OK, so the weekend is over already. I was busy working on a tomb. It's part of a set for a Christmas presentation. It is almost twenty feet long, nine feet high, and four feet wide. It has to be constructed so that three or four men can carry it without getting a hernia. And it has to look like a cave. Sometime this week I will take a photo of what I have so far. And then I will post progress photos, OK?
Now for the K word. I was tempted by KUKUI and KIKUYU. The first one is a really oily nut that grows in Hawai'i and the second is the name of one of the more dominant tribes in Kenya. But are you going to use either of those in conversation? Choosing a K-word is difficult because so many of them are foreign. The one that I chose is KEPI [kay-pee]. It's foreign, too, but you are sure to run across it if you work crossword puzzles. A képi is a round cap with a flat visor worn by the French military. (It actually comes from the same root as "cap.") The main reason I picked this word is due to its appearance in a wonderful poem by Jacques Prévert.
J'ai mis mon képi dans la cage
et je suis sorti avec l'oiseau sur la tête
Alors
on ne salue plus
a demandé le commandant
Non
on ne salue plus
a répondu l'oiseau
Ah bon
excusez-moi je croyais qu'on saluait
a dit le commandant
Vous êtes tout excusé tout le monde peut se tromper
a dit l'oiseau.
Translation:
I put my cap in the cage and went out with the bird on my head.
"Hey, are we no longer saluting?" asked the major.
"No, we are not saluting any more," answered the bird.
"Oh well, excuse me. I thought we were saluting," said the major.
"You are entirely excused. Anyone can make a mistake," said the bird.
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8 comments:
Cool poem!
I'm glad to know this word. Occassionally I get sucked into doing crosswords and my crossword dictionary contains all words guaranteed not to appear in any current puzzles.
~laffin~ you are a bigger nerd than us! Well, maybe not as big as spline guy (cause I do not understand not one word in his blog!).
WV= snehs
What a snake with a lisp says.
One day in July, when I was an undergraduate in Germany, I rode my bike through 4 lane traffic on my way to one of the university libraries. I wanted to see an original edition of the Brothers Grimm dictionary. The building must have been built before the reformation. It was big, old, and the floors were cold and shiny. I remember this because I was barefoot; I thought for sure they would kick me out. When I asked if I could see the dictionary, expecting to be told "come back when you have shoes on your feet" a librarian pointed me toward a shelf. There it was, right out in the open! For anyone to touch with bare hands! My favorite word that day? Biermoerder. (sorry, there should be an umlaut over the o) It means: a murder that's been commited for the sake of beer.
Great story, Patti! I can see why Biermöerder caught your attention. Only in Germany! FYI, you can make the umlaut "o" by depressing the Alt key and entering 0246.
Wow. What a cool story, Patti! (Impressed by anyone who can ride a bike barefoot. In traffic, no less.)
interesting word KE-PI glad you put the pronunciation as I read it as kep ee
which in Finnish kep pi means stick as in walking cane.
think I might remember this one. My mum in the UK loves crossword puzzles. When I visited her a couple of years ago, she tried to get my help but I'm really rusty!
Patti I loved your story too.Biermöerder -hope I don't need to use that word, but interesting too :)
blessings :)
NOW back to my Swedish studies. Help!!!
When do we get a new picture of something that is impossible for us to guess, Hibou?
David,
I got you in Mindy's magnet exchange. This is a fun way to get to know someone!
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