Winning A Bet
May
Reasons for Suing
Plagiarism
“Retirement”
Fires
Observing Traditions
Names of Months

Winning A Bet
07/05/01

According to a recent newspaper article, “in Britain, people bet on just about everything,” not only on the winners of sporting events or elections. “Those who want to wager on a novel matter submit the idea in writing to bookmakers,” who do some research and calculate the odds. Ten years ago, a 90-year-old man, who felt very healthy, went to a bookmaker and made a bet of 100 British pounds (about $200 dollars today) that he would live to be 100. The bookmaker looked at him and thought it unlikely that he would live that long and gave him 250-to-1 odds. The man recently celebrated his 100th birthday and received $50,000 from the bookmaker. The man attributed his long life to “not worrying too much and taking lots of holidays.” Reading this article, I was reminded of a “Daily Word” telephone message I had composed 24 years ago about the oldest man in Japan, who had just celebrated his 118th birthday and whose prescription for a long life was “Don’t worry nor let little things bother you and eat lots of vegetables.” His name was Shigechiyo Izumi. But when I read about him in the Japanese newspaper, I thought he was a woman for I knew a lady named Chiyo and, in Japanese, words such as “he/she,” “him/her,” are not used, so the gender of the person was not evident, even after I spoke to a newspaper reporter about the pronunciation of the person’s name. The next day, when a picture of the man with his white beard appeared in the newspaper, I hastily revised my spoken message on the tape recording and was reminded of the problems related to making accurate translations of languages of different cultures. (1056)

May
07/05/05

This fifth month in the Gregorian calendar is called May. As I was considering an appropriate message related to that name, including women named May or Mae, I again realized the irregularities of the spelling and pronunciation of English words. Can you understand the meanings of the following sentences? The maid made the meal. The male who delivers the mail is hale and hailed a taxi as it began to hail. Then he saw a knave enter a church and walk down the nave. In that church, after the pastor prays, the congregation sings hymns of praise while a spider preys on flies and other insects. In the choir, there was a man who sings bass on Sundays and plays first base on a baseball team during the week. On some days, he feels like he is in a daze. One day, he rode a horse with a black mane on a main road in the state of Maine. He held on to the rein even as it began to rain during the reign of the present monarch. As the horse swung his tail, he told a tale about a man who was concerned about the size of his waist and the waste of food along the road. He was willing to wait to eat if that would decrease his weight, but he preferred eating a steak to pounding a stake. The horse trotted at a normal gait until they arrived at the gate, where the rider waved to the security guard who waived the rules and permitted them to enter. Although there is no brake on a horse, the rider decided to break the ride and stop to see an interesting house with a large chimney above a great grate. He felt a little pain as he looked through the window pane and became pale when he found a pail, but he did not wail when he saw a whale. (1057)

Reasons for Suing
07/05/09

In the English language newspapers and magazines that I read these days, there are many stories of people suing other people, organizations or companies, seeking to obtain money for the words or actions that caused some kind of failure or hardship because they were mistaken or incorrect. Such a legal proceeding, which is settled in a court by a judge or a jury, may be called a “suit,” which does not refer to men’s clothes. The kind of suits worn by those involved in the suit should not influence the outcome. According to a recent news article, a British man is seeking compensation for a mistaken diagnosis by doctors at a certain hospital. The 62-year-old man asserted that he spent his life savings after being told he had only months to live. He said, “My life has been turned upside down by this. I was told I had limited time to live. I got rid of everything—my car, my clothes, everything.” Since the diagnosis was wrong and he is still living, he thinks the hospital should recognize the loss he suffered from the mistaken diagnosis and compensate him, but the hospital replies that there “was ‘no clear evidence of negligence’ on its part.” Another article noted that a Brazilian court ordered a brewer to pay $49,000 to an alcoholic beer taster who said he drank more than 3 pints of beer a day and the company did not provide the health measures needed to keep him from developing alcoholism. For a judge to make a correct, fair and appropriate decision in many such suits is very difficult, unless inner motives are clearly understood. So it is that the Apostle Paul, in I Corinthians 4:1-5, affirms that the Lord is his judge. (1058)

Plagiarism
07/05/13

Every morning, before we get up, a daily newspaper is delivered to our back door and my wife and I take turns reading it during and after our simple breakfast. Recently, I tend to become disheartened as I read the news. It is not only because of natural disasters such as typhoons, hurricanes, tsunami and forest fires, and not only because of the outrageous war in Iraq, corrupt governments and the suffering of innocent people who must struggle to stay alive. I am saddened to read of the immoral, unethical activities that have become so common in our country, including lying, killing, discrimination against people of different cultural or religious traditions, etc. Even respected religious leaders have been engaged in illegal, immoral activities. Some have been found guilty of financial scandals or sexual crimes and a recent article noted that some preachers were guilty of “plagiarism.” “Plagiary” denotes the stealing of the words/writings of another person and presenting them as one’s own. Students in college classes sometimes quote passages from the writings of others without using quotation marks. Now that there is so much material available on the Internet, using the words of others has become much easier and the sermons of some preachers have been found to come from another source. All preachers and writers, however, have learned from others and may imitate them. The American poet and author, Oliver Wendell Holmes, has written: “Honest thinkers are always stealing unconsciously from each other. Innocent plagiarism turns up everywhere.” Incidentally, readers may make use of quotations from these messages without permission, but I would appreciate your informing others about this webpage. (1059)

“Retirement”
07/05/17

Eight years ago, my wife and I “retired” from our work in Japan and became residents in the Penney Retirement Community in the northeast area of the state of Florida (http://www.penneyretirementcommunity.org). This retirement community was established in 1926 by J. C. Penney primarily for retired ministers, missionaries and others involved in church-related activities. Since the residents had all been involved in various kinds of Christian service, an emphasis on volunteerism has been a characteristic of the community from the beginning, which reduces the need for employing workers from outside. Along with the numerous volunteer activities, there are opportunities to become involved in many different areas of interest, including woodworking, weaving, painting, music, sports, literature, drama, writing, theology, philosophy, religions, etc. In fact, we have become so busy in various activities that we are thinking of a different meaning of “retire.” When the prefix “re” is added to a verb, it means “again,” and since we have become tired again, we feel “retired” in that sense also. This week, an annual celebration honoring the residents who have celebrated their 90th birthday was held. Of the approximately 520 residents, about 70 of them are in their nineties and three have celebrated their hundredth birthdays. Last week, a simple wedding ceremony was held here in which the oldest resident, a 101-year-old man was married to a longtime acquaintance of his who is also a resident here. Because of the news of devastating wildfires in this part of the country, many people have inquired about our condition, but as of this time, we have had no problem except for a smoky atmosphere at times. (1060)

Fires
07/05/21

How would you define the word “fire?” According to my dictionary, it is “a rapid, persistent chemical reaction that releases heat and light.” Truly, it is somewhat mysterious and the English author, Leigh Hunt, has called it “the most tangible of all mysteries.” In certain areas in the U. S. A. (including the state of Florida), recently, there have been many huge wildfires, or forest fires, that have not only destroyed large portions of forests but the homes of residents as well. A lack of rain and strong winds has complicated the efforts of firefighters to contain, control or extinguish the fires. In our area, some highways have been closed at times due to smoke which limits the vision of drivers and some residents have been advised to evacuate. While composing this message, I was surprised at the large number of words listed in the dictionary that begin with “fire,” from “fire alarm” to “fireworks.” “Fire” may also denote “enthusiasm” or, as a verb, it may be used in an informal sense to mean “discharge from a position; dismiss.” The fire of President Bush’s supporters has dwindled further after the president of the World Bank, who he had appointed, was fired. The phrase “no smoke without a fire” implies that there is some foundation for every scandal, of which there are too many these days, and “to play with fire,” means to meddle with that which is perpetually dangerous or harmful. It is better for politicians, military leaders and common people not to “play with fire.” In the first part of chapter 3 of the New Testament Letter of James, it is written that “the tongue also is a fire” and a small spark may set a great forest on fire, so we should all be careful what we say. (1061)

Observing Traditions
07/05/25

One of the signs of getting old is the fading of memory. Because my memory is not as sharp as it used to be, I always carry a pocket calendar with me so that I can be reminded of my schedule for the day and for days ahead. Some people may be confused when they read the words on certain dates of that calendar—not because of what I scribbled in but because of what is written on the calendar itself. For example, on Monday, May 28, is written: “Memorial Day (Observed).” Two days later, on May 30, is written: “Memorial Day (Traditional).” So what is to be “observed” on Monday? In this case, the 6th definition of “observe” given in my dictionary is applicable: “to keep or celebrate (a holiday, for example).” Since the end of the Civil War, in 1865, the graves of soldiers who died during that war were visited and decorated by their families and friends so the day on which that was done became known as “Decoration Day” or “Memorial Day.” The traditional day to visit the graves of loved ones who had died in battle was May 30, until 1968 when the United States Congress changed the date to the fourth Monday of May. At first, the visitation was to the graves of soldiers killed in the Civil War. Then, those who died in other wars were also included and now, observances include all deceased persons, civilian as well as military. This year, Memorial Day will have a special meaning for many families who have lost loved ones in the present wars. As a result of the Civil War, the United States of America remained united and we are thankful for the good result of that war. Unfortunately, it is difficult to believe that we will have a similar feeling following the conclusion of the present wars, which are very different. (1062)

Names of Months
07/05/28

The names of the 12 months of the year are very easy to remember in Japanese because they are composed simply of the number plus the term for “month,” or “moon.” In English, however, every month has a separate name, which must be remembered. Perceptive minds will recognize that the English names of the last 4 months of the year have prefixes that are related to other numbers. The names of these months were originally given when a year was divided into 10 months and the names remained even after 2 additional months were inserted at the beginning of the year. Thus, “Sept” at the beginning of the 9th month in the present calendar is related to the Latin word for 7. A “septennial” occurs every 7 years and a “septet” is a musical group of 7 singers or instrumentalists. “Oct,” from the Latin word for 8, is also found in “octet,” a group of 8 singers or musicians, and an “octagon” is a polygon with 8 sides and 8 angles. “Nov” is rooted in the Latin word for 9. In the Roman Catholic Church, a “novena” consists of prayers and devotions for a special purpose repeated for 9 consecutive days. A period of 10 years is called a “decade” and a “decimal” is a number based on 10. The names of the months preceding September also were originally related to the Latin words for 5 and 6, but they were later changed to honor a couple of outstanding Roman leaders. When the name of the 5th month was changed to “July” in honor of Julius Caesar in 44 B.C.E., an additional day was added, so that month now has 31 days. About two decades later, the name of the 6th month was changed to August in honor of the first Roman emperor, Augustus. (1063)