Word of the day

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some random words

Feckless means ineffective, lacking initiative or strength of character, irresponsible, ineffective- as in: her
feckless middle child could not be counted on to pick up the pizza on the way home.

The jig is up Well we pretty much know what this means, but what is this jig we are speaking of?
Basically the phrase means something like- your plot has been discovered, your scheme is ended, your deception is dashed...
It's all over, you are found out and it's all over- but nobody is really sure what "jig'" they refer to. The most probable jig is the dance- Sort of like saying
"the dance is over, now you must pay the piper. "Pay the piper" comes from the story about the Pied Piper of Hamlin,
who god rid of the rat infestation and must be paid (or else). Pied means "multi-colored" and refers to the pipers clothes.

Vapid means offering nothing stimulating or interesting, dull, uninspired, uninteresting.
It comes from a 17th century word that described a flavorless drink, like a so-so wine, for example.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Karma or Dharma?
(what's the Difference)

I am no expert on Religions, or anything really, but the other day
I saw a YouTube video about someone who invented a way to count cards
by building a special electronic shoe with a couple internal switches. Without
going into the mental gymnastics of card counting- all you really need to know
is if the count of favorable cards is, overall, positive or negative.
So, by observing the flow of cards and flicking his toe up or down (positive or negative)
the electronic counter keeps tabs on the optimum time to make a larger bet on the presumed outcome.

It reminded me of the way most people think of Karma as the accumulation of "Brownie points".
So, I looked it up.

Karma is often used interchangeably with Dharma, but there is a difference between the two. Karma results from our past and present actions and those we will perform, while Dharma is righteousness, a moral code of living. Dharma can also mean religion or belief system.

What is Dharma?​

The Sanskrit word Dharma comes from the root word ‘Dhri,’ meaning to act. As addressed in Buddhism, Dharma or Dhamma also means ‘one that holds.’ Dharma is a philosophy as much as an ethical or moral way of living, and the belief is that when one lives a life aligned with one’s Dharma, one achieves happiness and well-being. Dharma, also meaning truth, is one’s path to liberation. It is the foundation of how one lives a pious life. It combines moral code along with spiritual discipline as guiding principles. Dharma is everything that holds the religious society together, prevents chaos, and does not let individuals get into unfavorable or harmful actions or company.

Dharma includes religious practices and duties like being honest, nonviolent, and following the four ashramas. More spiritually speaking, following one’s dharma is believed to bring one closer to the divine, material prosperity, and spiritual bliss. It brings one joy, peace, strength, protection, and equanimity.

What is Karma?​

Karma is a seed of action, an impression that births action as much as determines the result of the action. There are various types of karma based on time of action, morality, and karma of individuals, collective beings, families, and nations. Based on values, karma can be good or bad. Any action that harms oneself or others is bad or negative karma and is believed to bring a similar consequence upon the soul. Similarly, an action that benefits others is good karma and brings back identical results. But karma is said to be time-bound and yet may work across lifetimes. In fact, karma is considered the cause of birth and death for those not yet enlightened.

Based on time of action, karma is of three types—Prarabdha, Sanchita, and Agami—based on whether the action has been performed and is already bearing results, is yet to be performed, or is going to be performed.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Gird or gird your loins

Well, first of all what do they mean by "loins'?

Loins would be the hip area, maybe the abdominal area or the waist area.
In the old days (Roman time, for example) they wore togas and capes and tunics
that tended to be long, sort of like dresses, and not really designed for battle, fighting,
that sort of thing. So, when trouble was brewing, they would "gird their loins".
Gird means to tie up or strap with a belt or rope to get all the hanging parts of their clothes
strapped up and out of the way so they could fight, or get to work without tripping over their own clothes.

So, the word "gird" has come to mean preparing for a difficult situation. The tennis team
would have to gird themselves for the national finals against the undefeated Eagles.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Here are a couple sentences from the book, Dracula.

They whirled round and gathered in clusters in a Nebulous sort of way. I watched them
with a sense of soothing and a sort of calm came over me. I leaned back in the
embrasure in a more comfortable position, so that I could enjoy more surely the ariel gamboling.

Nebulous- Hazy, indistinct, cloud or fog-like- lacking definite form.
Is jazz completely nebulous or is there some underlying form or rules that make it understandable?

Embrasure- Sometimes referred to as "arrow slit" or "loophole", an embrasure is a door
or window with slanted sides so the opening is wider on the inside than the outside. they are used
in a fortress to give those firing arrows, guns, even cannons, protection from outside forces.

Gamboling- To run, skip, move about, frolic, dance playfully.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some words that you may never use- from a crossword puzzle I just finished

Matriculate
- Means to enroll in and attend courses in a college or university.
Matriculate has also been used by a certain coach and some broadcasters to mean "move the ball downfield"-
why?- I don't know.

Scarebabe- an outdated word meaning an ogre or boogeyman- something to strike fear into children.

Wawaskeeshes- Another word we will likely never use. It is a native American word for "deer".

Sere- means "dried up", "withered", "parched", "shriveled", and is usually applied to vegetation.

Seer- A person who is supposedly able to, with supernatural insight, see the future.

Cere- the fleshy, waxy covering of the upper beak is some birds.

Barre- a bar, sort of like a handrail, found in ballet studios, that dancers can hold onto while practicing movement.
It is also a clamp (or just a finger) that holds down all the guitar (or similar instrument) strings at a given fret to change the key or to make various cords.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Peculation

The act of illegally taking or using money that is entrusted to your care.
Similar to embezzlement, peculation is more commonly
used in reference to public fund or property, rather than that of an individual.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Pleonasm or neoplasm, tautology or redundancy

A neoplasm is an abnormal growth of tissue- a tumor

Pleonasm is the use of unnecessary words- for example-

He could see with his own eyes- well how else does one see? So, you don't need to say with "eyes".
She groped her way through the black darkness...

A Tautology is a form of neoplasm where one says the same thing in different words- Just a few examples-
They stood in close proximity. In my opinion, I think it is a good book. Things will not be the same after we make the changes.

Redundancy is pretty much the same as tautology "ATM machine" ("M" already stands for machine)
 

Youngheart

Semi-Pro
Troglogyte 〰️

(1) A dumb jerk of a tennis opponent who continually
sends drop shots, when he knows that you, and you alone
in the tennis club, have pain in the fragile Achilles tendon.

(2) A school dropout, and Muscle Beach L.A. constant dweller,
who's only proud social skill, is to steal away your new girlfriend.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some random words

Consort
- can be a verb or a noun.
As a noun it means a companion and can refer to a person's husband or wife, but, in most cases it will be used
to mean the wife of a King, in other words- a Queen by marriage into the royal family (Queen Consort).
A Queen who inherits the throne through birthright is called a Queen Regnant.

Prolix means "overly wordy", either in speaking or writing- long winded, drawn out.

Spume- comes from a Latin word for "foam". It is usually used to refer to sea foam- foam on or created by waves.
Sometimes spume is used to refer to any similar foam that resembles the spume of waves.
I left the oatmeal in the microwave too long. When I got back the bottom surface was covered with a gluey spume.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Soup to nuts- basically means "the whole thing from start to finish- nothing left out".
It comes from a term describing a full-course dinner, starting with soup, then various courses, and, finally some nuts.
It is also the name of an old Three Stooges movie, before they took the name "Stooges".
Everything you need to build your coffee table is in this box- it's all in there, soup to nuts.

Kit and caboodle- comes from a Dutch term- probably describing things a soldier might carry. The "kit" is the assortment
of gear, the caboodle was the pack to carry it all. So, it means "everything you need and something to carry it in".

The whole shebang- means "everything", a matter, a plan, an operation, event... The parade takes a lot of planning
and organization, but my mother is in charge of the whole shebang.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Oh, one more-

Run the gamut
- means to comprise the full range of something, the full spectrum.
For example: "My skill in playing brass instruments, runs the gamut from fife to Tuba".
Or, in a more ironic sense- a sarcastic review of an actress- "She ran the gamut of emotions from A to B".
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
The other day I was trying to explain something that happens in tennis (visually) when
at first yo see the opponent's court as a whole space, then suddenly your vision shifts
from a panoramic view to focus on the smallness of the ball as it leaves the opponent's racket.

This is called a saccadic eye movement.

A saccadic eye movement is a rapid, jerky, eye movement that typically occurs when shifting focus to a new point in the visual field, and it is closely linked to a shift in attention, meaning that when we move our eyes to a new location, our attention usually shifts there as well, allowing us to process information at that new point with greater detail; essentially, the act of planning a saccade often involves a pre-saccadic shift of attention towards the intended target location.

Sometimes we have to take in the "whole picture" sometimes we have to "watch the ball"
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Ambient

We know what it means, we've heard it a thousand times, but if you had to write a definition, what would it be?

So, write your definition or just think it in your brain.

Definition(s)

Ambient comes from a Latin word meaning "going around". Basically it means "relating to ones surroundings"- the temperature, the atmosphere, the music playing in the background. It can be a mood, a general feeling, natural sounds of the environment, sounds like ocean waves or birds chirping. The overall atmosphere of ones surroundings- festive, subdued, ecpectant...
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Gambit

The word "gambit" comes from an Italian word meaning "tripping up"".
Basically it is some kind of opening or beginning, plot, ploy, scheme, maneuver, tactic- designed to gain an advantage.

His threat to resign was a gambit to to win over other disgruntled employees.

In chess, the meaning is similar. A gambit is an opening move, sometimes with the sacrifice of a piece,
designed to improve ones positioning.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Ouroboros

Ouroboros comes from Greek terms that mean "tail devourer".
Though the name name be different in different areas of the world, and at different times,
the image of a snake (sometimes a dragon) eating its own tail is a common one that represents
very similar meanings- such a the cycle of life and death, the beginning and end of all things,
creation and destruction.

Video-
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Sublime
Sublime means having a quality of greatness beyond all normal comparisons or degrees of measurement.
Something that is sublime is, basically, "off the charts", "beyond compare".

A piece of music might be considered sublime, a ballet dancer's perfect movement might be referred to as sublime,
a Slurpee from the service station would almost never be called "sublime".

Sublimation sounds/looks like it should be related to sublime in some way, but in this case in stead of meaning "up to the limit" (sublime),
it means "below the threshold". In this case- below the threshold of consciousness.
If something is subliminal or sublimated, it is something working to influence behavior, thoughts, understanding, decisions, feelings- in ways that we are unaware of.
Poets and artists try to find ways to access their unconscious and discover subliminal truths that in most people remain hidden.


 
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Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Cavalry or calvary

Cavalry-
is derived from a Latin word for horse.
It became a word to describe soldiers who fought, scouted, patrolled on horseback.
Now it can be used to describe soldiers who do basically the same things, but using
modern vehicles, helicopters and so on.

Calvary- (Latin for place of the skull) is the name of an area in the middle East outside of Jerusalem where Jesus
was believed to have been crucified. By extension it can be used to refer to any place of
extreme suffering.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Cobra effect- The "cobra effect" refers to an ironic situation where a legitimate attempt to solve a problem
results in opposite results.


The name comes from an actual event.
Back during the time of British Raj in India, the Brits wanted to reduce the cobra population
and offered a bounty for each snake turned in.
The whole concept backfired when people started breeding cobras to cash in on the program.
When the program was canceled, the cobras being raised were released and their population increased dramatically.

The Streisand effect

In general The term refers to situations where an attempt to censor, hide, or prevent something- results in
that thing gaining even more notoriety.
There was a video of the Southern California coast that just happened to show Barbra Streisand's home.
Her attorneys attempted to bar the showing of the footage. Instead the conflict made the location of her home
more well-known than ever before, just like attempts to censor books will often increase their sale.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some words that start with lim.

Limpet

A limpet is a sort of marine mollusk with a conical shell that is known for clinging tightly to rocks.
They are edible, though I would not knowingly eat one. The word is sometimes used to describe humans
or any non-mollusk that is overly dependent or "clingy".
There is a type of bomb called a limpet bomb that has magnets that hold it to a ships hull (placed by divers?) that
can be detonated later.

Limpid
Means completely clear-containing nothing to make it cloudy- often used to describe water, eyes, or even music.
His limpid gray eyes watched the students taking the SAT.
The moray eel was highly visible below the limpid Caribbean waters.

Lipid
A lipid is an organic compound composed mainly of hydrogen chains. fatty acids, oils, hormones, or steroids
 
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Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Mortify

Mortify comes from the Latin (mort) for death.
If someone is mortified it means they are experiencing extreme embarrassment
or humiliation. It is a feeling of just wanting to "die from embarrassment".

Mortadella

Mortadella is not derived from the Latin for death.
It is the name of a type of sausage similar to bologna.
Unlike bologna, that is fairly uniform throughout, mortadella has
bits of white chunks, black specks and greenish bits.
The white things are bits of fat, the black is peppercorns and the green
things are pistachios.
The "Morta" part comes from the mortar (and Pestle) that was (in the old days)
used to mix it all up.

Mordent

Mordent is used to describe a type of humor that is often caustic, sarcastic, critical.
Because of his tendency toward mordent humor, he was removed from the party invite list.
There is a similar word "mordant" that has to do with music.

A moratorium is a postponement, a break, a pause, a time-out, a ban or prohibition-
such as a moratorium on bombing during the religious holidays.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Psychopomp

Psychopomp comes from Greek roots meaning conductor of souls.
A psychopomp is a person, spirit, angel, god or demigod that guides the dead to their final resting place.
Charon (Greek myth) rowed the dead across the river Styx. Saint Peter is, in stories and jokes, in
charge of the heavenly gates, Anubis is the Egyptian version of a psychopomp, Valkyries the Norse equivalent.

Other terms for psychopomp are "Grim Reaper", "Angel of Death", "Pale Rider" and Shinigami (Skeleton with a scythe).
 

Youngheart

Semi-Pro
I suppose the psychopomp had a rather heartfelt encounter with the local French gas station "pumpist."
How many times have pumpists been warned not to smoke cigarettes while they pump gas? Too late now. :cry:
 
demesne

noun

possession of land as one's own:
land held in demesne.
an estate or part of an estate occupied and controlled by, and worked for the exclusive use of, the owner.
land belonging to and adjoining a manor house; estate.
the dominion or territory of a sovereign or state; domain.
a district; region.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
The staff of Hermes vs the rod of Asclepius

Hermes was the messenger god, but also a god of thieves and liars, commerce, but
not a god of medicine. Some how his staff or symbol, Caduceus, a sword entwined by two serpents
with wings at the top came to be used as a symbol for medicine.

But really, Asclepius (son of Apollo) was the "god of medicine"
and his symbol, the rod of Asclepius, is the correct medical symbol.
Asclepius's rod has on one snake wrapped around it and there are no wings
at the top.

Here is a short video that basically says the same thing.

 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Peripatetic

Means traveling from place to place, especially for work
or business, often staying in any one location for just a short time
before moving on.

Traveling long distances, especially over a long period
of time cans be called peregrinations- from Latin roots meaning "to travel abroad".

A group engaged in peripatetic peregrinations might just be called nomads.
 

Youngheart

Semi-Pro
Yes, we've all seen those tireless peripatetics, those of the gaunt sunken cheeks,
those who roam the whole world, losing in first rounds in every tennis tournament.
Onward they ceaselessly travel, with the burning desire to finally enter a second round.
------ So Be It :eek: ------
 

Sudacafan

Bionic Poster
Peripatetic

Means traveling from place to place, especially for work
or business, often staying in any one location for just a short time
before moving on.

Traveling long distances, especially over a long period
of time cans be called peregrinations- from Latin roots meaning "to travel abroad".

A group engaged in peripatetic peregrinations might just be called nomads.
Not to be mistaken with peripathetic.
(Pathetic people all around us, in the perimeter).
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
The staff of Hermes vs the rod of Asclepius (oops, double post)

Hermes was the messenger god, but also a god of thieves and liars, commerce, but
not a god of medicine. Somehow his staff or symbol, a sword entwined by two serpents
with wings at the top came to be used as a symbol for medicine.

But really, Asclepius (son of Apollo) was the "god of medicine"
and his symbol, the rod of Asclepius, is the correct medical symbol.
Asclepius's rod has on one snake wrapped around it and there are no wings
at the top.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Some words that end with Rama

Diorama
- a diorama is a three dimensional representation of something-
usually in miniature, but sometimes in full size. It could represent an historical battle,
a scene from nature. If you go to a museum and see a display representing (in 3D)
a lion hunting in nature- that would be a diorama. In the movie, Beetlejuice, the representation
of a town built to scale up in the attic would be a diorama.

Cyclorama- a cyclorama is a painting, drawing or photograph that depicts a 360 degree
scene when when from the inside- while it is mounted on the walls of a circular room.
Sometimes in a stage play the background or sky is depicted by stretching a canvas or
cloth across the back of the stage. That is also called a cyclorama.


Pleorama- a pleorama is sort of like a moving cyclorama. the people would stay in one place,
often in a model of a boat or a carriage and the painting would roll by on either side of them so
that they could look out the windows and have the illusion of traveling through a town, or mountain range.
or something else. The concept is still used (sort of) in entertainment parks.
 

Youngheart

Semi-Pro
Srshorama 〰️

The grand "coming out party" of a tennis exhibition for the new young stars,
who were taught by the mystical Talk Tennis person called Srsh.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
  • Some collective nouns (animals)

  • A clutter of spiders
  • A barrel of monkeys
  • A barren of mules
  • A bask of crocodiles
  • A battery of barracudas
  • A bazaar of guillemots
  • A bed of clams/eels/oysters/snakes
  • A clan of hyenas
  • A bloat of hippos
  • An army of ants
  • A herd of boars
  • A herd of cattle
  • A litter of cubs
  • A pride of lions
  • A troop of monkeys
  • A fall of lambs
  • A swarm/hive of bees
  • A flink of cows
  • A swarm of flies
  • A bed of cockles
  • A caravan of camels
  • A flutter of butterflies
  • A tower of giraffes
  • A yoke of oxen
  • A pod of whales
  • A kennel of dogs
  • A flight of dragons
  • A bale of turtles
  • A clowder of cats
  • A cluster of bees/grasshoppers
  • A clutter of cats/starlings
  • A colony of ants/beavers/gulls/penguins/rabbits
  • A congress of baboons
  • A cowardice of curs
  • A crash of rhinos
  • A cry of hounds
  • A culture of bacteria
  • A down of hares
  • A doylt of swine
  • A draught of fish
  • A dray of squirrels
  • A drift of pig/swine
  • A drove of cattle
  • An earth of foxes
  • A family of otter
  • A fesnyng of ferrets
  • A field of racehorses
  • A float of crocodiles
  • A flock of geese/lice/sheep
  • A fluther of jellyfish
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Words that mean something like "swamp".

Fen, marsh, wetland, bog, peat bog, bayou, moor, slough,
mire, quagmire, morass, ooze, sump, wash, carr. More?

Note- there are differences- depending on terrain, vegetation,
source of water and so on- so choose carefully before writing that novel.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Boffo

Boffo is the term used in entertainment journals to describe something that is
a major success- attracting huge audiences and favorable reviews
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Assay vs Essay vs sashay

Assay is a word you sometimes hear in old Western movies where a prospector,
prospecting for gold, takes his flakes and nuggets to the assayer's office.
To assay something is to evaluate or analyze its composition and purity.

An essay is a written composition that explores some topic, question or viewpoint.
An essay is shorter than a full-blown research paper or thesis and has an introduction,
body, and conclusion.

Both words evolved from a middle-French word meaning "test' or "effort".
So, in a way they both mean "test". An assay tests the makeup of a substance. An essay
tests your ability to reason and present ideas and arguments in a convincing manner.

Sashay comes from a mispronunciation of a French ballet term (chasse') that basically means to glide-
often in a sideways manneer. If you have ever been forces to square dance , you might have had to-
sashay left and do si do.
 
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Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
The origins of some nicknames are obvious. It’s easy to see why Ed is short for Edward, Nick is short for Nicholas, and Ally is short for Allison. Other diminutives require more explanation. If you’re curious how Margaret turned into Peggy, or how Richard led to Dick, check out the histories of 10 nicknames that push the limits of the term.

1.​

Dick Van Dyke

The actor Richard "Dick" Van ****. | Paul Morigi/GettyImages
The name Richard is very old and was popular during the Middle Ages. In the 12th and 13th centuries everything was written by hand and Richard nicknames like Rich and Rick were common just to save time. Rhyming nicknames were also common and eventually Rick gave way to Dick and Hick, while Rich became Hitch. Dick, of course, is the only rhyming nickname that stuck over time. And boy did it stick. At one point in England, the name Dick was so popular that the phrase “every Tom, Dick, or Harry” was used to describe Everyman.

2.​

Bill Gates

William Henry Gates III, who goes by the nickname Bill. | WPA Pool/GettyImages
There are many theories on why Bill became a nickname for William; the most obvious is that it was part of the Middle Ages trend of letter swapping. Much how Dick is a rhyming nickname for Rick, the same is true of Bill and Will. Because hard consonants are easier to pronounce than soft ones, some believe Will morphed into Bill for phonetic reasons. Interestingly, when William III ruled over England in the late 17th century, his subjects mockingly referred to him as “King Billy.”

3.​

Baseball player Hank Aaron.

Baseball player Henry "Hank" Aaron. | John Vawter Collection/GettyImages
The name Henry dates back to medieval England. (Curiously, at that time, Hank was a diminutive for John.) So how do we get Hank from Henry? Well, one theory says that Hendrik is the Dutch form of the English name Henry. Henk is the diminutive form of Hendrick, ergo, Hank from Henk. Hanks were hugely popular here in the States for many decades, though by the early ’90s the name no longer appeared in the top 1000 names for baby boys. But Hank is making a comeback! In 2010, it cracked the top 1000, settling at 806. By 2013 it was up to 632.


4.​

Jack Nicholson.

John "Jack" Nicholson. | Roy Jones/GettyImages
The name Jack dates back to about 1200 and was originally used as a generic name for peasants. Over time, Jack worked his way into words such as lumberjack and steeplejack. Even jackass, the commonly used term for a donkey, retains its generic essence in the word Jack. Of course, John was once used as a generic name for English commoners and peasants (John Doe), which could be why Jack came became his nickname. But the more likely explanation is that Normans added -kin when they wanted to make a diminutive. And Jen was their way of saying John. So little John became Jenkin and time turned that into Jakin, which ultimately became Jack.

5.​

Chuck Berry playing guitar on stage.

Charles "Chuck" Berry. | Michael Ochs Archives/GettyImages
“Dear Chuck” was an English term of endearment and Shakespeare, in Macbeth, used the phrase to refer to Lady Macbeth. What's this have to do with Charles? Not much, but it’s interesting. However, Charles in Middle English was Chukken [PDF] and that’s probably where the nickname was born.

6.​

The name Margaret has a variety of different nicknames. Some are obvious, as in Meg, Mog, and Maggie, while others are downright strange, like Daisy. But it’s the Mog/Meg we want to concentrate on here as those nicknames later morphed into the rhymed forms Pog(gy) and Peg(gy).

7.​

Senator Ted Kennedy

Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy. | Wally McNamee/GettyImages
The name Ted is yet another result of the Old English tradition of letter swapping. Since there were a limited number of first names in the Middle Ages, letter swapping allowed people to differentiate between people with the same name. It was common to replace the first letter of a name that began with a vowel, as in Edward, with an easier to pronounce consonant, such as T. Of course, Ted was already a popular nickname for Theodore, which makes it one of the only nicknames derived from two different first names.

8.​

Prince Harry, whose full name is Henry Charles Albert David.

Prince Harry, whose full name is Henry Charles Albert David. | Samir Hussein/GettyImages
Since Medieval times, Harry has been a consistently popular nickname for boys named Henry in England. Henry was also very popular among British monarchs, most of whom preferred to be called Harry by their subjects. This is a tradition that continues today as Henry Charles Albert David, as he was Christened, goes by Prince Harry. Of course, Harry is now used as a given name for boys. In 2006, it was the 595th most popular name for boys in the United States. One reason for its upsurge in popularity was the huge success of the Harry Potter books.

9.​

There are no definitive theories on how Jim became the commonly used nickname for James, but the name dates back to at least the 1820s. For decades, Jims were pretty unpopular due to “Jim Crow” laws. The name derived from a minstrel character used to perpetuate racist stereotypes in 19th-century America. The name “Jim Crow” soon became associated with African Americans and by the early 20th century, Jim Crow aimed to promote segregation in the South. Jim has since shed its racial past, and is once again a popular first name for boys all by itself, sans James.

10.​

Sally was primarily used as a nickname for Sarah in England and France. Like some English nicknames, Sally was derived by replacing the R in Sarah with an L. Same is true for Molly, a common nickname for Mary. Though Sally from the Peanuts never ages, the name itself does and has declined in popularity in recent years. Today, most girls prefer the original Hebrew name Sarah.
 

Bagumbawalla

Talk Tennis Guru
Vision Quest (sometimes Wilderness Quest)

The concept is often associated with Native American people as a sort of right of passage,
Where an individual goes off into the wilderness with no food or water in an effort to overcome
fears and limitations and to grow spiritually.

In a way vision quest can be thought of as one stage in the Hero's journey as described by Joseph
Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand faces.

Typical steps in a vision quest- a call to adventure, crossing a threshold to a mystical realm or way of thinking,
an ordeal or challenge that forces the hero to face deepest fears, a granting of knowledge or insight that the hero brings back to
the real world. These elements are found in mythology, as in The Odyssey- but also in modern literature like The Lord of the Rings,
Star Wars, Mulan, Lion King...
 
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