One Fat Cat
So Heather brought her cat, Zoe, back from the States. Zoe is a very easy cat. Low maintenance. Quiet. Uses her litter box and doesn't cause any problems. However, Zoe is fat. To quote Verbal Kint, "I'm talking orka fat."
Zoe responds to her name, which is convenient. But I call her "Fatso," for obvious reasons. She hears the "zo" part of "fatso" and responds as if I were calling her given name. Pretty amusing. Here she is enjoying the heated tile floor.
She has taken a real liking to our heated floor, especially one or two tiles which seem to be a center of the heat. But notice how she blends in with the tile as a lion in tall grass, or (perhaps more appropriately) a turtle amongst rocks. This makes it hard to see her at times, particularly at 6:40 in the morning when the sun is still below the horizon. I can't count the number of times I have inadvertantly kicked, shinned, or stepped on this poor fat cat because of her incredible camouflage abilities. I assure all the animal rights activists reading this that my less-than-gentle interaction with the cat is unintentional and done with no ill will.
On a completely different note, I recently got to thinking about the wonder that is the German language. The country France is called "France" in French, "France" in English, and "Francie" in Czech. Why is it that Germany is "Deutchland" in German, "Germany" in English, "L'Allemagne" in French, and "Nemecko" in Czech? What's up with the completely dissimilar translations?
Zoe responds to her name, which is convenient. But I call her "Fatso," for obvious reasons. She hears the "zo" part of "fatso" and responds as if I were calling her given name. Pretty amusing. Here she is enjoying the heated tile floor.
She has taken a real liking to our heated floor, especially one or two tiles which seem to be a center of the heat. But notice how she blends in with the tile as a lion in tall grass, or (perhaps more appropriately) a turtle amongst rocks. This makes it hard to see her at times, particularly at 6:40 in the morning when the sun is still below the horizon. I can't count the number of times I have inadvertantly kicked, shinned, or stepped on this poor fat cat because of her incredible camouflage abilities. I assure all the animal rights activists reading this that my less-than-gentle interaction with the cat is unintentional and done with no ill will.
On a completely different note, I recently got to thinking about the wonder that is the German language. The country France is called "France" in French, "France" in English, and "Francie" in Czech. Why is it that Germany is "Deutchland" in German, "Germany" in English, "L'Allemagne" in French, and "Nemecko" in Czech? What's up with the completely dissimilar translations?
posted by David at 11:48 PM
4 Comments:
Spanish and French(and other languages) take their name from the German Alemanni tribe. Německo is a little more complicated.
The following wikipedia entries are pretty interesting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_name_etymologies
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_country_names_in_various_languages_%28D-I%29
I want a cat! I'm so jealous!
Just like DC :)
"Picture Perfect" seminar host: "Now, folks, I don't wanna alarm ya, but scientists say forty percent of America's pictures... are hanging crooked. And I hear you asking: "Well, who's gonna straighten out all these artistic abominations?" Your friends? A neighbor? Those fat cats at Washington?"
-H
France in German is Frankreich... Now that's French!
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