Today in History

[dbostedo]

One of the things we don't hear much today is people calling family friends Uncle and Aunt. It was a sign of respect for family friends to call them that.

That wasn't my experience growing up in PA in the 70's and 80's at all. I can't remember ever referring to a close family friend as Uncle or Aunt. I HAVE gotten used to it in the 2000's though, as I have several close south/southeast Asian friends, and they use it regularly for close friends with their kids. Still seems strange to me, but I'm sometimes referred to as Uncle Dave...

 

[Doug Briggs]

I dunno. My best friend's parents were always Mr and Mrs Eastman. That was the respectful way I addressed adults. I get it, but Aunt and Uncle weren't the only ways to show respect.

 

[Bad Bob]

Don't know how much of a sign of respect it was so much as familiarity. It was way more likely to call them Major this or Col. that; they were more likely to call themselves "Uncle ?" when referring to themselves.
You would see some of the same families at different bases around the country and the world. We would see them way more often than our real relatives.

 

[Doug Briggs]

Don't know how much of a sign of respect it was so much as familiarity. It was way more likely to call them Major this or Col. that; they were more likely to call themselves "Uncle ?" when referring to themselves.
You would see some of the same families at different bases around the country and the world. We would see them way more often than our real relatives.

I'm picking up what you're putting down. It was definitely a military influenced thing in your world.

 

[Uncle-A]

Don't know how much of a sign of respect it was so much as familiarity. It was way more likely to call them Major this or Col. that; they were more likely to call themselves "Uncle ?" when referring to themselves.
You would see some of the same families at different bases around the country and the world. We would see them way more often than our real relatives.

My brother in law put 20 years in the army and his kids are always sir and mam.

 

[Andy Mink]

I dunno. My best friend's parents were always Mr and Mrs Eastman. That was the respectful way I addressed adults. I get it, but Aunt and Uncle weren't the only ways to show respect.

All my parents' friends and neighbors, actually any adult, were ALWAYS Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Even at 57, I still call them Mr. or Mrs. My kids have grown up calling our friends by their first names, as their kids do with us. Different times I suppose.

 

[dbostedo]

All my parents' friends and neighbors, actually any adult, were ALWAYS Mr., Mrs., or Miss. Even at 57, I still call them Mr. or Mrs. My kids have grown up calling our friends by their first names, as their kids do with us. Different times I suppose.

When I started working as a college intern in 1998, the place I worked (and still work now!) had a policy of using everyone's first name, even for managers, executives, etc. Well as an intern, I called a few of the engineers Mr. or Mrs. and got admonished a bit before I was able to change. It was hard having hardly ever (maybe never?) called adults by their first names before.

 

[Doug Briggs]

What kills me lately is being called 'sir'.

 

[cantunamunch]

What kills me lately is being called 'sir'.

*Makes note to shift address gender when in Breck *

But, seriously, this is all pretty light duty compared to any language that insists on preserving social hierarchy. English doesn't even have to deal with formal second person 'you' structures.

Imagine say, a South Korean engineer's head exploding when presented with @dbostedo 's workplace environment.

 

[dbostedo]

*Makes note to shift address gender when in Breck *

Sounds like a good idea, ma'am.

 

[Uncle-A]

When I started working as a college intern in 1998, the place I worked (and still work now!) had a policy of using everyone's first name, even for managers, executives, etc. Well as an intern, I called a few of the engineers Mr. or Mrs. and got admonished a bit before I was able to change. It was hard having hardly ever (maybe never?) called adults by their first names before.

When I was teaching I had the opportunity to see one of my earliest students come to the school I was working as a student teacher. She was given the same lunch time as mine and we would see each other daily and she would always call me Mr. and it was good to see she was getting into teaching because she was a great student.

 

[Uncle-A]

Today in 1873 Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers University draft the first set rules of College Football.

 

[Bad Bob]

1864 Confederate soldiers based in Canada crossed into St. Albans, Vermont, and robbed three banks in order to agitate the Union during the American Civil War.

Have always been a civil war buff but had not read this tale before.

 

[Uncle-A]

1864 Confederate soldiers based in Canada crossed into St. Albans, Vermont, and robbed three banks in order to agitate the Union during the American Civil War.

Have always been a civil war buff but had not read this tale before.

That is the first time I have heard that story, I wonder how they ended up in Canada to begin with?

 

[cantunamunch]

1864 Confederate soldiers based in Canada crossed into St. Albans, Vermont, and robbed three banks in order to agitate the Union during the American Civil War.

Have always been a civil war buff but had not read this tale before.

Yup, I have won bar bets on that one as being the northernmost land action of the US Civil War. Both CSS Shenandoah and CSS Alabama, of course, ranged further north than that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CSS_Alabama's_New_England_Expeditionary_Raid

CSS Shenandoah - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Uncle-A]

Today 22 October 2021 is National Nut Day. I don't know if this is a real thing but I do business with a website Nuts.com and they sent me an email saying it is National Nut Day and it just made me laugh. Maybe I should put this on the joke thread.

 

[Posaune]

Today 22 October 2021 is National Nut Day. I don't know if this is a real thing but I do business with a website Nuts.com and they sent me an email saying it is National Nut Day and it just made me laugh. Maybe I should put this on the joke thread.

National Nut Day was created by Liberation Foods Company as a way to do the right thing by the collectives of small nut farmers around the world. It was important to the company to stress to the public that their nuts were not only sustainably-grown, but that the company was committed to giving their nut farmers a fair minimum wage for their labor and their crops. Farmers growing Brazil nuts, peanuts and cashews from Malawi, Brazil, India, El Salvador and other Third World countries came together to form a Fair Trade collective under Liberation Foods’ umbrella.

National Nut Day appeared in 2015 on Liberation Foods website. Although the company is based in the United Kingdom, this holiday has spread far and wide, especially in the United States. The day is devoted to all things nuts-related including recipes and cooking tips. Many African countries infuse their daily meals with peanuts on a regular basis in stews and soups.

According to the Nutcracker Museum, nuts were a regular part of the human diet from as far back as almost 800,000 years ago! Early man used “nutting tools” to crack stones. Pecan remains from 6100 B.C. were discovered in a Texas cave. Early Europeans ate pistachios while Greeks and Romans believed that walnuts were a gift from the gods.

Eventually, the English sailed the Mediterranean with walnuts onboard ships. The nuts were used for trading. By the 18th century, walnuts arrived in the New World, specifically, California, when the Franciscan monks set foot on these new shores.

 

[Uncle-A]

National Nut Day was created by Liberation Foods Company as a way to do the right thing by the collectives of small nut farmers around the world. It was important to the company to stress to the public that their nuts were not only sustainably-grown, but that the company was committed to giving their nut farmers a fair minimum wage for their labor and their crops. Farmers growing Brazil nuts, peanuts and cashews from Malawi, Brazil, India, El Salvador and other Third World countries came together to form a Fair Trade collective under Liberation Foods’ umbrella.

National Nut Day appeared in 2015 on Liberation Foods website. Although the company is based in the United Kingdom, this holiday has spread far and wide, especially in the United States. The day is devoted to all things nuts-related including recipes and cooking tips. Many African countries infuse their daily meals with peanuts on a regular basis in stews and soups.

According to the Nutcracker Museum, nuts were a regular part of the human diet from as far back as almost 800,000 years ago! Early man used “nutting tools” to crack stones. Pecan remains from 6100 B.C. were discovered in a Texas cave. Early Europeans ate pistachios while Greeks and Romans believed that walnuts were a gift from the gods.

Eventually, the English sailed the Mediterranean with walnuts onboard ships. The nuts were used for trading. By the 18th century, walnuts arrived in the New World, specifically, California, when the Franciscan monks set foot on these new shores.

Thanks for the great little history lesson, I learned something new today. I think I will have a snack, any guesses what type?

 

[Posaune]

The day is devoted to all things nuts-related...

Time for another screening of It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World. I'll bring the peanuts.

(We'll meet under the Big W.)

 

[Living Proof]

What kills me lately is being called 'sir'.

Totally agree, it is much more about well trained people respecting elders.

Having said that, when I am called Sir, I tell them my dad was a combat infantry Lt. in WW2, he deserved the title of Sir. I've never earned that level of respect.