here too
in the wet grass
half a shell
of a robin’s egg
shimmers
blue as a newborn star
fragile as a world.
We have been listening to this piece of music, Earthly Heaven, by Rachel Grimes.
It was part of our music guru, Clemency Burton-Hill’s, selection for August from her book, Another Year of Wonder. This wonderful book has opened up many musical doors for me, and for Busby, that I didn’t even know were there.
Thank you…
everyone who has signed up to follow this blog. Every time we see a new name, I feel great and Busby feels (p)awesome.
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