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Are fairy tales too scary for children? A survey of parents in Britain found that more than half wouldn't read them to their children before age five. Martha and Grant discuss the grisly imagery in fairy tales, and whether they're too traumatizing for kids. Also, when did “dog food†become a verb? And does the word butterfly come from “flutter by�
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A caller suspects that the word butterfly derives from a reversal of the expression “flutter by.†But is it? Her question leads to a discussion of butterfly behavior and a handy five-letter word that means “caterpillar poop.â€
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hi, i grew up in holland in the 40's and 50's every night when my brother and i were about 6 or 7 years old my mom would read stories from Hans Christian Anderson and occasionally Aesop's fables, we loved the stories, however i remember seeing trolls in the pattern of the curtains, at night when the cats outside were howling i thought they were killing babies lol, i'm now 62 years old and am still afraid of the dark, maybe because the gruesome things happened at night, so i only read happy stories to my kids, i think those gruesome tales should be banned before the age of 10 lol, love your show Trudie
Modern fairy tales (cartoons, pick a channel besides PBS and Noggin) on the television SHOW the violence, explosions, dismemberment which the children see with their eyes not their mind. Those that (also pretend) leave it to imagination must be read, have distinct justice and tit-for-tat consequences which to not imprint themselves on the mind the same way images do. The parental participation, questions and answers, "Because she was trying to trick the Prince." are key to the interaction. Studies are out there (it has been years since I've referenced them) that demonstrate that the "Disney-fied versions" of fairy tales leave less moral and ethical lessons behind than the originals - which is what they were, Teaching Tales.
Sara S V Bishop
Hi, Steve -- It's a story in Talmudic tradition. Here's a link to get you started.
When you catch a butterfly or moth you may notice a powder that rubs off of them. This powder is a bunch of tiny scales.
http://www5.pbrc.hawaii.edu/microangela/scale1.htm
I always thought this power was the butter
soft, moist and easy to smear
RE: Dogfooding... when I first heard this word, it seemed to me that it must come from the terrible history of setting the king's food in front of the dog for tasting before serving it to the king. A dog won't eat poisoned food, or if he did, he would suffer and the king would be safe. In a similar way, the end users of a product are safe from the many bugs that the beta testers will discover by trying a product out while still in development.
"soap opera" - My understanding of the "opera" part is that the drama had the same complicated or convoluted plots as musical opera often does. (You know - the male lead kills his enemy, not knowing it is his lover's father; meanwhile, the female lead is shocked to learn she and her lover are really brother and sister, and her mother goes insane and/or commits suicide rather than reveal the truth... - Does that sound like something you've seen on TV or heard sung lately?)
I don't know where I learned that. If I recall correctly from another of your shows, this would be what you referred to as "white knowledge." See? I was paying attention and learned something! (BTW, I listen to your show over the Internet.)
If you, Martha, likes quemarse las pestañas, you'll be glad to know that in Portuguese we say queimar as pestanas.
I don't know why I can't get on the forum with my old login and password. I'm the antipodes guy.
Luciano
Christopher Murray said:
What strikes me most about the word butterfly is how different it is in different languages. For example, in the common European languages it is variously mariposa, Schmetterling, papillon, farfalla, vlinder, none of which resemble each other.
So true. In Portuguese the word is borboleta. We also use mariposa, but mariposa for us is a moth. But then there's Czech motýl and Polish motyl, almost identical.
I've seen the same confusion in Portuguese between reticente and relutante. And what strikes me as odd is that we have the word reticências (English ellipsis), which everybody knows and uses. I guess nobody associates reticente with reticências. And not surprisingly we also have the words tácito (tacit) and taciturno (taciturn), ultimately from Latin tacere (to be silent), which survived as a verb in Italian tacere and French taire.
Tudo bom, Luciano!
And Brazilian dude, I've always loved the word "borboleta," which I first learned in the phrase "bezinho de borboleta." (In fact, I just did an interview where someone was asking what I thought the sexiest language was, and I immediately said "Brazilian Portuguese." All those "oo" and "zh" sounds, for starters.)
>>>> mariposa, Schmetterling, papillon, farfalla, vlinder
Interesting point, Christopher. Add to that list the ancient Greek word for "butterfly" as well as "soul" -- "psyche."
(If memory serves, Schmetterling has something to do with butter and the idea of these creatures hanging out at butter churns. But then, these days, my memory doesn't always serve.) 🙂
Regarding "quemarse las pestañas," before Grant offered the idea of the origin coming from burning of the eyelashes from sitting too close to a candle, I thought that it might have come from the idea that the friction generated by the eyes going back and forth so furiously while reading could cause the eyelashes catch fire.
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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