Start Today

by Irwin Lengel
(Florida)

Recently I came across an expression that I heard when I was much younger but never put two and two together to figure out what it was they were talking about or even referring to for that matter.

The expression was “Pidgin English” – Anyone familiar with this expression?

Well, one definition of it is: English with the pronunciation, spelling or grammatical construction of another language.

One article I came across describes how this came about: The development of trading contracts between England and China led to the emergence in 19th century China of a trading language consisting of basic English and some Chinese with Chinese pronunciation and some Chinese grammatical forms. The Chinese called this hybrid language business English, but as they had difficulty in pronouncing business, this came out as “bidgin” or “pidgin”, which is now a standard English word. And therein explains how the words “Pidgin English” came about.

This month’s serious quote: “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” - Confucius

Sound familiar – how many times have you thought too hard or too long on something only to realize that – after tackling and solving the problem you said to yourself - hey, that problem wasn’t as complicated as I thought. Actually – the solution was quite simple!

Word of the week: Amphigory: “noun: a meaningless or nonsensical piece of writing, especially one intended as a parody. Hmmm – would this post be called an Amphigory?

Another piece of useless information: And you can chalk some of these up to Media Flubs –

“If you, or any member of your family, has been killed, then call us.” – Orlando lawyer’s TV commercial

“Man thought hurt but slightly dead.” – The Providence Journal

“Weather forecast: Precipitation in the morning, rain in the afternoon.” – Detroit Daily News

New Topic:

Starting today! How many of us, especially at this time of the year (New Year’s resolutions come to mind) find ourselves using these two words? I recently read yet another quote that pertained to two words: ‘started today.’ “A year from now you will wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb

I am sure that many of us in thinking back over our lives can recall one or more major life change that we wish we would have started earlier. I know I do. Whenever I think about a big change I wish I would have made many years ago, I also imagine what my life would be like right now had I made that change way back then.

But then some of the changes I thought about making years ago no longer pertain to me due to my current status in life. But that isn’t to say that there aren’t some changes that should have been made years ago and even if started today, would prove interesting to see a year from now how they affected my life.

The point here is just this – contemplating making a change – don’t just think about it - start today! Then a year from now, step back and see how that change has affected your life. Wouldn’t that be neat? So what are you waiting for? Start today.

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