CHANGE TRIVIA

“Things don’t have to change the world to be important.” Steve Jobs

It doesn’t take an investigative mind to prove that change happens regularly before our very eyes and ears. Some changes are significant but many are trivial. I suppose my mind today is on the latter, but I really want to share with you some observations. I’m curious whether you have observed the same changes. 

Here are some questions for you:

1. Have you noticed that many celebrities when introduced on TV programs now walk onto the stage applauding, apparently, for themselves? Surely that is a fairly recent habit. 

2. What about the experts interviewed on news or talk shows who when asked their opinion begin their response with “so” and then proceed? So, when did this trend begin and does anyone think it adds to the information provided?

Words are inanimate so they do not have the power to change, but we at times change their pronunciation for no obvious reason. The first time I noticed this was during the Vietnam War. Out of the blue, that country was pronounced differently for a while. 

Let me make clear that I am not talking about the mispronunciation of words. I have the utmost empathy in such circumstances since it has never been a personal strong suit. I don’t know if teachers still have students read aloud in class, but back (way back) in my day it was expected. Like it was yesterday, I recall my humiliation standing in front of the class and reading in Ms. Miller’s fourth grade. Suddenly I came to a big word that I had not encountered before but I forged ahead and read, “She was deter-mind-ed to succeed.” 

3. Have you noticed the different pronunciation of any of these words over time? Is there a big authority somewhere who arbitrarily one day simply proclaims, “We will henceforth pronounce __________ differently!”?

WORD	ORIGINAL	CHANGE
Vietnam	vee-et-nahm	vee-et-nam
harassment	huh-ras-ment	har-uhs-ment
divisive	dih-vagy-siv	di-vis-iv
Appalachia	ap-uh-ley-chee-uh	ap-uh-lach-ee-uh
Chili	Chil-lee	Chil-lay

Please share some of your own observations with us. 

Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world.

For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.    

Margaret Mead

Part 3 of 4

Photo by Pixabay

 

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Year One

Year One on Crooked Creek

On August 30, 2016, Crooked Creek, the blog, was first published. At that time I invited some friends and family to check it out. Good friends and family members did just that and I am so grateful for each one. In addition, readers who I did not and still, do not know are reading as a result of referrals or by chance. I am so honored to have each of you onboard and I thought you might be interested in some of the statistics that have been collected over the past year. 

Statistics

WordPress, the foundation I use (rent) for Crooked Creek, provides very detailed stats and I find these helpful as I write and post, but I will provide just a few here because they are probably less important to you. 

• • As of this date last year I had posted six times and had received 24 comments on those posts 
  • The most popular day was August 24 with 17 visitors and 49 views. 
  • July was the month with the most likes (35)
  • People from 28 different countries have read the blog
  • As of today there are 73 followers

Since this is my first blog, I do not know if these statistics are good or average or poor, but I am pleased nevertheless. I like to write, I love to share ideas, thoughts, questions, and stories and there would be little satisfaction without you, the reader. Another aspect of blogging that the stats do not reflect is the hard work and frustration involved. There are things the platform will not allow, changes that need to be made that are impossible and elements that I still do not understand. Some of the mishaps and mistakes are obvious to you and some are not, perhaps, e.g., I accidentally lost the photos of the last twenty or so posts. Some could be replaced and some were deleted permanently from my photo files so that revision of the posts was required. 

Obviously, it is worth the effort for me since we are now over one year in existence and this is post #51. I appreciate each of you and take seriously the time you take to read and comment on Crooked Creek. There is more to come!

 

 

Thank You, Dear Readers!