"The
European Commission has warned of the increasing divide in wellbeing, because of the crisis, between countries of the centre and peoples of
the periphery, especially between Germany and Spain." Hmm. Not
quite what the EU is all about, is it? Time to wheel out again that
old cynical quote that "The consequence of every major reform is
the exact opposite of what was intended." Divergence, not
convergence in other words. BTW
- Having just searched it, I see this is called the Perversity
Thesis:- Whereby
any action to improve some feature of the political, social, or
economic order is alleged to result in the exact opposite of what was
intended.
Checking
out MP4 players on line yesterday, I was struggling to understand how
one of them could have an "amazing glossy end". I
eventually realised this was a reference to its 'finish' - the perils
of avoiding the cost (very low these internet days) of having your text run
over by a native speaker.
It
was a mother and her equally reckless young son on parallel bikes
what did it. As of today, I'll be carrying a walking cane when I
wander into and out of town for my midday tiffin and a read of the
papers. Hopefully, the fear of it ending up between their spokes will
cause cyclists to give me a wider berth than is currently the case, if
not slow down. (I originally typed 'birth' in that sentence and was
going to leave in the mistake as an ironic reflection on native
speakers. But then I thought - "Who the hell is going to get
that, with the possible exceptions of Trevor over at Kalebeul or Alfie at
Metis Meets Mittington? And probably not even them. And no one
will believe me post factum. So I changed it.)
Incidentally,
the only reason I've not used a cane before now is that this habit is
affected by the super elegant Draculín ('Little Dracula') as
he covers more or less the same ground as me every day. And I didn't
want to be seen as a pathetic copy. But needs must.
For
1 or 2 days a year - around now - the sun rises over the distant
hills directly above the Lerez river, between me and the city of
Pontevedra. Here's how it rose yesterday:-
And
here's how it rose on a rather cloudier today.
Of
course, if it's raining on these 2 days, we have to wait another
year, at least. Rather like Druids in Stonehenge, I imagine. With
probably the same degree of disappointed swearing.
Finally
. . . Here's a foto sent by a friend. It's actually me in the pram:
APPENDIX:
SPANISH-GALICIAN
This
will be of interest to very few people. Nonetheless . . . .
Here's
a list I've compiled essentially for my own interest. It's of some
common Spanish words and their Gallego(Galician) equivalents. What
I've tried to do is put them in categories of similarity. Sometimes
the change is made in one direction and sometimes in the other, as
with the N and the Ñ. I haven't bothered to make sub categories when
the latter happens. And sometimes the change would put the words in 2
categories but I haven't bothered to do this.
Spanish
('Castellano/Castelán) are both official languages in Galicia but I
won't go into how many people 'dominate' each language, which class
they belong to and where they live. This is marshy ground. Both are
considered languages, not dialects, and Gallego/Galego is seen as a
sister language to Portuguese, both descending from a Western Iberian
parent. Galicians and Portuguese will argue until the end of time as
to which is the elder sister.
Galician
speakers - or some of them at least - see their language as being
closer to Latin (see the F/H) category and, therefore, somehow purer.
I don't see this myself but each to his own. But I do agree that the
regular substitution of the X(sh) for Spanish's harsh Js, Gs, etc.
does make Gallego a softer language to listen to, especially when
there are two, say, Js in a Spanish word - like Jenjo, which
becomes Xenxo(Shensho).
To
the horror of some Galician readers, I'm not making any conscious
attempt to learn Gallego, as I did with Spanish. To most people the
reasons will seem obvious but to others my decision will be seen as
an insult to Galicia and as proof that I'm a "Spanish
nationalist". But that's their problem.
There
will be mistakes of both commission and omission in what follows. If
you feel strongly about these, feel free to advise me. But without
telling me I'm an idiot. I have enough such advisers already.
I
hope a few of you will enjoy this exercise. If you want to add to the
list, I'd be delighted to receive your thoughts. Meanwhile, my apologies for the fact that the formatting of the original document is not reproduced here.
One letter more/less
Gallego Galego
La A
El O
Guardar Gardar
Agua Auga
Lomo Lombo
Tierno Tenro
Venta Venda
Solo So
Sola Soa
Siempre Sempre
Cuatro Catro
Cuando Cando
Huerta Horta
Una Unha
Uno Unho
Les Lles
Piensa Pensa
Mas Mais
Por lo Polo
Por la Pola
Ahora Agora
Mano Man
Cuesta Custa
Mismo Mesmo
Pierde Perde
Pues Pois
Quién Quen
Puedo Podo
Bien Ben
Verano Verán
Nombre Nome
Persona Persoa
Dos Das
Pie Pé
Mejor Maior
Hueso Oso
Tambien Tamén
Donde Onde
Bodega Adega
Estudio Estudo
Moneda Moeda
Nuevo Novo
Entonces Entón
Viejo Vello
Poblado Poboado
Escritura Escriptura
Cuerno Corno
Cierto Certo
Esto Isto
Fuego Fogo
Nuevo Novo
Incluido Incluíndo
Poco Pouco
Estudio Estudo
Hombre Home
Fue Foi
Antiguo Antigo
Largo Longo
Bueno Bo
Buena Boa
Puerto Porto
Puerta Porto
Noche Noite
Mucho Moito
Hasta Ata
Piedra Pedra
Hazar Azar
Cuando Cando
Vacuna Vacún
N/Ñ
Camino Camiño
Caminar Camiñar
Vino Viño
Sardina Sardiña
Caña Cana R
Ñ/N
Cabaña Cabana
Año Ano
LL/L
Gallego Galego
Pollo Polo
Camello Camelo
Caballo Cabalo
Gallo Galo
Estrella Estrela
LL/Ch
Llamar Chamar
Llegar Chegar
Llave Chave
Lluvia Choiva
Techo Tellado
V/B
Polvo Polbo
J, Z, Y, G/X
Junta Xunta
Conjunto Conxunto
Gente Xente
Yacimiento Xacemento
Logico Loxico
Paisaje Paisaxe
Ayuda Axuda
Región Rexión
Joya Xoia
Jubilar Xubilar
Cronologia Cronoloxia
Cerveja Cervexa
Mitológica Mitolóxica
Ya Xa
Pijama Pixama
Geográfico Xeográfico
Dijeron Dixeron
Technológico Technolóxlico
Hoy Hoxe
Ejemplo Exemplo
Germinar Xerminar
Blindaje Blindaxe
Salvaje Salvaxe
General Xeneral
Tarjeta Tarxeta
Doblaje Doblaxe
Chronológia Chronolóxia
Mitológico Mitolóxico
Surgir Xurdir
Arcilla Arxila
J/LL
Oveja Ovella
Conejo Coello
Trabajo Traballo
O/Ou
Poco Pouco
Orense Ourense
O Ou
Hubo Houbo
Otro Outro
Vivo Viviu
H/F
Hacer Facer
Hormiga Formiga
Horno Forno
Hormigón Formigón
Hito Fito
Hoz Fouce
Hilo Filo
Hogar Fogar
Herramienta Ferramenta
Hermano Fermano
Hablar Falar
L/R
Cumple Cumpre
Plaza Praza
Plancha Prancha
Playa Praya
Y/I
Hay Hai
Muy Moi
E/Ei
Primero Primeiro
Pera Peira
Veinte Vinte
Miedo Medo
Ternera Tenreira
Cordero Cordeiro
Cualquiera Cualquera
Hace Hai
-Dad/-Dade
Edad Edade
Actividad Actividade
Comunidad Comunidade
Usted Vostede
Ciudad Cidade
Mitad Mitade
Inseguridad Inseguridade
etc.
Plurals
Instituciones Institucións
etc.
And now for some completely different . . . .
Cerrar Pechar (Fechar in Portuguese)
Perro Can (Latin canis)
Que Cal
Los que Cales
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