G-Frick

The tissue paper's in the bin, the Play-Doh's crusty, the card table's back in the basement and the fancy plates are wiped and stored.  Who's up for a meme?  Daphne posted this one the other day, and I asked her to slip me a letter.  She did so, sneakily, in the comments on my last post.  And it's a doozy.  It's a letter I barely ever use.  In fact, it's a letter that does not appear at all in this paragr...oops.

Here's the thing of it: ten topics, truthinesses, themes, or thingamabobs that begin with the letter G. 

Germane:  No, not the Jackson.  Words like "germane" and "genuflect" and "gamine" are par for the course when it comes to conversation with me.  Some people find this off-putting.  It was murder on me in high school. 

Grammar:  As I've shared before, there are certain grammar rules for which I'm a stickler.  Misuse of adverbs such as "hopefully," for instance.  "Hopefully we'll open great gobs of gifts tomorrow" literally means that one will open great gobs of gifts in a hopeful manner.  Which I suppose one does, given the popularity of fruitcakes, seasonal mugs, and coffee table books.  Homophone errors are the proverbial nails on a chalkboard.  However, I am horrible, with commas.

 

Grouper:  I once shared the back of a Mexican pickup truck with one.  It's a very big fish.  (That was a good movie, wasn't it?  "Big Fish"?  Oh, right.  Not germane.)

Greens:  As in the kind the Biscuit is not eating.  At all.  Any mothers out there know whether or not I need to get some vitamins for this kid?  Because I think he is in danger of becoming a cheese.  This diet deficiency was driven home to me when we visited our friends at the farm whose son not only eats greens, but will SUCK HIS GREEN BEANS THROUGH A STRAW.  I mean, what good are kids if you can't train them to do tricks?

Gob:  If you only ever do one thing I tell you to, then please, please, please get your hands on a copy of "Arrested Development."  Ten out of ten Anns agree; it's the best show ever.  And when I look at what's going on over at Stephanie's today, it makes me want to cry.  With all this power, we knitters could have saved that show!  Le sigh.

George: I have a very fond memory of being a child and watching Looney Tunes- the episode where Bugs and Daffy are abducted by Marvin and brought to Mars as companions for Hugo, his pet, the Abominable Snowman.  (An interruption: Isn't it brilliant that this was a big "of course" according to our childhood logic?)  And the Snowman strokes Bugs' ears and ruffles Daffy's feathers and says, in this totally goofy voice, "And I will love him and hug him and pet him and squeeze him and I will pet him and pet him and I will take him home and call him George."  Now George puts his snowmen on plates and eats them!  Where's that Abominability when you need it, huh? 

God:  See definition in The Devil's Dictionary.  Lower-case and upper.

Gawain:  I had a bit of a crush on my Arthurian Lit professor in college.  So I took Medieval Lit as well.  I have read the Works of Sir Thomas Mallory twice.  Who could resist, what with all the smiting of helms and passages such as this one: "Then seyde his dwarff, 'Take me your rynge, that ye lose hit nat whyle that ye drynke.'"  Ah, how I wish for my own dwarf to lend me helpful reminders in such situations.

Green:  Something strange has been happening in terms of my recent yarn purchases.  I've always been a purple girl.  I can't remember a time when it wasn't my favorite color.  Then comes red, hands down.  But I've been buying green yarn up by the basketfull, and planning green projects.  Maybe it's the Newness of the coming year.  Who knows?  Still, I'm a purple girl at heart.

Going, Going, Gone!  We're off to the farm tomorrow morning, and we'll be back on New Year's Day.  So it's a big happy early birthday to Cara (and her gorgeous G) and a marvelous and champagne-y New Year to all of you!

Let me know in the comments if you'd like a letter of your very own.  I'll give you one with great and glorious glee.

Comments

[diana]

Geez, great post! Today I learned that I use "hopefully" wrong all the time. Goodness!

But let's talk about the lack of greens in our sweet children for a second. LL is in danger of becoming a cheese as well. Please share advice if you get it.

[Ashley]

I don't think being ghastly with commas is a particularly grievous sin. Take a gander at any 19th century novel: goodness gracious, commas galore! I'm a glutton for the dependent clause myself.

PS Bailey says send the greens her way. A frozen green bean is her favorite treat. (Hey! Maybe freeze them and call them popsicles?)

[Cara]

GEEEE! Give me a letter chica. And tell me about that skye tweed. I want to make the Central Park Hoodie as well and was looking at the Skye Tweed as an alternative to Donegal Tweed - is it softer? I want soft. I may end up using the Jo Sharp Aran Tweed I've got in the stash that was originally earmarked for a dad sweater, but it's kind of a grey tweed and I wanted something more colorful maybe. Let me know k?

And thanks for the Birthday wishes. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

[Daphne]

Goodness gracious! You are fast and awesome. Happy new year, Julie!

[maryse]

i had a biology professor who once explained to an auditorium full of biology majors that all these years we had been using the word "hopefully" wrong. i can not hear the word, read the word, or use the word (very often incorrectly) without thinking of him.

[Julia]

Yup, the adverb thing is really annoying (and drives my husband batty! Want to make him go nuts? Say,"don't take this personal,....")
As for the greens issue, maybe if you cover it in cheese? Make some bechamelle (white sauce) and dump a pile of his favorite cheese into it. Melt, dump on breen beans, ta da! Cheese with some green...

[Carrie]

Yay, I want a letter!

And also, the grammar one cracked me up. I'm a stickler for the apostrophe, myself.

And... (drumroll)... I re-cast on my Forecast today and I can't stop knitting it! You are an evil temptress...

Happy New Year!

[Liz K.]

Good grief! I must second the Gob remark. I loved him and his Segway.

I would like to add Guided by Voices, Grandmaster Flash, goulash, and gelato to your list of Gs.

[Carol]

I did not study that hard in school, but I'll have a letter if thy still hast one. I got an A+ in smartass though;) Have a wonderful time and a healthy and happy new year to the Fricks! Our pediatrician always told us a kid will eat a balanced meal in a week. You should do what you feel is best. Just follow your instinct-why would it lie?

[Megan]

I'll take a letter!

Have you tried serving him raw veggies with dips? Even seemingly weird dips for veggies, like ketchup. Or you can slip cooked veggies in a quesadilla.

[Tamara]

I think I would like a letter! It is a little intimidating to try it after you -- but I think I'd really like a go at it! I need all the writing practice that I can get! I never knew about "hopefully." I better go clean up my blog before you get there! If you look in my sidebar, you'll notice that I've been listening to Grammar Girl. Maybe she will get me back in shape! One of the many grammar rules that I learned in middle school (that I still remember) is that you always put a comma after clauses that start with "if, when, whenever, always, as, although, because, unless." Kendra, my daughter in seventh grade, says that you need a comma where you would normally take a breath when speaking. If that is what they teach them now, even I could be an English teacher! Whatever happened to diagramming sentences?

[nova]

Ditto on the kiddo putting the kabosh on the greens. Little Sir will eat anything orange, yellow or whatever as long as it isn't green...nothing green.

I will take a letter if you have one to pass.

Have fun at the farm!

[Sarah]

I miss AD so much. Perhaps I should invest in those DVDs.

My English teacher grandmother would be ashamed if she knew the way I misuse "hopefully."

I'll take a letter.

[Nora]

Mmmmm... Y did u have to mention the 'hopefully' thing - now everyone knows!

I don't think I want a letter after u (too stressful), so I'll just say 'Happy NY' for now. x

Oh, B's diet: according to my notes, he's cool - as long as he drinks milk.

[Jeanne B.]

I would love a letter.

HOPEFULLY you will give me one. ;-)

[Kim P]

Grammar. Mistakes in advertsing or greeting cards drive me absolutely bats. In speech I am a bit more tolerant, but not by much. Greens: forget about it. That string bean eating farm boy is an aberration. My 7 year old son used to eat anything up until age 3. Now he's primarily a chickenatarian and the only vegetables he'll eat are cucumbers and carrots. Get those vitamins at the health food store for kids that provide the daily requirements for fruits and vegetables. They are tasty too. You'll like the vitamins so much you'll genuflect before the bottle.

[Robyn]

hey, hit me up. And have fun at the farm! Oh, the green for that lovely shawl is beautiful.

[amisha]

the green is lovely... i just acquired a sack of the skye tweed in green myself! perhaps another sweater for the boy since the seamless hybrid will be finished *today*.... hurrah!
my grammar nemesis is the dangling preposition. being married to an english professor has improved the situation, but i still tend to throw around adverbs & split infinitives with careless abandon.
hope you have a wonderful new year at the farm!

[Kelly]

Thanks, Julie; I'll take a letter -- to go, please. (My house is empty, the moving van is full. Kinda nice that way.)

[SallyA]

Grammar. I have my own nails-on-chalkboard grammatical issues. Here's one that keeps popping up everywhere. "One of the only" as in "it's one of the only restaurants in town that serves that dish." I even read it in an Ann Patchett memoir. It seems to me that it can be "one of a few" or "one of many" or it can be the only one but "one of the only"??

[Jane]

Jules,

My brother went through a phase (roughly age 3 to 12; does that still count as a phase?) when he'd only eat white things. Have you tried mixing boiled and pureed cauliflower in with his mashed potatoes? It's not a green veggie, but it's a veggie nonetheless.

PS. Pete is now 6 ft and about 190 lbs, so clearly scurvy wasn't as big an issue as we feared it might be.

[ann]

le sigh for sure. ah-me, we could have saved that show. ~wipes a tear~ perhaps it is better to have all these bittersweet feelings than watching that great cast/writers jump the trout/shark somewhere down the line?

[Lola]

Go on and give us a letter, but I'll have Ava do it. She's a hell of a lot better with the grammar! I just hope that she fixing my post's errors.

Gus went through a phase where he wouldn't eat a thing at home, but 2 (sometimes 3) lunches at daycare. They'd give me the crazy eye when I'd say he ate nothing for dinner. I don't want to say that he's changed, that may jinx it.

[JessaLu]

RR hasn't touched a green vegetable in the 8 years I've known him. Unless it's covered with cheese. And that's only if it's broccoli.

Anyway, my point is, he doesn't do the green thing and he seems to be doing okay...so I wouldn't worry too much about the biscuit ;o)

[Dana]

The Biscuit will be fine. My youngest went through the "white" phase too -all cheese and potatoes and pasta and white bread. Only ate white pizza too. He's now a handsome healthy 15 year old who eats most everything. Just give him vitamins (most kids are on them any way) and he'll get over the phase. Do keep offering the good stuff though.
And green goes very nicely with purple IMHO.