Just heard my first Christmas ad on the radio, albeit it wasn’t advertising how many shopping days until the holidays so we’d better start spending now, it was to let people know about an upcoming holiday bazaar and not an ad itself.
Have you ever wondered where we got the word, “albeit.” Neither have I. But since computers make it so easy, I’m going to go off and find what that word means right now.
I’m back. Wasn’t that quick? The online Merriam Webster dictionary say’s its function is a conjunction (sounds like a good name for a country western song – “I met her at a luncheon, and said my function is a conjunction, and then my face she was a punchin’…”), and it comes from Middle English and means “conceding the fact, even though, or although.”
It also shows the pronunciation, \ȯl-ˈbē-ət, al-\, which no one can possibly decipher, so I’m going to tell you how to pronounce it using an example anyone can understand. If you’re a child from the South and a group of you want to play tag, and of course nobody wants to be it, but you’re a good kid and you step up to the plate, then you’re going to say: “I’ll be it,” but it will sound like: “All be it,” and that’s how this word is pronounced.
I’m always a little curious about words, but even more so about the gall of stores that put Christmas stuff out so early. It drives me nuts. Remember how we were all disgusted when it reared its ugly head before Thanksgiving? And now it’s pushed all the way back to Halloween and beyond.
We’ve all complained about it so much that I’m not going to go on and on. I purposely don’t buy the stuff until the last minute because that’s the way I do everything, but I tell myself I’m doing it out of spite to get back at them, and that gives me a lot of personal satisfaction.
Well, I’ve finally exhausted this topic. Have you ever wondered how many people with the last name Webster named their girl children Merriam? I’d sure be interested in knowing. Hold on and I’ll Google that and get back to you.
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