It
seems the word "cranky" did not arrive on the scene until automobiles were
invented. When a balky motor was hard to start, requiring extra cranking, it was
called cranky, among other epithets. I'm not sure how the word applies to women.
A "buck moon" occurs in July when the new antlers
on a buck deer begin to emerge from the velvet casing provided by nature to protect
the new growth of antlers.
The "dog days of summer"
has nothing to do with dogs on Earth. The term comes from the fact that, from
July 3 to August, the sun occupies the same region of the sky as Sirius the Dog
Star.
"Dinky Donkeys," or miniature Sardinian
donkeys, were brought to the U.S. in the 1920s by New York stockbroker Robert
Green. They now number into the thousands, making great pets, due to their mild
disposition. Miniature equines, or little horses, date to Renaissance times, arriving
in the U.S. in 1888 as a small Shetland horse named Tum Tum.
Look into
almost any farmer or rancher's closet and you will find Carhartt overalls
or coveralls. The durable work clothes date to the 1880s, when Hamilton Carhart
traveled from rail station to rail station selling his work wear to railroad workers.
Now selling globally, and with an T added to the name, the company with 4,200
employees remains a family-owned enterprise.
Where did the name for the
Canadian
River originate? Take your pick. Some believe it came from early
French traders from Canada on a hunting expedition. One historian wrote in 1929
that, later, French explorers named it while camped where the river runs into
the Arkansas River.
Other believe the word is of Spanish origin, derived
from the word "canada," meaning canyon. This is because much of the river runs
through deep canyons.
A mule is an equine with
long ears. A flop-eared mule has ears that sometimes flop to the side when relaxed.
A lop-eared mule has shorter-than-natural ears. A notch-eared mule has an earmark
cut into the ear like earmarks for cattle. A gotch-eared mule has ears that have
been injured and aren't natural.
It seems like there was a "drug
problem" in the old days after all. The Alanreed Coffee Shop conversation brought
this out recently. One man stated he was "drug to church, to weddings and funerals
when he was young." Another said he was "drug to the woodshed about once a week
to get his rear warmed up for disobedience, telling a fib or not saying 'yes sir'
or 'no ma'am.' "
The third man said he was "drug to the kitchen sink occasionally
to wash out his mouth for cussing, to wash his neck and ears or to take a dose
of Swamp Root medicine to clean out the rust and barnacles from his intestines
after a long hard winter."
Those drugs must still be in their systems:
They faithfully adhere to those lessons today.
© Delbert Trew
"It's All Trew" December
15, 2009 Column
E-mail: trewblue@centramedia.net. |
