Do you want a Gift? Maybe not.
As Christmas is approaching (less than 2 months!), I have been pondering the origin of the word gift. You see, growing up, I preferred to use gift instead of present because I didn't like that present also had another meaning. Gift just felt better. Then I learned German and found out that in German, das Gift actually means poison. And so, knowing that English and German have the same source, I was thinking that maybe in English, the meaning of the word gift shifted over time from poison to present. Imagine my thoughts as I pictured people getting poisonous presents so often that the word for poison actually came to mean present ("It's not a present! It's a gift [poison]!"). So I decided to look it up in the dictionary, and I was quite disappointed to find no mention of poison in this word's history. In fact, the dictionary went back to Middle English (yift) and mentioned that the word is related to give. Well, that makes sense. So then what's up with German? Maybe it's just coincidence that the words in English and German are exactly the same. And while some amount of coincidence is probably needed to explain why the words are the same today, they do appear to be very closely related. According to a German etymological dictionary, Gift in German used to mean present. Maybe the Germans were giving so many deadly presents that the word for present turned into poison. Probably not. Apparently, it started as a euphemism and then over a few hundred years, the new meaning completely replaced the old meaning. Isn't language fun?! :)
I have writer's block. Major writer's block. I'm certainly not at the top of my game. I haven't had writer's block for a long time because I haven't had the opportunity to have writer's block. Maybe I'm just out of practice. Maybe it's because I'm trying to do 99% BS with 1% actual knowledge. Maybe it's because I'm tired and somewhat sick. Who knows? All I know is that I don't want to be writing right now.
This week is basically the perfect storm. I am so incredibly busy. First, I have my job to go to, my classes to plan for, and many quizzes and papers to grade. Also this week, my wonderful husband has a huge project due that he conveniently left until the last minute. So we are scrambling with that. On top of these things, yesterday was not very productive because of the 2 hours spent voting and my lack of willpower in the evening to not watch the election results (not to mention the stress from actually having an opinion on election day). Then, this morning, I had an appointment which was right in the middle of the morning. So I didn't really have time to do anything productive before or after it. Oh, and then when I was already stressed out and incredibly busy, I found out that I have to write 55 student evaluations before Friday. I am behind on everything and I can not wait for 5:30 on Friday when my weekend will start and all of this will be over.
Speaking of the election, it's over so everyone can finally shut-up about it. Ok, if your guy won, you are entitled to some mild celebration. And, ok, if your guy lost, you are entitled to some mild lamentation. However, don't post 50 bazillion pictures of and posts about your president. I know your opinion, I know you're happy, now knock it off. ALSO, stop it already with the overdramatic we're-all-going-to-die-because-of-the-results posts. I may not agree with Obama on everything, but I don't think he did so bad of a job to warrant such ridiculousness. In fact, he repaired our standing in the international community, and that, believe it or not, is very important. So don't say you're going to move to Canada unless you actually plan to. And if you do, good riddance. By the way, if you don't like Obama's policies then you're really going to hate Canada.
I have writer's block. Major writer's block. I'm certainly not at the top of my game. I haven't had writer's block for a long time because I haven't had the opportunity to have writer's block. Maybe I'm just out of practice. Maybe it's because I'm trying to do 99% BS with 1% actual knowledge. Maybe it's because I'm tired and somewhat sick. Who knows? All I know is that I don't want to be writing right now.
This week is basically the perfect storm. I am so incredibly busy. First, I have my job to go to, my classes to plan for, and many quizzes and papers to grade. Also this week, my wonderful husband has a huge project due that he conveniently left until the last minute. So we are scrambling with that. On top of these things, yesterday was not very productive because of the 2 hours spent voting and my lack of willpower in the evening to not watch the election results (not to mention the stress from actually having an opinion on election day). Then, this morning, I had an appointment which was right in the middle of the morning. So I didn't really have time to do anything productive before or after it. Oh, and then when I was already stressed out and incredibly busy, I found out that I have to write 55 student evaluations before Friday. I am behind on everything and I can not wait for 5:30 on Friday when my weekend will start and all of this will be over.
Speaking of the election, it's over so everyone can finally shut-up about it. Ok, if your guy won, you are entitled to some mild celebration. And, ok, if your guy lost, you are entitled to some mild lamentation. However, don't post 50 bazillion pictures of and posts about your president. I know your opinion, I know you're happy, now knock it off. ALSO, stop it already with the overdramatic we're-all-going-to-die-because-of-the-results posts. I may not agree with Obama on everything, but I don't think he did so bad of a job to warrant such ridiculousness. In fact, he repaired our standing in the international community, and that, believe it or not, is very important. So don't say you're going to move to Canada unless you actually plan to. And if you do, good riddance. By the way, if you don't like Obama's policies then you're really going to hate Canada.
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