Thoughts I had on Tolkien's birthday
I was talking with my mother last night, and said something about how fascinating the English language is, and how rich its history is, and all that, and suddenly it hit me: That history is not my mother's history at all! While English is her native language, as only a third generation speaker she has absolutely no connection to the roots of it! What a sad, sad thought. Thank heaven for my British Grandma Brandybuck. It's because of her that I have a connection to England (even if it was around 350 years ago), and thus to my language, and thus can have a full love and appreciation for the philology of it all. It is thanks to her, and her alone, that I can have this connection to Tolkien. Thank you, Grandma!
posted by melilotnfosco | 12:40 AM
14 Comments:
it really truly did make me sad, what made me even sadder is that it didn't make my mother sad at all. she said it just made her want to go back to sweden and learn there.
anyone want to go to england with me?
haha -- have to admit, it didn't make me sad either; made me smile at you guys ;)
of course i'll go to england with you! as long as we can go on the HP tour ;)
oh, and by the way, you wrote it's for its up near the top of your post ;)
thank you. i'd much rather hear that from you than hobbitsister. so now i'll fix it. :)
How nice for you. My family is so mixed up that we don't even know what nationality I am. Although I like to say that Chris and I are a mixed race couple, since he's totally German on both sides. :)
My nationality's not that clear either, busy -- or at least I can't get a clear answer from anybody. I'm envious of people like mel & chris, who know their roots!
I love it when you call me Kimmy!
I've always known what I am although I didn't always understand how people could exist without having a country. Anyways, Josh is British (and Scotish) and German (and possibly Mongolian), but we tend to just think about the German side esp. since it's the closest side to mine. Anyways, we've got lots to learn about the British side, so can we come with?
Also, Josh was wanting your opinion on the phrase "begging the question." People use it to mean a question that is set up to be asked but originally it meant using circular argument. So which meaning do we go with? The original one, or what the public has brought the language to mean?
mongolian? cool!
i've always wanted to claim the british side (1/4) more than the swedish side (3/4).
i've wanted to go to/live in england ever since living in sweden. i feel my parents have sucked me into their swedishness, which is all fine and good and i love it, but dad now being So enthusiastic about it is quite a turn off. (but his enthusiasm came after i decided i want to explore my british roots, so those are two separate thoughts.)
'begging the question' is a dorky phrase, so i recommend not using it. :) but if you do use it, i think it is up to you how you do so (though people may be confused if you use it the original way).
i should've spelled it 'connexion.' that's how tolkien spelled it.
(in the post i mean - i didn't use it here)
i think i started claiming my british side back in my diana days
you're so funny, mel :)
oh, and one of grandma brandybuck's grandpas came over in the 1870s or so. so i do have more recent roots over there, not just the 16-whatever ones.
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