“Downton Abbey” Vocab

When I was sick last week, I decided to watch the season finale of “Downteon Abbey.” What a pleasant experience. I was in charge of The Buttons and I was able to pause, back up, and replay as often as I wanted. I caught nuances that I am sure I usually miss in any episode. In doing so, I caught some vocabulary that was common to the time period. In context, it all made pretty good sense, but I made note and looked them up.

Here we go!

Hobson’s choice
a choice of taking what is available or nothing at all.
ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: named after Thomas Hobson (1554–1631), a livery stable owner in Cambridge, England, who gave the customer the “choice” of the horse nearest the door or none at all.

bored to sobs
no definition needed, self-explanatory

tweeny
(pl. tweenies) archaic, informal
a maid who assisted two other members of a domestic staff.
ORIGIN late 19th cent.: from between-maid, a servant assisting two others.

Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #309, Silent Night

Mary sang “Silent Night” at the close of “Downtown Abbey” this season. I wondered at the lyrics and decided to look them up.

1 Still the night, holy the night!
Sleeps the world; hid from sight,
Mary and Joseph in stable bare
watch o'er the child belovèd and fair,
sleeping in heavenly rest,
sleeping in heavenly rest.


2 Still the night, holy the night!
Shepherds first saw the light,
heard resounding clear and long,
far and near, the angel-song,
“Christ the Redeemer is here!”
“Christ the Redeemer is here!”

3 Still the night, holy the night!
Son of God, O how bright
love is smiling from thy face!
Strikes for us now the hour of grace,
Saviour, since thou art born!
Saviour, since thou art born!

Get all the details here.

Christmas Tree 2013

This is our Christmas tree for 2013, and the closer shot I put on FaceBook.

And, while I am at it, here’s the close-up from Christmas 2012.

Dental Floss

Various types of dental floss of come my way via the dentist or have been passed to me by other family members who do not like a particular type.

This is one I do not like.

It is slick and requires that I wind a lot of it around my fingers to hold it in place. I waste half of each piece in the winding.

Flowers From a Site, Day 9

I brought my bouquet home last Friday. Other flowers have opened beautifully.

Pretty pretty!

Flowers from a Site

As Coordinator for Extension Sites, I work with churches to work out their partnerships with the University. Part of the early process includes a conference call. This past week, on Tuesday, the mail room called me to say there were flowers to be picked up. I have never received flowers, so I could not imagine where these were coming from. Turns out they were from the person I talked to at this site.

Shipping Oddity #4

Today’s shipment included these names:

Brandi
Debbie
Jackie
Jerri
Jodie
Lori
Lori
Mary
Shelli

That’s for the sound of the long e.

Doubles

Torres
Debbie
Jerri
Miller
Moorman
Benney
Lynn
Ranney
Shelli
Reeder