The return of the Steve
Steve Smith is back. He returned to blogging due to my sister-in-law Catrin's threat of abstinence. At least he told his fellow readers so.
I heard he will come to Germany next summer visiting us. I'm looking forward to it. Catrin will be back for Christmas. A three sister family reunion.
What else about family news? I became uncle for the sixth time some weeks ago. My elder brother and his wife received little Clara Charlotte, their third child. The first female baby besides our Emma. My sister Katharina has three sons.
So there are (in order of the age): Jonathan (6), Leander (4), Julius (3), Valentin (1), Emma, Titus and Clara (all 0).
Seven grandchildren for my parents. Not bad I think.
I think there will be no big pressure on me, concerning further children.
Emma started scrambling last weekend at my parents. Some first "steps" after crawling for some, I'm not certain concerning the distinction of the German words "robben" (on the belly) and "krabbeln" (on the knees), I will add two pictures maybe you can help me out? I don't know if crawling and scrambling are correct.
Tomorrow we will have the next family reunion my dad turns 66. In Germany there is a famous song "Mit 66 Jahren fängt das Leben an" of Udo Jürgens. Life starts at 66, this is your chance dad!
We will meet at the Olive, a very good Turkish restaurant.
I heard he will come to Germany next summer visiting us. I'm looking forward to it. Catrin will be back for Christmas. A three sister family reunion.
What else about family news? I became uncle for the sixth time some weeks ago. My elder brother and his wife received little Clara Charlotte, their third child. The first female baby besides our Emma. My sister Katharina has three sons.
So there are (in order of the age): Jonathan (6), Leander (4), Julius (3), Valentin (1), Emma, Titus and Clara (all 0).
Seven grandchildren for my parents. Not bad I think.
I think there will be no big pressure on me, concerning further children.
Emma started scrambling last weekend at my parents. Some first "steps" after crawling for some, I'm not certain concerning the distinction of the German words "robben" (on the belly) and "krabbeln" (on the knees), I will add two pictures maybe you can help me out? I don't know if crawling and scrambling are correct.
Tomorrow we will have the next family reunion my dad turns 66. In Germany there is a famous song "Mit 66 Jahren fängt das Leben an" of Udo Jürgens. Life starts at 66, this is your chance dad!
We will meet at the Olive, a very good Turkish restaurant.
posted by Konrad at 11:23 AM
9 Comments:
I believe you meant "abstinence". "Continence" is not an English word, but if you thought what I'm thinking now, then your mind was really on vacation.
Nun, falls das stimmt, dann irrt der Langenscheidt. Hier steht: continence = sexuelle Enthaltsamkeit. Aber ich werde es zwecks besserer Verständlichkeit doch in abstinence ändern.
I was about to make a snarky post of my own about how I didn't remember Catrin threatening voluntary control over fecal and urinary discharge when I discovered that, lo and behold, Konrad is quite correct, and that "continence" is perfectly synonymous with "abstinence" where sex is concerned.
Since he's given me an English lesson, it's only fair that I reciprocate: "to crawl" has to involve the limbs in some way (i.e. what Emma's just started doing), while "to slither" is the word that was always used in my family to describe moving along the ground without benefit of any elevation at all (like a snake).
Thanks for the welcome back, Konrad, and I'm looking forward to meeting you in the flesh in June or July.
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The Oxford English Dictionary still says: Continence is not a word!
Well, my sources include Meriam-Webster. Still, though, I've always thought that the OED was authoritative.
In any event, it's not a word that I see being particularily relevant in my life, so I'm quite prepared to let the matter drop.
Hee hee. This just in: continence not relevant to Steve's life!
And don't you ever, ever again let a matter of language drop. I despise you! Next thing you're going to be too tired to sort Shakespearean fridge poetry magnets by part of speech.
Sorry Catrin but both Webster and Oxford advanced learner's dictionary know the word continence! I cite Webster: Continence = self restraint in, esp. total abstinence from sexual activity.
Yeah, I proved to her yesterday that the OED does include it. She claimed that it "wasn't a real word" because it was a derivative of "continent". Then I laughed at her.
The important thing, though, is that I've never heard of this word before this conversation.
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