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Monthly Archives: December 2015

On idioms

At long last, here was the post I was going to post back in summer but never finished doodling for it.  Or, I had.  But then I inexplicably deleted the file somehow.  And then I was sad.  And then I lacked the motivation to do anything about it.  And then I started to do something about it.  But then I lacked the motivation to anything more about it.  I’ve been suffering an awful bout of ASD.  I finally mustered enough to finish it now.  So…yeah.

I was considering some idioms the other day.  You know, as one does.  One of them stood out to me though as being a bit ridiculous and nonsensical.  Or rather, it wasn’t so much that it was nonsensical as it was…sensical.  I present to you “head over heels.”

Um…you normally are oriented so that your head is over your heels.  Notable exceptions would be when you’re in bed sleeping.  Actually, your head could still be slightly elevated in relation to your heels because you’re probably using a pillow.  I guess other exceptions would be doing any inverted poses (i.e. yoga, gymnastics, dance, diving).  But really, how often are you doing that?  You spend most of your life with your head over your heels.  It’s a completely normal thing to do/be.  So how did the idiom “head over heels” end up coming to describe something that’s NOT in their normal state?

Wiktionary gives the following examples for usage:

  1. She tripped and rolled head over heels down the hill.
    Hill Head
  2. Hearing the noise in the dark, the children ran head over heels back home.Noise Head
  3. He was head over heels in love with the girl next door.
    Love Head

All of these examples try to illustrate that things are not in their normal state.  Taking a rather literal bent on and a florid description of the examples, you have:

  1. Someone who is literally falling and tumbling down a hill, rolling, so that her heels go over her head.
    Hill Heels
  2. Children who were sooooo scared by the noise in the dark that they ran so quickly that I guess their feet were faster than the rest of their body and their heels went over their heads.  This is not a good way to run away from things, btw.
    Noise Heels
  3. Some guy who was sooooo in love with the girl next door that um…his heels were over his head?  I know this idiom is actually most associated with being madly in love.  It’s never made that much sense to me though.  OH!  Maybe he was so in love with the girl that he wasn’t watching where he was going because he was staring at the girl so he didn’t see the rock in his path as he was walking toward the girl and he tripped and thus his heels went over his head, which makes this example fairly similar to the first one and they are totally cheating and not putting enough effort into applying idioms.  Also, sometimes I enjoy a good run on sentence.
    Love Heels

ANYWAY…

A brief poking around on the internet tells me that the phrase originated in the 14th century as “heels over head,” which makes much more sense than “head over heels.”  The literal meaning of the phrase gives you the impression that things are not as they are supposed to be.  Actually, I think the literal meaning was used to describe doing cartwheels and the like, during which your heels would indeed go over your head.  So why did it get inverted in modern usage?  No idea.  I didn’t bother doing much more research than what I just presented.  Wiktionary seems to think it’s due to “phrasal elegance” though.

Other idioms I rather like:

  • Killing two birds with one stone.  Which my brother enjoys (purposely) saying as “killing two stones with one bird.”  Just to be a butt and see how many people are paying attention.  Because think about it, it’s pretty hard to kill a stone.  It’s probably even harder to kill a stone with a bird.  I don’t really know; I’ve never tried.  But now you have to kill TWO stones with only one bird.  Wow.  That’s pretty impressive.
  • Dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s.  Which I like to (purposely) say as “dotting your t’s and crossing your i’s.”  Also jusi io be a buii and see how many people are paytng aiieniton.  And also because I ltke ihtnktng aboui how words would change tf you ltierally dtd whai I was saytng.
  • Water off a duck’s back.  Which I like to (purposely) say as “duck off a water’s back.”  No reason for this one.  I just like saying it that way.

 

Links to stuff:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/head-over-heels.html

http://www.alphadictionary.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=6498

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/head_over_heels

I make! Thanksgiving dinner edition

Yes, I suppose this would have made more sense to post before Thanksgiving than after.  But I had a nonstandard Thanksgiving this year anyway.  I did have a Thanksgiving dinner with some family friends on Thanksgiving day, but I didn’t make a turkey until just last week.  I’ve been having Thanksgiving related meals for a few weeks now, which is totally fine by me, as Thanksgiving is the only holiday toward which I still have warm feelings.  Maybe because it’s one of the least commercialized holidays.  Yes, there is the black Friday craze and how it really starts weeks before the day after Thanksgiving now.  But the holiday itself, there isn’t much marketed directly to it (e.g. trees, eggs, rabbits, anatomically incorrect hearts, etc.).

So, this year I made two types of stuffing (and two fruit tarts) for the Thanksgiving dinner we had on the actual holiday.  This is because most of us believe that it makes the most sense if the host family makes the bird.  I don’t want to lug a 30lb bird around with me from house to house.

The interesting thing is that I’ve never actually made stuffing before.  I’m not a big stuffing person.  I think actually stuffing the turkey is really gross, especially if you have a large one.  By the time the stuffing is fully cooked, the turkey is overdone.  Or you could pull out the turkey when it’s done, but then you might have salmonella stuffing.  It’s gross guys.  Besides that, I’ve never really enjoyed eating stuffing.  If I’m going to eat something carb heavy, I’m going to fill up on fresh baked dinner rolls or mashed potatoes or…mashed potatoes.

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But I was asked to make stuffing (and dessert and cranberry sauce).  So I did.  I asked A-pusher which stuffing recipe she normally makes, as she luuuurves stuffing, and I did that.  But then I found a recipe for a Brussels sprouts and butternut squash stuffing.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve developed a taste for Brussels sprouts.  I reeeeaaaally like them.  I like how they look like little cabbages.  I like their texture.  I especially like their taste if they’re roasted.  And this recipe asked you to roast the Brussels sprouts and squash before tossing the stuffing together.

This was definitely the stuffing I liked the best.  It has some of the traditional flavors of stuffing, sage and the like, but it has roasty Brussels sprouts goodness too.  It’s really good.  I like it so much that I make it without the rest of the stuffing part.  Just the roasted vegetables and some of the spices and sometimes the cranberries too, but none of the bread, and have it as a side dish.

My cranberry sauce is pretty standard.  It’s made from fresh cranberries.  Just boil them to death with some sugar.  I like mine more on the tart side, so I use less sugar than standard.  I make a whole bunch and then use the leftovers as jam on toast or when making shortbread cookies.  Oooh, I should make those divot scones with cranberry sauce on top.

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The fruit tarts you’ve seen before.  My standard chocolate crust fruit tart.  This time with kiwi, blueberries, raspberries, and mango.

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And finally the turkey.  I went a little crazy and bought a whole turkey.  For myself.  It was one of the smaller turkeys I’ve ever made, but still…it’s a whole turkey.  And I’m the only one eating it.  I do a simple brined turkey.  I like that method the best.  I know that this year, the dry rub or dry brine was THE THING to do.  I’ve done that when roasting chickens.  I dunno if I’d ever want to attempt it with a turkey.  Yes, it’s really flavorful.  But it takes a lot of effort and time and fridge space.  With the normal brining procedure, if I have a frozen turkey, I can just defrost it in a bucket of salt water the night before and be ready to roast the next afternoon.

With all my turkey, I’m eating what you would consider a traditional Thanksgiving dinner.  I had it just last night, in fact.  But also, I’m making turkey stock with the carcass.  I’m making turkey congee, because I’ve been craving it.  I’m making turkey quesadillas.  I’m making a lot of sandwiches (because I’m very fond of sandwiches).  I’m making hash.  Lots of stuff.  It really helps that I like turkey a lot.  Also, that I’m able to eat things for weeks on end without getting tired of it.