“Antebellum” means “before the war,”‘so that’s obviously (to me) the most recent, since every year in human history (sadly) is probably a year before some war or other, including the current year.
Sometimes it’s specific to “before the US civil war,” so that’s anything up to 1861.
“Antediluvian,” similarly, means “before any flood”…but usually refers to “before the mythical Noah’s Ark flood,” with no well-defined date, so I went with “abstain” for that one. (I guess you could call it “older than ancient, but younger than prehistoric,” since the historical parts of the Old Testament took place between around 1000 and 500 BC).
As for reading a book in a language without using a dictionary, look: I read English novels using an English dictionary. How do you think I got such an extensive vocabulary? I filled up the endpapers of The Chymical Wedding by Lindsay Clarke noting down all the English words I didn’t know, and I’m well read.
I’ll do that with our cat. As a little exercise for my brain, I sometimes try to come up with new replies like “Yes, we should sit down together sometime and google that. We could learn some cool stuff.” Or “You know, I heard that Joe Montana made that a part of his vigorous training regimen.”
Or I might just meow back at him.
I think it’s good for both parties. Strengthens your connection with each other.
I wonder about the person who doesn’t talk to his pets. Does he have fish? I’d probably talk to my fish if i cared for them every day. I can’t imagine living with a cat or a dog and not conversing with it.
Edgar Allan Poe was my initial vocabulary-building find, though my 5th grade teacher was less than enchanted to have me use “tintinnabulation” in my papers.
Anchovies: A hard no. I love fish, but anchovies are all salt.
Beer: Love beer. Some varieties are better than others, but it’s all beer, and I have not tried any that are undrinkable.
Black licorice: Don’t like it at all.
Blue cheese: No. I eat a LOT of cheese, but I’m not fond of any veined cheeses.
Buttermilk: Neutral, because I don’t like to drink it, but it’s essential for cooking, like soaking chicken pieces(overnight), chicken-fried steak(a few hours) before frying, and in biscuits.
Cilantro: Love it and use it a lot.
Coffee: I really love it. Strong and black.
Liver: I’m neutral on this one. I like most pate and braunschweiger, but don’t eat unprocessed(?) liver. Poultry livers go to the dog, and the only time i ever bought beef liver was to use as chum for sharks.
Mushrooms: Yes. Love them.
Tofu: Neutral. I would never buy it myself, but the few times I’ve had it in a salad or a stir-fry it was unremarkable.
I talk to my dog all the time. Mostly in English, but frequently in German and French, and sometimes mixing languages. I also sing nonsense lyrics to her in whatever tune is my current earworm - anything from Eine Kleine Nachtmusik to The Yellow Rose of Texas to The Flintstones theme song.
All of my cats initiate conversation. Pippin says, “hi, I’m happy to see you’re back” and reaches to head butt my hand. Baba says, “i want to sit in your lap, make room”. Merry and Rachel say, “feed me, feed me”. They all say other things, too, but each of those cats initiates that specific conversation at least once a day.
My Pippin does this, too! When I come back into the house after being gone for any significant length of time, he hops up onto the dining room table, making rapid-fire “meows” in greeting, and asking to be greeted and petted. I call it our “welcome-home liturgy.”
Mine meets me at the base of the basement steps, next to the door to the garage. As soon as i walk in, there he is, wanting to say, “hi”. He’s the first cat I’ve had in more than 30 years who routinely greats me at the door.
Nelson greets me at the door, gives me a few head butts, and then takes off towards his food dish (because me returning from work means it’s feeding time).
Hmm, if i voted in that old trump poll, discourse has lost my vote. So i have no idea how i voted if i did. Which means i can’t answer the current poll.
But it’s an interesting question, “does this count as a different presidency than his first term?”. (He’s certainly been worse, but is he a “different president”? Dunno.)
For the roommate poll, I’m staying out of it. I’m not exposing him and I’m not covering for him either. I would be upfront with him and tell him straight up that I’m not doing anything to cover for him.
Yeah, I’m not going to outright lie to my roommate’s girlfriend, but neither am I going to tell her what’s going on. And I’m certainly not about to set up a trap for him.
