The Oddities of English

I was pondering the strangeness of the English language two days ago, especially how prefixes don't always work according to the expected rule.
For example, the prefix "in-" (meaning not) behaves quite strangely. "Edible" and "inedible" obey the rule and are antonyms. But "flammable" and "inflammable" are not opposites. "Flammable" means able to be set on fire, and "inflammable" means able to be inflamed (i.e. set of fire). Likewise, "habit" and "inhabit" are not opposites the way the rule would suggest. In fact, the relationship is quite complex, considering that "habit" is a noun and "inhabit" is a verb. The relationship between "tense" and "intense" is also not an antonym relationship.
As near as I can tell, the reason for this unusual behavior stems from the etymology of words. Sometimes, the "in-" as a prefix is the result of the Latin "intensifier prefix" (i.e. a prefix meaning "very"). In other words, "inflammable" results from taking "flammable" and adding "very" to the front of it.
This explanation, of course, is limited, and there are no doubt plenty of good etymologists out there who would take me to task for my incomplete ("not complete" :-) ) description of the issue. Still, it is one of the more difficult aspects of English for many speakers, native and non-native. The only aspect that I can think of that is more challenging is the use of the word "up," but that it is a discussion for another day.

Why, It Must Be Spring!

The weather's warmer. It rains about every other day, and I'm very tired because of the combined load of soccer and teaching. Yup, it must be Spring!

NCAA Tournament

There's something fascinating about the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament that seems to compel me to watch it more than regular season NCAA basketball. Perhaps it's the schools that I've never heard of beating the "power" programs. Perhaps it's the fact that any team could beat any other on a given day. Perhaps it's the variety of offenses, tactics, and strategies. Whatever it is, I've enjoyed watching the games, even though some of the results have not been what I anticipated.
Hopefully, the teams that I am the most interested in will make deep runs. If not, hopefully at least one low seed would make it in. Otherwise, the tournament will not be as fun to watch.
Regardless, with basketball almost over, it's time for baseball to kick into gear. The Royals don't look to be very good this year, but then again, you never know....

Snow on the First Day of Spring?

As the first day of Spring, March 20, draws closer, I've been watching the weather forecast (and forecast models) closely to see what the first day of Spring will be like. Right now, it appears that the weather will be winter weather. Snow is possible, and the wind chill will be in the low 20s or upper 10s. Not exactly a great start to Spring.
March 20, however, is astronomically the first day of Spring. It is the day of the vernal equinox. There will be 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness everywhere in the world. This event was chosen by scientists years ago to be the "official" start of Spring. The reality, however, depends on a myriad of local and climatological factors that the amount of daylight cannot affect. So, while the "official" first day of Spring may be on March 20, the true first day of Spring is going to be recognized only in hindsight: whatever day is the first of a sequence of days with "Spring-like" weather, define that how you will. (I suggest Spring be defined as a week in which 5 out of the 7 days have temperatures over 60 and whether the temperature never falls below 32.)
So, enjoy the nice the weather today (and possibly tomorrow), because winter is going to make one last gasp before bowing out to Spring.

Spring Break Project

Every Spring Break for the past two years, I've tried to work on some major home improvement project that I don't have time to do during the school year. This year, I thought I'd take on the task of removing the old, ugly, peeling wallpaper that currently haunts my kitchen.
I plan on starting tomorrow, but the process just became a bit more difficult because I have discovered that underneath two layers of wallpaper there is wood paneling. Particleboard paneling would be more accurate, or so it appears to me.
The problem with this paneling, however, is that it has been both glued and nailed to the wall. I know this because in on one edge of one wall, the glue has failed completely, and the paneling was pulled away from the wall, allowing me to see what's behind it.
So, in addition to having to strip wallpaper, I'm going to have to remove the particleboard paneling, trying not to do damage to the plaster walls that are underneath. Then, once the panels are off, I'm going to have to clean and sand the walls to allow them to be painted. If that sounds like a lot of work, well, it is. I'm not looking forward to this challenge. If it had just been wallpaper, that is one thing, but wood paneling adds an extra level of difficulty (and potential expense) to this project. It's a good thing I have most of the week to devote to it.
The end result will be worth it, of course, but it could make for a couple of hard days work to get the enjoyable part: painting.

Spring Break

I forgot to post on Wednesday. The stress of pre-Spring-Break drove the thought of posting from my mind. Spring Break is here, though, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing week of getting my kitchen looking better, instead of having peeling, old wallpaper.
That is about all I want to say. Thank you; good night.

Spring Is Here in an Instant

There's something about Kansas that seems to make the appearance of Spring-like weather a predictable, sudden phenomenon. Last week, it was in the 40s, cloudy, and very wintry. Then, by Tuesday of this past week, temperatures had suddenly jumped up to near 60 as the sun shone. It seemed like it was going to be winter for a couple more weeks, and that Spring Break would be cool and decidedly un-Spring-like. Instead, the weather has (almost instantaneously) changed. It is a wonderful change, although it is quite unexpected. I expected there to be more of a transition, with a few sunny days in the 40s. However, I guess that is not the case. We are getting sufficient sunlight, now, that the weather can become far more enjoyable than it has been. It came not a moment too soon, either, since soccer has started again, and nothing is more miserable than cold soccer practices and frigid soccer games. Hopefully, this great weather will continue to be in place over Spring Break. I would love to have the chance to get outside some during my week off.

Dawn Treader After All!

I just found out earlier today that The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, a project that I had assumed to be shelved indefinitely, is indeed coming to theaters. According to this article in Christianity Today, the movie is scheduled for a December 10, 2010, release. I'm excited to see this book make it to the big screen. I'm also excited that the film makers learned (at least partially) their lesson from the disaster of an adaptation that was Prince Caspian. It sounds like they have done a better job of remaining faithful to Lewis's original work. Since they have done so, I'm excited to see the final product. It's been since the summer that I set foot in a movie theater (May of last year, if my memory is correct), but I'm planning on hitting the theaters to see this one. I'm very much looking forward to it.