09-2021 Add this to the list

Add spoonerism to the list of tools which help enhance the
value of your English language

  1. Spoonerism (this one, see below for more details)
  2. Oxymoron
  3. anagram

Wikipedia defines “spoonerism” as :

an error in speech (aka play of words) in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched between two words in a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, who reputedly did this.

Here are some examples found in wikipedia:

  • “Three cheers for our queer old dean!” (rather than “dear old queen,” which is a reference to Queen Victoria)
  • “Is it kisstomary to cuss the bride?” (as opposed to “customary to kiss”)
  • “The Lord is a shoving leopard.” (instead of “a loving shepherd”)
  • “A blushing crow.” (“crushing blow”)
  • “A well-boiled icicle” (“well-oiled bicycle”)
  • “You were fighting a liar in the quadrangle.” (“lighting a fire”)
  • “Is the bean dizzy?” (“Dean busy”)
  • “Someone is occupewing my pie. Please sew me to another sheet.” (“Someone is occupying my pew. Please show me to another seat.”)
  • “You have hissed all my mystery lectures. You have tasted a whole worm. Please leave Oxford on the next town drain.” (“You have missed all my history lectures. You have wasted a whole term. Please leave Oxford on the next down train.”)

Do not miss the other interesting examples given in the above wikipedia page :flutter by (butter fly), Resident Pagan” (President Reagan) , US’s periodic practice of “Licking their Peaders” (Picking their leaders), NSA “poopin’ on Snutin” (Snoopin’ on Putin) and “phugging everybody’s bones” (bugging everybody’s phones).

08-2021 Lessons a pencil can teach us !

Lessons a pencil can teach us !

A young boy was watching his grandmother writing on a book. He asked her what she was writing.

His grandmother stopped writing and said to her grandson:
I am writing a story, but more important than the words is the pencil I’m using.
I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.’

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn’t seem very special.
‘But it’s just like any other pencil I’ve seen!’

“That depends on how you look at things. It has seven qualities which, if you manage to adopt them, will make you a happy person who is always at peace with the world.”

  1. First quality: You must never forget that there is a hand guiding you. We call that hand God / almighty / supreme power and He always Guides us according to His Will.
  2. Second quality: Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, it is much sharper.
    So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.
  3. Third quality: The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes.
    This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the right path.
  4. Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.
  5. Fifth quality: It always leaves a mark.
    In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in every action of yours.
  6. Sixth quality : It gets shorter and shorter with use…. so also life.
    Make the most while it lasts.
  7. Seventh quality: It writes till the very end.
    Be useful and productive till your last day on this mother Earth
  8. ***

07-2021 Alan Turing is mine !

But who was Alan Turing ? Why is he so famous ?

If you are not too much into computer science, AI and stuff like that, you may as well assume that Alan Turing is the God of computer science. The proof, if required, comes from the fact that the world’s biggest prize/award in Computer Science is named after him, and also the fact that the fundamental (smallest) model of a computer was developed by Alan Turing ! He gave the real meaning of “computation”, at a time when there were no computers around !

To know more about this genius, see :: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing

But his life had a pitiable end. See : the man who knew too much .

How did I get to own Alan Turing ? I simply managed to get a 50 GBP note issued by the bank of England on 23 July 2021. Details are here :: the new 50GBP note .

I thank my dear friend Christian CHEVALIER who procured this treasure and mailed it to me promptly. Mille merci, cher ami.

I can now claim proudly, Alan Turing is mine !