To use the students’ expression, they were “freaked out” at hearing the way I pronounced “knight.”

Well now everyone knows the word belongs to that group of English words that’s fraught with silent letters. There are only three sounds in the word: n, a long i, and a t.

The gasping took place back in 1967, when I taught English literature to advanced placement students in Cuba, N.M. We were studying the Canterbury Tales, by the 14th century author Geoffrey Chaucer, and we’d already covered the prologue; I had them memorize the first 18 lines of the long poem: “Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote / The droghte of Marche hath perced to the roote …” Continue reading →

The guy is either contemplating his navel (isn’t that the expression people used decades ago, for doing something pointless?) or he’s texting while driving. His head bobs to check the color of the traffic light, and sometimes he relies on a honk from the car behind him to decide when to proceed.

That’s become a common occurrence. Some state organizations have even created a public service ad that urges people to sign a pledge in which they promise to W8-2text.

Well, one reader only recently told me explanations are in order. “Not everybody understands what texting is,” she said. Ooh, that made me feel guilty; it shows I’ve used the term texting and merely assumed readers would understand.

Texting is a relatively recent innovation, and people my age aren’t as likely to comprehend the ramifications of this neo-nascent electronic phenomenon. I still can’t generate a text message on my cell phone, although I can reply to my wife’s messages, like a pro. Continue reading →

Two things that generate a lot of nostalgia have been in the news lately: The prospect of bringing back the skating pond at Montezuma and the possibility of Las Vegas’ soon being without a drive-in theater.

First the skating pond. It’s hard to pinpoint the year people stopped using the rink, located next to a steep cliff just beyond the community of Montezuma.

My family and I checked out the area last week, even before articles about the pond began appearing in the news. Because of the height of the mountain immediately to the west, the pond remains shaded and frozen for long periods.

Even though never the expert and not even a skater of any sort, I applaud efforts like those of Councilman Joey Herrera, who is talking up the idea of restoring that wonderful place where many people gathered. Continue reading →

How much do you think Sunday’s Super Bowl commercials on TV will cost? The latest figures show close to $4 million for a 30-second spot and about $8 million for a full minute.

That comes out to about $126,666 a second. That’s Donald Trump-like money. By contrast — and inflation is a big factor here — a 30-second commercial cost $42,000 back in the late 1960s, when the Green Bay Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs.

Hundreds of millions are expected to watch this year’s matchup between the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens. As in all Super Bowls, a large part of the entertainment will consist of commercials — from Mercedes Benz to Ice Breakers to Volkswagen to Toyota. Notables will include Carmen Electra for Ice Breakers and actress Kaley Cuoco for Toyota.

There might even be another “wardrobe malfunction” of the kind involving Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake in 2004. That kind of unscripted diversion — also known as Nipplegate — must have caused millions of viewers to fish out their TV remote controls just to make sure they weren’t imagining the partial, split-second disrobing of the pop singer. Continue reading →

Que dira la gente? What will people say? I believe my late mother, Marie, went to bed each night with that question in mind, ready to use on any or all us five Trujillo children, some six decades ago.

But to try to penetrate Mom’s thought processes necessitates a bit of background, Pay-It-Forward style. Remember the recent movie in which good deeds were paid before they became due? People were encouraged to engage in some act of kindness in the hopes it would soon bear fruit and benefit others.

Mom’s thinking — bless her heart — was a slight variation of that. But in fairness to her, let me explain, emphatically, that hers was probably like that of any other mother trying to raise an army of kids, without scandal. I hope we Trujillo children didn’t disappoint. Not much to report in that area, but we lived as if we were in the spotlight, or at least the Railroad Avenue spotlight. Continue reading →

Men need to be extra careful in how they regard women, even when the woman being described got where she was by being, well, attractive.

Let me explain:

The recent Bowl Championship game between the universities of Alabama and Notre Dame flopped. As it had been decades since the Fighting Irish had risen to No. 1, I thought — finally — this is their year. The trouble is, Notre Dame never showed up.

Even the presence of stellar linebacker, Manti Te’o, a 6-2, 255-pound senior for the Irish, was virtually unnoticed. Let’s not forget that he was a Heisman Trophy finalist.

The then-No. 1 college team in the nation rolled over and played dead just a few minutes into the game. A sportscaster later might have asked the Fighting Irish coach, “When did you first realize your team was in trouble?” His reply could have been: “Immediately after the National Anthem.” Continue reading →

A few columns ago, as I began systematically pulling out what little hair I have, I wrote about an on-going series of conversations taking place in my living room. We’d celebrated a Chinese gift-exchange and we were settling down to examine our presents.

What’s a Chinese gift exchange? Glad you asked: To us, it’s simply a process in which people draw numbers; the person with the lowest number selects the first wrapped gift, each person drawing according to the numbers. Those with the higher numbers, those who pick last, are allowed to trade their gift for any other gift drawn by a smaller number, and we place a limit on how many times a gift can change hands.

But sometimes we all get more involved in the logic or illogic of the process or the perceived unfairness than in the gifts themselves. And that’s what happened that Christmas, when almost a dozen first cousins, their spouses and children began the discussion.

Continue reading →

The seasons are confused. Where else would we the people lengthen the day, under something called Daylight Saving Time, when each day is already getting longer? Similarly, we shorten days that are already on their way to being abbreviated.

And we play a lot with the presumed ending times. Well, I’m still here, as I assume most of you are, possibly to the disappointment of the Mayans, who told us the world was about to end a couple of weeks ago. Imagine the embarrassment of some who may have believed the end was to be the next day.

So they partied, drank, caroused and let loose as if there were no tomorrow, which to them, that was a possibility. But then to have to report to work the next day … What kinds of explanations might one come up with for the previous night’s riotous behavior? I can hear it now: “But Honey, I really believed the world was ending.” Continue reading →

Aside effect of last week’s Newtown, Conn., massacre, once we think beyond the heartache, futility and insanity resulting from the actions of a deranged 20-year-old who gunned down 26 people, is the politics that inevitably follows.

The bodies weren’t yet cold before that gun-control issue surfaced. The loathsome part of the issue stems from the accusations that those of us who argue for more gun control have somehow politicized the issue. Already millions of words have been written accusing us of “taking advantage of a tragedy to further their own agenda.”

Let’s get real.

It’s not as if we who favor stricter laws on gun ownership were hoping the slaughter of 26 flesh-and-blood people — mostly kindergartners — would stir us into saying, “Oh, good! Now we can use those shootings to help us argue our case. Let’s go!” That’s as inane as our surmising the gun advocates are saying, “Oh good! Let’s band together before Obama takes away all our guns.” Continue reading →

Months back in this space I mentioned some of the extremely specific topics I’ve covered since this column began in 2003.

Would you believe one of the columns analyzed the word “up,” and how it can be used in many contexts, as in finish up, grow up, wise up, etc., without necessarily having anything to do with direction.

Another column discussed the way people end their sentences with “so …,” and, you know, another like parsed the overuse of “like” and “ya know.”

How about a fresh topic? This will explain the way we use “fresh” and discuss how that word is used, depending on our sex and age.

Let me explain:

As a pre-teen, in a house with three older sisters, I heard the word “fresh” applied not to vitamins, vegetables or viewpoints, but (mostly) to adolescent men. Before I grew accustomed to “fresh” as a way of describing the newness and unsullied quality of things, I heard of men, usually those destined never to have a second date, regarded as fresh. Continue reading →