\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 An Albuquerque weathercaster, Bill Eisenhood, used to include an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153amazing fact? each evening. One such \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fact? was a mnemonic device in which one could recall the names of all the planets. It made such an impression on me that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember any of it.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Just for kicks, I sent in a question: What is the longest word one can type using only (not necessarily all) the keys in the row above the home keys of a standard typewriter?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Eisenhood appeared to be so impressed with that factoid that he led off the weathercast with the question. The news anchors at the time simultaneously blurted out the answer, as if they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d actually figured it out. No way! Obviously, they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d heard the weatherman spill the answer before airtime. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve asked the same question to dozens. Nobody has yet to give me the correct answer.<\/p>\n
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Ever since I was a child I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been fascinated by words, scrambling them in my mind, rearranging them, trying to make smaller words out of bigger ones, bigger out of smaller.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 A requirement is solving the daily Jumble in the newspaper without using a pencil. If I fail to unjumble the four or five words, which lead to a larger word or phrase, I simply skip work that day. And that might explain why I work part-time.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Once, in a primary grade at Immaculate Conception School, I felt like jettisoning two letters from my alphabet: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153r\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153l.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re called glides, and almost always, they represent the speech sounds children master last, because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re difficult.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s probably why many older siblings claim Junior has a New England accent because, as we all know, Yankees don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pronounce the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153r\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? and say \u00e2\u20ac\u0153potty\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153party\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153laud\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153lord.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? In elementary school I tried to make it a game, eliding the dreaded sounds, and in class I answered by avoiding any word that contained those sounds, or if that was impossible, I simply skipped over them.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 I thought it was clever when it was my turn to give the answer to a catechism question in Sister Maxima Lachrymosa\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s homeroom. She asked me the words to a particular commandment, to which I answered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Thou shot honna thy fatha and motha.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? Accordingly, I omitted each \u00e2\u20ac\u0153r\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? and for the word \u00e2\u20ac\u0153shalt,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 out of there.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We are not amused, Arthur,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? Sister said, nor were her half-dozen pets who made like they had barely managed to keep from gagging. Yet, if our teacher had complimented me on my insights into language, her little favorites would have applauded.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 And besides, what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wrong with a 7-year-old laying the groundwork for the way many people speak today? A day seldom passes without some homie asking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happenin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, brotha?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Word play as a tyke predictably led to stronger stuff. It led me to experiment with more elaborate linguistic matters. The addiction became strong, and soon I was asking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What words in English contain all the vowels in order?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd?
\nOne word is \u00e2\u20ac\u0153abstemious.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? Can someone name another?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 What seven-letter word reverses the vowels?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Strengths,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? with nine letters, is one of the longest words of one vowel and one syllable. Can someone name another?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Salt Lake City is a capital that consists of four words when combined with its state. What is the other?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 Which two state capitals rhyme?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Just when I believed I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d cornered the market on strange things one can do with words, I received an e-mail from Dorothy Simpson, a former colleague, who included a number of curi-oddities about the language.
\nAmong them:
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 No words in English rhyme with \u00e2\u20ac\u0153month,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153orange,\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153silver\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? or \u00e2\u20ac\u0153purple.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Dreamt\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? is the only English word that ends in the letters \u00e2\u20ac\u0153mt.\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Stewardesses\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the longest word you can type using only your right hand?
\n\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Dorothy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s e-mail emphasizes the difficulty in proving some of these typewriter-type questions without physically tapping out the letters in the air. I tried wrapping both hands and testing the answers in my head, but without dexterity in my index finger, it was pointless.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2 \u00e2\u20ac\u00a2<\/p>\n
A number of people my age identify with those who grew up consuming Aceite Mexicano (literally, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mexican oil\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd?) to cure upset tummies.
\nJohn Martinez, of Art and Stones, said his father would cure John\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s stomach problems by putting a few drops of the compound into water, adding a bit of sugar and having the child drink it. It was not until John became an adult that he discovered Aceite Mexicano is for external use only.
\nAnd Angie Ramirez of Rociada also recalls consuming the aceite. She said I could find the remedy in the section of Dollar General where products are labeled in Spanish. I was unable to find a bottle of Aceite Mexicano but did come across McLean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s liniment, whose scent I recall clearly.
\nThese bottles were not safety sealed the way most of today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s products are, so I thought, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What if I take a sniff of McLean\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, just to discover whether it smells the way I remember?\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd\u00ef\u00bf\u00bd? Well, that opened the floodgates, and once again, many childhood memories emerged.
\nBut that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the subject for another column.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 An Albuquerque weathercaster, Bill Eisenhood, used to include an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153amazing fact? each evening. One such \u00e2\u20ac\u0153fact? was a mnemonic device in which one could recall the names of all the planets. It made such an impression on me that I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t remember any of it. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Just for kicks, I sent in a question: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rezio.net\/woa\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}