;Posted on 04/09/2012 5:37:18 AM PDT by xsmommy
Word For The Day, Monday, 4/9/12
;In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day".
intransigent; adj.
1. refusing to agree or compromise; uncompromising; inflexible. noun 2. a person who refuses to agree or compromise, as in politics.
Etymology: 1875–80; < Spanish intransigente, equivalent to in- in-3 + transigente (present participle of transigir to compromise) < Latin trānsigent- (stem of trānsigēns, present participle of trānsigere to come to an agreement); see transact
Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the Word for the Day in a sentence.
The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day.
The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-)
Practice makes perfect.....post on....
May a marauding gang of vegetables attack you while u sleep....
They butcher French and Spanish names here in Tennessee. It’s equal opportunity mispronunciation.
Maybe it’s just Houston, but, in my experience, Texans “Remember the Alamo” whether they ever had any connection to it, or not. I moved there from California, which also has a Spanish history. There we ATTEMPTED to pronouce the Spanish names correctly, although I’m sure it still didn’t sound right to a native Spanish speaker.
We lived in Ft. Bend County, southwest of Houston.
Well, we all have our regional pronunciations. Where I come from in California's Central Valley, Almond is pronounced Aaa (a pronounced as in at) mund. There is no L heard in it at all. I suspect that a relatively few people pronounce it that way -- limited to the almond growing region.
Interesting that your years in Texas brought you such a different understanding than those of us who have lived here for most of our lives. I think we are much more inclined to remember the Civil War than the Alamo. Until recent years with the invasion by illegals, I rarely gave Mexico a thought but would daily hear someone mention something about a yankee.
That was the first question my children were asked when entering school: Are you a Yankee? “Uh, no, we’re from California” didn’t suffice as an answer, and they all endured a certain amount of harrassment, as the new kids in school always do.
I lived in the Houston area for nearly 10 years — 1972-1982. It was during that time, or just before, that TX was enjoined to educate the Mexicans in the population. They didn’t always go to school in previous decades. I had a painting/staining contractor who worked on my new house when we moved there. Because of Hurricane Delia that swept through, not everything was finished before we moved in, and some of what was finished was damaged. The general contractor told me to put everything that was not completed on a “touch up” list for the painting contractor, Tony.
Tony was a genius with paint. He could match any finish, any color. He was a real gentleman — very well spoken. I made him this list and would give it to him each time he came. But every time, something was not done when he left. Finally I figured out that he was not reading my list — just asking me to point out what I didn’t like.
Before he was completely done, I wanted him to write down the formulae on the tops of the cans so that I could later match the colors in case I needed to re-paint. Finally he threw up his hands and said to me in exasperation, “I don’t write.”
I complained to the general contractor, and he told me, “He only knows how to sign his checks. He never went to school in the Valley (Rio Grande). It wasn’t required in those days.”
So the painter was an illegal? No wonder he wasn’t in school - it used to be a crime to be here illegally, as it should be today.
I don’t know his status. I just know that his work was brilliant. He had his own business sub contracting for the best builders in the Houston area, and he had lived in TX for many years. He was probably in his mid 40s. But, he was illiterate, and he covered it very well. I had no clue until about my 10th encounter with him; until I really pushed him about writing the paint formula on the cans of left over paint like any hardware store would do. Nowdays the paint store uses some little device to create a perfect match — not so in 1970.
The feds passed a law that we had to educate illegals. I don’t agree, but it is out of my hands.
Oh I am confused then. I assumed by your post that Texas didn’t care enough to educate their kids since you said it wasn’t required back then. But it was a requirement that american kids attended school so I had to figure he was illegal.
You are not confused. The subject of legality never came up. This man was well spoken and gentlemanly and very good at his job. But he was illiterate — at least in English. I was just repeating what the Gen. Contractor told me. I was shocked! I did notice a resentment in Houston about the Mexicans, something I’d never experienced in CA. Of course that was CA then (1970 era). It’s probably much different now. The resentment I noticed spilled over in many subtle ways, one of which was the deliberate mis-pronunciation of Spanish words that everyone should know. At least that is how I saw it.
Damn, you figured us out. We have a very exclusive club in Texas where we purposely mispronounce words just to keep 200 year old rivalries going. I give up - I will ask the cities to drop the act and start pronouncing everything the way the tolerant and loving Californians do. Not sure how long it will take the cowhands to start saying Ro-day-o though.
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