quote "end quote"

     Something I actually saw in print, that took a moment to decipher--"blah blah quote blah blah and quote". I don't remember the author's name, or the name of the publication.  What the author should have typed was--"blah blah".  Nothing more. The writer must have taken this from an audio source, such as might be used by a reporter phoning in a story, or dictating a story into a recorder for later transcription  In order to let the person hearing the tape ( or call ) know which words were a quotation ( the words of someone other than the author ), the speaker said "quote" to denote the beginning of the quotation, and "end quote" to denote the end of the quotation. Quotation marks are always used in pairs--one set at the beginning, one at the end. By placing words in quotation marks, the author indicates that the words were said, or written, by someone else. The words within the quotation marks should be faithfully rendered, and their source identified.


Example--Marie Antoinette supposedly said "let them eat cake", when told that the peasants had no bread.

a poem

 Cacoethes Scribendi


If all the trees in all the woods were men;
And each and every blade of grass a pen;
If every leaf on every shrub and tree
Turned to a sheet of foolscap; every sea
Were changed to ink, and all earth's living tribes
Had nothing else to do but act as scribes,
And for ten thousand ages, day and night,
The human race should write, and write, and write,
Till all the pens and paper were used up,
And the huge inkstand was an empty cup,
Still would the scribblers clustered round its brink
Call for more pens, more paper, and more ink.

Oliver Wendell Holmes

medieval problems

     In medieval times, a king might have a problem with a noble subject. The noble subject--a duke, count or earl, for example--had access to travel, and perhaps a relationship with another royal house or government. This was particularly true in England, where many of the nobles had relatives among the French nobility. If the British king attempted to chastise a British noble, the noble might appeal to the French king, in hopes that he could exert pressure and the dispute would be settled in favor of the British noble, instead of the British king. It became such a problem that Britain passed a statute  ( law ) expressly forbidding this type of  appeal to a foreign power--the "Statute of  Praemunire". Subjects of the king of England were forbidden to bypass British courts to appeal to a foreign power, including the pope at Rome. England took the first step toward being a truly sovereign nation, instead of a nation ruled by a king who was actually a vassal of the pope.

a house organ

     A "house organ" is the newspaper or newsletter of a business, a corporation, or another organization. The house organ is published for the employees of the business or organization. It has news about promotions, hiring, employment policies, and projects. The house organ may be published weekly, monthly, or even daily, if there is a lot of news to share.
      Other newspapers and magazines you won't find at a newsstand are published by colleges and universities. A college or university may have a daily, weekly or monthly newspaper. It may also have a separate publication sent to alumni.
     Unions also publish newsletters or other periodicals. So do charities, political parties, hobbyists, trade and professional groups, among others.
     The internet has made it possible to stumble upon these publications. Even libraries had trouble trying to list them all without the internet.

abbreviations

     You may see these letters at the end of a letter or email, or even in the body of an article or comment--


p.s. stands for post script. It is written at the bottom of a letter after the writer has signed off. The p.s. indicates an afterthought; something that was added after the letter was written.

n.b. stands for nota bene. Nota bene is Latin for pay attention, or make sure to notice this. It may be added at the bottom of a letter, or it may be at the bottom of the page of a book, marked by an asterisk (* )--one that matches the item to which you were meant to pay attention. The n.b. may add an additional fact or explanation to something that was mentioned earlier in the letter or on the page.

etc. stands for et cetera. Et cetera is Latin for "and so on", or "and other things".  Etc. is added onto a list to indicate that it continues. The writer doesn't need to exhaust every possibility. He or she adds "etc." instead of saying "and so on, and so forth", or some other windy phrase.

et al is an abbreviation for et alia. Et alia is Latin for "and others", meaning people. It may be placed at the end of a list of names that are used to identify the owners of a property. As long as we have the first few names, we probably don't need the whole list. For legal or insurance purposes the entire list will be somewhere in the same document. After the list has been written in its entirety once, any further reference may read "Smith, Jones, et al".

dba stands for "doing business as". DBA is another legal or insurance term, used to indicate the business name of an individual or group not otherwise incorporated. "John Smith, dba Smith Plumbing" may be on an insurance policy or business license.

aka means "also known as". Aka may also indicate the business use of a name, for legal purposes called a "fictitious name". If you have occasion to sue a plumber in court, you may be suing "John Smith, aka Smith Plumbing".

women and property

     Until fairly recently, historically speaking, women didn't own property. Laws varied from country to country and from state to state within some countries ( like the United States ), but in most places women didn't own property of any kind. Any property that seemed to belong to a woman actually belonged to her father, then to her husband or brother, and then to a son or nephew.  Countries with the oldest traditions sometimes kept  the custom of dower property--property left by a mother to a daughter. In more enlightened and "modern" countries, this was considered a throwback to the Middle Ages, or to ancient times. Women didn't need property when  enlightened "modern" men could keep it for them.

the tomb of the unknown soldier

     The tomb of the unknown soldier is another reality many people insist is pretend--something Hollywood invented to dramatize a war story. The tomb of the unknown soldier is real. The unknown soldier is a soldier who was killed in action in a war, but whose remains cannot be identified. The reality of his death in combat and lack of ID make him a symbol of all of the soldiers who were killed in wartime, particularly those whose remains were never returned or identified. This is not a new idea. The tomb of the unknown soldier of the American Revolution is in Philadelphia, right near Independence Hall. There are other unknown soldiers from other wars, and in other countries.

a price on one's head

     To have a price on one's head is not just an old saying. Criminals really did have a price put on their heads, just as our government may offer a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator of a particular crime. When someone informed on the criminal, he or she was paid a reward--the "price" that was put on the "head". You can search "reward posters" if you want to see some real advertisements promising money for the capture of a criminal.

science in a country and western song

     Have you ever heard that old country and western song "I'm just an old chunk of coal, but I'm going to be a diamond some day?  Well, it's a science lesson. Diamonds are a form of carbon. They started out, as far as science can tell us, as rotting organic matter--dead leaves, and maybe some dinosaur droppings. When this material was compressed for eons, it turned eventually to coal, and in the end, some of it , after even more eons, became diamonds.

hanging

     People who have read about illegal hangings may have missed something. Hanging was the method of executing criminals for centuries. The last hanging of a condemned criminal in the United states was in 1970.  That's part of what made the unlawful lynchings in the South so sinister--the people who did the hanging constituted themselves a secret government of some kind, and too often believed that they were merely meting out "justice".  They weren't merely violent criminals, but an organized cult with a warped philosophy--a philosophy we still hear too much of today, propounded by people and groups who believe themselves superior to government by the people and the rule of law.

scab labor

     Scab labor was a term once used for strike-breakers. When workers thought that they were being treated unfairly, or that their work was needlessly dangerous, they would go "on strike"--that is, they would refuse to work until management did something about their complaints. Going on strike was risky--workers were not paid while on strike, and a strike might last for weeks or even months. There was always a chance that strikers  would go back to work with no improvement in the situation that caused the strike. They would probably be broke, behind on the rent, and ill-fed. Solidarity was the one thing that could make a strike successful. If enough workers went on strike, and stayed on strike long enough, management was much more likely to give in to strikers' demands. A management technique for "breaking" a strike was to hire unskilled workers--often immigrants--to work just until the strikers agreed to come back to work at their former wages--or even with a wage cut. Temporary "strike-breaking" workers were called "scabs" and were very unpopular with strikers.

gang labor

     Gang labor was common years ago, especially when there were a lot of immigrants. Someone who wanted to hire laborers would contract with a "gang boss". The gang boss would agree to supply a certain number of laborers at a time agreed upon. If the laborers were recent immigrants, the gang boss could speak their language. The person who wanted laborers only needed to communicate with the gang boss or one of his foremen, who spoke English. If the laborers had questions or complaints, they addressed them to the gang boss or his foreman, who spoke their language. The gang boss was usually limited to recent immigrants--when they learned enough English, immigrants usually found steady jobs, and didn't work for the gang boss any longer.

the ides of March

     Many people are familiar with the quotation "beware the ides of March", but not with the story behind it. The ides of March is the 15th, or the middle of the month. Caesar ( the emperor of Rome ) was warned to "beware the ides of March"--possibly by someone who knew what was about to happen to him. On the ides of March, Caesar was assassinated. He was stabbed to death in the senate by several people, including his loyal friend, Brutus.  The person who warned Caesar might have been aware of the plot to murder him. It seems likely.

petroleum products

     If you think you don't use petroleum products because you don't drive a car, think again. Your clothing, your shoes, the packages your groceries come in, and some of your furniture may all be petroleum products.

square feet and feet square

       If something , say a carpet, measures 100 square feet ( or yards, meters, miles, or inches ) that means that it is 10x10', or ten feet on each side. Or it could be 5x20', or five feet on one side, and twenty the long way.  If something is measured in "square", 2 of the sides ( one of each different side, if one side is longer than the other ) are multiplied to get the "square" figure--as you can see if you draw it on a piece of paper and count the squares. If you draw a rectangle five square across, and twenty squares down, there will be 100 squares. If you draw a square that is ten squares across and ten squares down, there will be 100 squares. If you draw a rectangle with seven squares across and ten squares down, there will be seventy squares. Five squares on each side will get you twenty-five squares. And so on.
     Confusion can set in when using the term "a hundred feet square", which means a hundred feet on each side, to most people. Obviously not the same thing as "square feet". A hundred "feet square" would be ten thousand ( 10,000 ) square feet.  Ten "feet square" would be one hundred square feet.
     "Square feet ", or square anything, is much more common. It's what all the carpet commercials are talking about, or ads for tile, paint, siding, shingles, and other items measured by the foot or yard. 
     "Feet square" is more likely to show up on a map or deed. If you are reading about an everyday item, you have probably encountered "square feet".

how a letter goes to a foreign country

     When you mail a letter, the stamp you put on it has been  purchased from the United States government. The United States Postal Service will take your letter anywhere in the United States, for the same price. If you want to send a letter to another country, the stamp costs more, but the money still goes to the United States Post Office. When our post office puts your letter on a plane, and it lands in a  foreign country, the post office of the foreign country takes your letter to its destination, at no additional charge to you. The person to whom you sent the letter doesn't have to pick it up at the airport. It is usually delivered to the address on the envelope. Our post office does the same thing when letters are sent from a foreign country to someone in the United States. A small but important example of international co-operation.

survivors benefits

     You may have heard of Social Security survivors benefits--one of the reasons we pay Social Security taxes. Survivors benefits are for the minor children of people who have died, or for disabled adult children. The spouse of someone who has died may receive higher benefits, if the deceased was entitled to a higher amount than the survivor. These are also called survivors benefits.
      Survivors  benefits are one of the reasons people are arguing about gay marriage.  If they aren't accepted as married couples, gays can't collect survivors benefits, or benefits from pension plans their partners may have earned through employment.

trials in the past

     Before we had a modern court system, people found other ways of deciding who was guilty or not guilty; right or wrong. One way to decide this was the trial by combat. The two opposing parties would fight--or if elderly, children, or female, have a "champion" take the field, or fight, for them. The winner was right, the loser wrong--it was that simple.
      Another way to decide a person's guilt or innocence was the trial by ordeal. The accused was tortured--by having his or her hand scalded, for example. If the hand turned red, the accused was guilty. Another form of ordeal was to throw people in the water. If they drowned, they might be presumed innocent. If they swam to safety, they might be accused of having the help of Satan, and executed.
     So, if you consider the last 1500 years or so, our court system has certainly improved.

evolution

     So many people argue about evolution that we seem to have missed those who have never heard of it. A lot of schools handled the controversy by never mentioning evolution at all. Evolution is the theory that attempts to explain the diversity of life on planet earth--especially when combined with the theory of natural selection. Evolution means that life forms have evolved, or changed, over the course of time.  Natural selection describes how this change may have occurred. If the the creatures best adapted ( suited) to their environment were the most likely to survive and reproduce, their traits would be passed on to the next generation out of proportion to their numbers. Succeeding generations would eventually evolve to carry the more successful traits, and would lose the traits that hindered their success or survival.
      Many people find the theory of evolution controversial because it conflicts with their religious beliefs. They are usually called "creationists". Creationists believe that God created the world and that nothing in it has changed since then. Some creationists concede that species like the dinosaurs have become extinct, but they maintain that this does not prove the existence of any new species. Evolutionists would point to the sets of species, each perfectly adapted to a specific environment, such as the finches Darwin studied in the Galapagos Islands.
     The controversy becomes more intense when the evolution of human beings is discussed. People who don't claim any strong religious convictions often object to the notion that humans may have begun as slime mold, or as single-celled organisms. Scientists believe that evolution begins after the creation of the Earth. This new Earth was lifeless. Then single-celled organisms lived in the water, often called the "primordial ooze". Millions of years of evolution led to animals like the ones we see on earth today--but not to humans. Humans, according to scientists, evolved from ape-like creatures, until they became modern humans--us, in other words.
     If you would like to know more about the controversy surrounding the theory of evolution, you can watch the classic movie Inherit the Wind.  The movie dramatizes the famous Scopes trial, also known as the "monkey trial" . A biology teacher in Tennessee was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution, and the case was argued by two of the most famous men in America, one arguing for God, and one for science.

the black death

     The "black death"  means bubonic plague.  Bubonic plague caused a serious epidemic more than once in Europe. In the Middle Ages it killed more than half the population of some countries. Researchers now believe that it was carried on ships, going from one country to another. The ships carried rats. The rats had fleas. The fleas bit people. The people got sick, ans many of them died.
     Bubonic plague was called the black death because infected people got purple or black spots on them. In modern times we are not used to the idea of an epidemic, but people once died in great numbers from contagious diseases.

rationing

     During World War II, people needed ration coupons to buy certain items. To ration something means to divide it into portions for each person or for each day. People needed ration coupons to buy sugar, for example-- each person was only allowed so much sugar. The shopper had to hand over the ration coupon to buy the sugar--in addition to paying for it. No ration coupon, no sugar. Rationing was an attempt to be fair, as supplies were limited. Gasoline was also rationed, but the ration coupons were only for people who needed the gasoline. Goods that were rationed could be purchased on the "black market"--the smuggler's market--but many people stuck with the rationing scheme, even though they knew how to cheat. They thought cheating was unpatriotic, and didn't want us to lose the war for the sugar in their coffee.

sin taxes

     "Sin taxes" are not collected by the church, or by Satan, but by the government.  Sin taxes are the taxes built into the price of alcohol and tobacco.  A large portion of the price of alcohol and tobacco products is tax, before any sales tax is added. We voters have decided that this is fair, since tobacco and alcohol cost society more than other goods do--in cash, not merely in "sin." Alcohol use makes additional law enforcement necessary, takes up more time in court, and causes accidents. Tobacco use makes additional health care resources necessary. The "sin taxes" aren't  religious taxes, they are an attempt to tax fairly.