I know it seems like I'm just being a bit lazy here, having just done a post on the word carat. Okay, I am a bit lazy, but if that were totally the case, I would have just drifted off over into the word caret, as my typing seemed to have drifted over in that direction anyway. (I hope this has been mainly corrected by now, but you never know.)
No, this is a little bit stranger than that. Even though I may not know carat from caret, I certainly do know both from carrot, so I am not sure what byway led me to an old recording of The Carrot Seed Song the other night.
Although we had a lot of records when I was little, I guess we must have not had that many that were just for kids, because I listened to this one a lot. It's a simple story, but I think it's kind of an interesting one, since it warns the youthful hero not just against his detractors, but even against his well-wishers. Have a listen.
(Something seems to be wrong with the embed feature, so here's the link just in case: http://youtu.be/tpONMLBVqZI )
I remembered this song well enough in high school that I could do a full dramatic rendition. (Okay, so it wasn't that hard.) I'd like to say that I learned the stalwartness it was meant to teach, but I'm afraid I can't.
I will say that it seems to have made a strong impression on others of my era as well (Notice the guy in the chair. A lot of my audiences probably felt the same way.)
Ditto what I said above: http://youtu.be/SUrevGSu7Ik
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I love carets. I use them every night when marking up page proofs, which is not at all to imply any criticism of the writing at my newspaper. So if you drift yoward that word, you'll likely get no complaint from me.
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Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/
Well, I've got to admit it may come up.
ReplyDeleteIf you do take up carets, find out if they can be reproduced in their prooper place and with their proper function on a computer keyboard.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
Wowza. If you don't know, it may be a matter too abstruse for me. But if I give the topic a go, I'll let you know what I find out.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who manages a blog devoted to vocabulary and word origins, as well as several other blogs, cannot be called lazy!
ReplyDeleteBrian O
You have set a huh bar. I know you can do it. I like being able to create strikethroughs on my screens. Carets would be even better.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous Brian O, I'm sorry to say that you are wrong about that.
ReplyDeletePeter, I like this huh bar of which you write. The "Huh!" bar is about as high as I can aspire here.
I did think of a new verse for the carrot seed song though.
It starts, Oh, carats grow from carob seeds.
I haven't quite worked out the ending...