This expression presents complications in describing its origin. A posting on funtrivia.com by zbeckabee, observes that the word “skunk” originates from an Algonquian Indian word meaning “urinating fox,” and that the term “drunk as a skunk is “…simply a good example of our love of comparisons and rhyming…” Wikianswers.com complicates the explanation, “Check with any moonshiner about pulling drowned skunks out of his corn mash and you’ll know where it came from.” I did Internet searches to learn about moonshiners and skunks, and only found a reference to Al Capp’s “Lil Abner.” Two characters of that cartoon strip brewed up their spirits in a hidden still called the “Skunk Works.” I admit that I haven’t found a solid answer on the origin of this expression, and would welcome input to: fdsmhobbs@aol.com.
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies–Part II
Part one of the review of this book by Jared Diamond focused on the role of guns, germs and steel in the conquest of native peoples by invaders. This part focuses on the evolution of Europeans and Asians from being hunter-gathers to the domestication of wild plants and animals. The animals brought plentiful protein, and created the ability to farm much larger areas of land. Domestication of animals also brought the epidemic-causing germs, but the survivors developed immunity and grew to large populations supported by the ability to grow food. Technology advanced as people were freed from the continual search for food, more complex systems of government were developed, and armies could be formed, trained, and fed. Population densities increased, new lands were sought, germs were introduced to the new lands and caused marked reduction in the population of the natives who might not welcome the new settlers, and the well-armed settlers took over with the help of their armies.
I recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in horticulture, because there are detailed descriptions of the plants found in different areas of the globe, and how the Europeans and Asians had the advantage that they were able to domesticate plants that produced large grains with high levels of protein. Chapter 7, “How to Make an Almond,” describes how edible and harvestable foods evolved. The title refers to the fact that most almonds contain chemicals that make them too bitter to eat, but a non-bitter mutant was eventually domesticated. Many wild plants have specialized mechanisms to scatter seeds, and that prevented humans from being able to harvest them. A genetic mutation developed in some of the plants that prevented the seeds from being scattered. Humans harvested the seeds, ate some, planted some, and profited from the practice. Continue reading
Did Lincoln Really Free the Slaves?
I researched the question after learning why the tax deadline this year is April 18. CNNexplained that the “…bonus days come thanks to Emancipation Day, a little-known Washington, D.C. holiday that celebrates the freeing of the slaves in the district. The text of the Emancipation Proclamation (which is so famous in our history that it is capitalized) shows clearly that the Lincoln did not intend to free slaves except in parts of the country that were in rebellion. The proclamation very clearly did not free any slaves in Union states or areas in rebellious states that had been supportive of the Union. I recommend reading the lengthy proclamation at the link. The proclamation did not apply to 13 parishes of Louisiana, forty-eight counties of West Virginia, and seven counties of Virginia. It is stated those “…excepted parts are for the present left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.”
Lincoln had previously taken the position that he would free none of the slaves, all of the slaves or some of the slaves depending on which approach would help preserve the Union. The text of the proclamation makes it clear he settled on it idea of freeing some of the slaves. However, I was surprised to read one article at findarticles.com that takes the position he was completely indifferent to the issue of slavery. Lincoln was relaxing and in a good mood after winning reelection, and one visitor mentioned “the vexatious slavery matter.” Lincoln responded with “…the story of the Kentucky Justice of the Peace whose first case was a criminal prosecution for abuse of slaves. Unable to find any precedent, he exclaimed angrily, ‘I will be damned if I don’t feel sorry for being elected when the n…..s is the first thing I will attend to’.” (The author of the article refused to use elision in reporting his use of the offensive word, “Since Lincoln supporters are in a state of constant denial.”)
The author continues with his analysis of the Emancipation Proclamation that, “No other American story is so enduring. No other American story is so comforting. No other American story is so false.” The denial continues, “The testimony of sixteen thousand books and monographs to the contrary notwithstanding, it is not a real emancipation proclamation at all, and did not liberate African-American slaves.” John F. Hume, the Missouri anti-slavery leader, was said to have told Lincoln the proclamation “…did not…whatever it may have otherwise accomplished at the time it was issued, liberate a single slave.” Henry Clay Whitney “…said the Proclamation was a mirage and that Lincoln knew it was a mirage.” Secretary of State Henry Steward said the Proclamation was an illusion in which “we show our sympathy with the slaves by emancipating the slaves where we cannot reach them and holding them in bondage where we can set them free.”
What the proclamation did accomplish was change how history views the Civil War. It was said after the proclamation and continues to be said today that the Civil War was fought to free the slaves
For skeptics or those who are astonished by the information, I suggest an Internet search using the title of this posting. There are several references that provide the same information, although most are written with more understanding about the difficulty of what Lincoln needed to do as President and Commander-In-Chief. I did find it interesting that there are several mentions that Lincoln was convinced whites and blacks could never live together as equals, and his solution was resettling freed blacks in Africa and Latin America in a process he called “colonization.”
Boondoggles
I thought this to be an appropriate time to post this description, because I recently posted a four part review of a book about FDR. The term Boondoggles became well known as the result of one of Roosevelt’s signature programs, the Works Program Administration (WPA), during the Great Depression. A man hired to teach crafts in the WPA told a Senate committee he taught “Boon Doggles.” When asked to explain he said, “Boon doggles is simply a term applied to the pioneer days to what we call gadgets today…” The New York Times published an article on April 4, 1935 describing how millions were being spent teaching the jobless to play by making “boon doggles.” The term evolved into “boondoggle,” and was applied to anything that involved useless, wasteful, or trivial work. The term apparently originated with scouts making decorations for their lanyards. Worldwidewords notes that the term was first mentioned in print in Punch August 14, 1929, “The chief scout has recently been presented…with a Degree, and by the scouts of America with a boondoggle.”
Good as Gold
This expression refers to someone or something that is dependably trustworthy. The Phrase Finder reports that the simile originated with banknotes that included promises of redemption in gold or silver. The U.S. government can print money today that has no such precious metal backing, and that money is no longer “as good as gold.” The simile was first recorded in Thomas Hood’s Lost Heir in 1845, “Sitting as good as gold in the gutter.” Perhaps there is irony about the lack of intrinsic value of money printed today and the reference to the gutter in that statement.
Gun, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies–Part I
This book by Jared Diamond published in 1997 won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. I don’t often open a review by arguing with the author about the title, but I prefer the one that had the subtitle, “A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years.” It is an excellent book that deserved awards. It is easy to read, although I caught myself skimming in some sections where the author was describing, as an example, lengthy lists of food-producing plants. This part will focus on the role of guns, germs, and steel in the conquest of many native peoples.
The Prologue is titled “Yali’s Question, The regionally differing courses of history.” The author explains that New Guineans had tens of thousands of years of history and were still using stone tools when the Europeans showed up with all manner of manufactured goods, including steel axes. New Guineans called all those goods “cargo.” Yali was a New Guinean politician who inquired, “Why do white people have so much cargo, but we New Guineans have so little?” The Europeans used their superior technology to impose a centralized government and dominate the New Guineans, who they considered to be primitive. Yali’s question is mentioned often in the author’s quest to understand how Europeans and Asians were able to dominate original occupants of many lands, such as Native Americans, despite having no genetic superiority. Continue reading