norange and copasetic

Mental Floss has a neat little article on the origin and mutation of English words garbled by mishearing them and shifting grammar conventions.
I never thought about elision being behind differentiation from foreign sources, like Apron and Napkin from the same root—though Napron transformed into “an apron,” same with Umpire, from the French for nonpareil (nonper) or the n- became incorporated with nickname. I can think of some examples of slurring peculiar to English that has given rise to perfectly respectable words, like the injection Zounds! from Christ’s Wounds or the happy affirmation of Copasetic, a signal used by bootleggers during Prohibition to indicate that the coast was clear—that the cop is on the settee, dozing. No, there was never a norange in the English language but it seems a likely candidate—as the native Asiatic fruit came to the West via Persia and Spain as narang and nananja and came to be known in other Germanic languages as a Chinese Apple (Apfelsine) but in England, via France, as an apple from Orange, un pomme d’orenge, for the port city on the Mediterranean.

free-hold and thegn

I find it nice that my old bank, and perhaps my new one as well, supports the dream and demand of home-ownership with various avenues thereto, even though such aspirations in Germany are not unattainable, of course, but traditionally not defining of one’s character and not some obligatory rite of passage, to be saddled with an enduring debt to call one’s own. I find it a little off-putting that the Rubik’s Cube image of a house chosen resembles the movie poster from the film Cabin in the Woods, making the whole arrangement seem rather darkly and sacrificial, and not in a responsible way. A home and wealth is something generational, a legacy but neither are regarded as with such status any longer, I think.

geo-politics or rare-earth tafel

Geologists researching defunct mining sites around Leipzig are discovering veins of rare-earth elements, which are in high demand for the electronics industry mainly as something akin to what the connective tissue and synapses need to metabolize in circuitry.
Currently, China has a virtual monopoly the world’s supply, which might be putting manufacturers in an awkward position, given purported labour conditions and compromising environmental practices. Germany, first trying to provide resources through electronic scrap, is studying Australia’s, as China’s chief competition, less than sloppy-seconds for ideas on how to extract pay-dirt in a more responsible way. I wonder how the shift in potential suppliers, though price always seems to under-cut accountability, might alter the landscape of prospecting and consumerism.

liberal arts or oh the huge manatees

Former foreign correspondent of London’s Financial Times, Robert Cottrell, has been sharing and celebrating his transition, gradually then unabashedly, from a daily producer of copy to a voracious consumer of it, on his website called The Browser. I was delighted to discover such a resource, which is a very discriminating connoisseur of writing worth reading without being fussy, particular about the source or subject. This careful and enthusiastic curating has gone on for some years now, and I hope regularly perusing the recommendations can impart the discipline that I wish matched my curiosity.