MOTHER

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Slava
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MOTHER

Postby Slava » Sun May 12, 2013 11:59 am

Today's Good Word:
• mother •

Pronunciation: mê-dhêr • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun

Meaning: The female parent, a woman who bears and/or primarily raises a child.

Notes: Mother, the word, has borne a large and happy family of derivational offspring. The adjective and adverb of this noun are both motherly, which has a noun, motherliness, that expresses the affection and nurturing of good mothers. The status of being a mother is, of course, motherhood, as a woman who enjoys motherhood. The new term for "baby talk" is motherese since we discovered that it is an affectation of mothers and not childish speech. Just as mothers often must handle two jobs, so does today's Good Word, which doubles as a verb. "She mothers him too much," means that she is too attentive to his needs.

In Play: Mothers are the central part of our lives and often of other things as well: the central part of a computer is the motherboard and Mother Earth and Mother Nature completely enfold us. The mother of all sales would be the biggest imaginable sale and the one imitated by all others. Our mothers are the critical part of our lives and of things that are bigger than life.

Word History: It is most appropriate that the word for "mother" in Proto-Indo-European originated in the first recognizable syllable uttered by babies: ma. This syllable was attached to a kinship suffix, -ter, which also turns up in brother, father, and sister. The original form, mater-, later evolved into the current words for "mother" that we now find in all the Indo-European languages: Latin mater, Greek meter (as in metropolis, the mother city), German Mutter, French mère, Serbian majka, Russian mat', materi, Italian and Spanish madre, Portuguese mãe, Danish moder, Dutch and Afrikaans moeder, Norwegian and Swedish mor, Icelandic móðir, Irish máthair, Hindi mataji, Gujarati maataa, Farsi (Persian) madar, and Pashto (Afghanistan) mor. If you are a mother, may this day be as beautiful and exciting as your name in all these languages.
Ah, mothers! Where would we all be without you? Inconceivable!

LukeJavan8
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Re: MOTHER

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sun May 12, 2013 12:14 pm

Happy Mother's Day to all....
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Philip Hudson
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Re: MOTHER

Postby Philip Hudson » Mon May 13, 2013 1:15 pm

Now that Mother's Day in the USA has passed, I offer an ancient copy from what appears to be a British magazine from 1955. If you are a husband, read it to your wife and remind her how blessed she is to live in these enlightened times. If you are female, wife or not, note how liberated you are now. This is exactly as I scanned it from an old magazine. Note the British spellings and one misspelled word. Even for the time it was written this may have been an attempt at humor.

Housekeeping Monthly 13 May 1955.

The good wife’s guide

• Have dinner ready. Plan, ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal ready, on time for his return. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal (especially his favourite dish) is part of the warm welcome needed.

• Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people.

• Be a little gay and a little more interesting for him. His boring day may need a lift and one of your duties is to provide it.

• Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the house just before your husband arrives.

• Gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper etc and then run a dust cloth over the tables.

• Over the cooler months of the year you should prepare and light a fire for him to unwind by. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift too. After all, catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction.

• Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair and, if necessary, change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part. Minimise all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet.

• Be happy to see him

• Greet him with a warm smile and show sincerity in your desire to please him.

• Listen to him. You may have a dozen important things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first - remember, his topics of conversation are more important than yours.

• Make the evening his, Never complain if he comes home late or goes out to dinner, or other places of entertainment without you. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure and his very real need to be at home and relax.

• Your goal: Try to make sure your home is a place of peace, order and tranquillity where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit.

• Don’t greet him with complaints and problems.

• Don’t complain If he’s late home for dinner or even if he stays out all night. Count this as minor compared to what he might have gone through that day.

• Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or have him lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him.

• Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soothing and pleasant voice.

• Don’t ask him questions about his actions or question his judgment or integrity. Remember, he is the master of the house and as such will always exercise his will with fairness and truthfulness. You have no right to question him.

• A good wife always knows her place.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
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Re: MOTHER

Postby Perry Lassiter » Mon May 13, 2013 5:42 pm

Philip, I read the exact passage in a home-ec book from the fifties. They were dead serious.
pl

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gailr
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Re: MOTHER

Postby gailr » Mon May 13, 2013 9:03 pm

An old boyfriend once gave me a copy of that in an attempt at "humor." An old, EX boyfriend.

My mom was born in the late 30's and socialized to be more submissive than I am comfortable remembering, but not to the point of being a spineless doormat. My dad tempered his 'head of the household expectations' with reality about how one treats a partner, not a faceless, two-dimensional 'domestic servant with benefits.' In return, she never treated him like a robotic, ambulatory paycheck.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


I hope a pleasant weekend was enjoyed by all the moms affiliated with the agora!

Philip Hudson
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Re: MOTHER

Postby Philip Hudson » Mon May 13, 2013 10:42 pm

Gail: Your mother, my wife and I are all about the same age. My mother and dad were true partners in every way. My wife and I have been partners for most of our married life. Now, in my old age, my wife takes care of our domestic business, works as an office manager and helps me manage with my disabilities. I try to be the househusband as best I can. We still try to be partners even though we both know I would have to go to a nursing home if she were not here for me.

She had a wonderful mother's day yesterday, with our four children all pitching in.

I hope that is not too much personal revelation for the Alpha Agora.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

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gailr
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Re: MOTHER

Postby gailr » Mon May 13, 2013 10:50 pm

Not at all.
I'm glad your family enjoyed the weekend -- as I am sure they enjoy all the weekends you enjoy as a family! :D

LukeJavan8
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Re: MOTHER

Postby LukeJavan8 » Tue May 14, 2013 6:26 pm

The green wings on your avatar are good for you,
you look a lot younger than Philip.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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gailr
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Re: MOTHER

Postby gailr » Tue May 14, 2013 8:36 pm

Thank you, Luke. But they aren't helping me to avoid repeating myself and using the same verb repetitively in my post to him, though...
:D

Philip Hudson
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Re: MOTHER

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue May 14, 2013 9:45 pm

Luke: You must have missed something or I must have written obscurely. Gail and I are not of the same generation. I am an old codger. My oldest child just turned 50.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

LukeJavan8
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Re: MOTHER

Postby LukeJavan8 » Wed May 15, 2013 12:21 pm

As usual, I misread. Happy for the correction.
Thought you were placing Gail in the same
age bracket. My bad. That's the trouble with
these sites. It is hard to become acquainted
really, without seeing people.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

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gailr
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Re: MOTHER

Postby gailr » Wed May 15, 2013 9:01 pm

And that, Luke, is the perfect opportunity to reintroduce a favorite regional speech difference: to ma'am or not to ma'am... :lol:

'Yes, ma'am' and 'yes, sir' are good manners. I'll grant our Southern members that, and add that it would be mighty pleasant to spend a lifetime hearing that with a little frisson of appreciation.

However.

In the North -- at least, the Urban Industrial North -- being ma'amed is a whole other ballgame. Every woman I know remembers the first time a (teenaged) clerk eyed her speculatively and said, "Thank you, [obvious pause] ma'am." It means that you've crossed the line to old and happens somewhere in the early 30's. Once a woman has been ma'amed every clerk in the world can sense it and will ma'am her mercilessly. Understand me clearly: we can tell whether it's an honest expression of courtesy or a sneer at impending geezerette status.

Some clerks young enough to be my kids -- or even my grandkids -- are aware of the potential danger and aim to make clear their courteous intent. "Will there be anything else? Then, thank you," a moment of sheer panic in their eyes, "uh ... miss," (or other term emphasizing youth!) they finish desperately. It always makes me laugh -- nicely. :lol:

We can travel to distant lands to experience new and strange customs, or we can just take a trip into another part of our own country for 'pert near as much cultural difference.

LukeJavan8
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Re: MOTHER

Postby LukeJavan8 » Thu May 16, 2013 12:22 pm

Thought: and the 20-30 age group feel so anti-ritual or
anti-protocol that they can call the CEO of the firm
they work for,by his/her first name, and text them whenever
things don't go their way.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Perry Lassiter
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Re: MOTHER

Postby Perry Lassiter » Thu May 16, 2013 1:38 pm

Down here, Mr Lassiter or Ms Jones gets the same reaction. My first year at the local directional college, the teachers all called us Mr or Miss. Next year at Baylor was more mixed. Logically, in my major courses I became Perry again.

My dad was a DA and a judge, but he almost always used sir and ma'am. I picked up the habit from him. Now LA schools require kids to use it, and it drives me nuts how much my grandkids say it to me. I ain't THAT formal.
pl

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call_copse
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Re: MOTHER

Postby call_copse » Fri May 17, 2013 6:11 am

That's an interesting one Luke - I guess it has sloughed off over time, though I guess (in the UK) you might have addressed your MD or CEO as Mr Jones in the 1970s or prior, I have never worked in any scenario where anyone has been addressed by anything except a first name. I have always worked for small enterprises mind you.

At school of course it was always sir / mister or miss / mrs (we never used ma'am, miss being the rough equivalent, Mrs used before the surname like Mr if a teacher described themselves thusly). I might still call people sir or madam (ma'am sounds too queenly) on occasion, it mainly being a sign I cannot instantly recall their name.
Iain


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