Here's to that Yankee Ingenuity, IWSG, Being Thankful,

Posting the First Wednesday of every month, the Insecure Writer's Support Group, is the brainchild of Alex Cavanaugh. YOU can sign up HERE to participate.

Every month a question will be posed that may prompt you to share advice, insight, a personal experience or story. Remember, the question is optional. You can write about anything that relates to your writing journey.

Let's give a warm welcome to our co-hosts:    Patrcia Josephine, Diedre Knight, Olga Godim, J. Lenni Dorner, and Cathrina Constantine!

This month's question is: If you ever did stop writing, what would you replace it with?

Well I'm not that prolific a writer to begin with so...  there are lots of things I'm interested in, lots of things to do, reading being one. Drawing, coloring, putting puzzles together. Was a time I played guitar and sang, tatted, did some sewing. Then there's always weeding. I do like to weed...

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Origins: a recurring post in which I delve into the history of a word or phrase.

Today's word is: YANKEE

This word has quite a story. To begin with it's Dutch and has several possible origins. One is that it could have begun as the nickname, Janke, which literally means "Little John." Or, it could come from the name Jan Kes a form of "John Cornelius." Or, it could be the name Jan Kaas, which means "John Cheese" a nickname the Flemish used on Dutchmen. 

Originally it was used by the English to insult the Dutch (particularly the freebooters) of New Amsterdam, the colony established on the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in 1624. However the Dutch were not phased and quickly turned it around and used the term to describe the English. But it didn't stick. It wasn't until the American Revolution that Yankee became the insult the English used to refer to all American natives and colonial inhabitants. 

The Americans naturally took the word on as their own and even reworked a derogatory song. Hence Yankee Doodle Dandy, a "popular tune of the American Revolution, apparently written c. 1755 by British Army surgeon Dr. Richard Schuckburgh while campaigning with Amherst's force in upper New York during the French and Indian War. The original verses mocked the colonial troops serving alongside the regulars, and the Doodle element might have been, or hinted at, the 18c. slang term for 'penis.' The song naturally was popular with British troops in the colonies during the Revolutionary War, but after the colonials began to win skirmishes...in 1775, they took the tune as a patriotic prize and re-worked the lyrics. The current version seems to have been written in 1776 by Edward Bangs, a Harvard sophomore who also was a Minuteman." On Line Etymology Dictionary

And now you will never think of Yankee Doodle Dandy the same way again!

LoanWord: A word adopted from a foreign language with little or no modification. 

Today's loan words are from Dutch. Some of these were a surprise.

Cookie, Aardvark (which means earth pig!) Avast (ye maties. It means, STOP!) Bazooka, Blink, Booze, Cruise, Dollar, Foist, Frolic, Geek, Golf!!!

Holster, Kink, School, Hooky, Puss (as in cat), Skate, Sled/Sleigh, Slim, Sloop, Snack, Stove, Waffle (my favorite breakfast food) Yacht.

The Aardvark and the Gofer

or

(Bill Murry Would Not Be Pleased)

The golfer eyed the lay of the golf course. He knew there was slim chance of making the long putt. But then he saw the aardvark. “Avast, you earth digger!” She had an idea. The gofer agreed. She dug a hole closer in return for a cookie.

Being Thankful

Today I am thankful that all went well with my sister's first checkup since having her heart valve replacement a year ago. She is already back home in the islands safe and sound.