I have spent my whole life delving into the inner recesses of language.... the cogs , sprockets , gaskets , nuts and bolts ,fanbelts , carburetors , idling pins , etc ..... even learning a few of them while fiddling around with a few more ....... constantly trying to grasp a better understanding of the intricate ... yet systematic.... workings of both God's and mankind's remarkable masterpiece.
After this rather fluffy introduction I believe I shall get down to the nitty - gritty of what I wish to say before Alzheimers sets in.... so here goes !
Almost 50 years ago I stopped using English on a daily basis when I took off for Italy and have used it only sporadically ever since....... that is until four years ago when Fluff ... "cuisle mo chroì "... Irish Gaelic for " pulse of my heart "...... came into my life for real. As most of you already know by now we have agreed to put her learning French and my " mastering " Swedish on the back burner for the moment and are speaking Shakespeare's own between us. This new situation has incited in me renewed interest for the English language , its grammar , stylistics and semantics. I find myself constantly confronted by words I know the meanings of but have never personally used in either speech or written form. One such word is the verb "to acquiesce ".... so I shall use it in a few concrete sentences so as to engrave it forever on my memory's hard-drive of words mastered !!
1) Most Americans have not yet acquiesced to the fact that some 20 million aliens.......Martians not included.... are running loose within the confines of "the home of the brave "!
2) Some day we shall all acquiesce to the Grim Reaper's inevitable beckon !
3) After nearly 50 years of marriage and ample opportunities spurned Ann finally acquiesced to Bill's never learning Dutch !
4) To my way of thinking acquiescence is nothing other than disgruntled acceptance , begrudgingly throwing in the towel or maybe simply giving in unwillingly to some overwhelming situation.
I know that word but have never used it. As for #1, I acquiesced on that a very long time ago. I try to ignore #2. As for #3, I have a friend whose first language is Afrikaans, very close to Dutch. I could never ever master it. I learned 'totsiens' & 'hope liefde' & 'skat', the correct pronounciations of all. I tried to read some emails he wrote on my pc, but could not figure out much.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of that word. I actually had to go and check the word up! lol You learn something new every day...
ReplyDeleteThat is a nice photo of you and all them plants at the top! Wish you and your lady a nice coming week! KRAM
Not a word one hears very often in conversation, that's for sure. But that's what I like about words like that. Should the occasion arise when I can use it I quickly count the blank faces around me before going on. While many folks do know what it means they have to sometimes pull out their old mental dictionary before responding.
ReplyDeleteOTOOH if I feel someone is using a word like that just to show off I usually respond with, "You do and you'll have to clean it up."
Now that really gets blank stares. **LOL**
Hey there , Julie - Ann..... I can't speak for others but I find that the older I get , the more acquiescent I become to No 2).
ReplyDeleteHi Mona.... glad to be instrumental in furthering your knowledge of English..... a second language which you handle with such ease and grace... hugs to you and the laddy !
ReplyDeleteGreat reflexions , Jim... or answer by telling the big-word user about the American politician who submitted the bill for restoring the Ten Commandmants to their rightful place in certain public places of America .... but when Colbert asked him to recite all ten ... could not even remember ONE !! It was on CNN memorabilia about an hour ago. Sorry but I cannot remember the guy's name. Thanks for the input.
ReplyDeleteAnd aptly put I might add...I have acquiesced to the fact that I am not going to Montana on my upcoming trip...its way too expensive to take a 1600 mile drive right now. I will however be flying to Colorado which is as pretty if not prettier than Montana...my sis says why go milk the stray cow when you are surrounded by the herd~..sounds perfectly logical to me....so in other words I GIVE UP...
ReplyDeleteHave heard the word and read the word and knew it's meaning but have never used it! Sort of like the new hat I bought a while back and never wore it! IF I tried to use it I would probably pronounce it wrong.
ReplyDeleteSure like the sound of it, though.
She acquiesced to a multitude of other things as well........that might partly explain the nearly fifty years.........and I would take out the "begrudgingly " and replace it with "lovingly*.....that is perhaps another form of acquiescence...
ReplyDelete"Most Americans have not yet acquiesced to the fact that some 20 million aliens.......Martians not included.... are running loose within the confines of "the home of the brave "!"
ReplyDeleteI recently read the book "Flags Of Our Fathers" which Clint Eastwood turned into a movie. Now what Americans don't want or care to understand, based on first hand information is that any number of the Marines who stormed the beach at Iwo Jima and in turn put up the flag of the USA on Mt. Suribachi were NOT John Wayne types. In fact John Wayne avoided military service with every excuse he could think of.
A suprisingly large number of those Marines were NOT even US citizens. Many came from Europe. But that doesn't sell in either movies or politics.