Odds and ends

As we all know, meanings of words often change over time. Originally, Hamburger meant a resident of Hamburg, Germany, and Frankfurter meant a resident of Frankfurt, Germany. They were not foods you like to eat at a backyard cookout. Also, it hasn't been all that long ago that 'gay' meant happy.

And it isn't just time that brings change. So does distance. A boot and a bonnet in the UK are known as a trunk and a hood in the US, a biscuit is called a cookie, and a napkin is called a diaper. If Graham Edwards is to be believed (and there's no reason why he shouldn't be), the word 'lavaliere' is unknown to people in Scotland.

Read the following poem:

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace.
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go.
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
And the child born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, good and gay.

I'm pretty certain that the writer of that poem was not suggesting that children born on the Sabbath day are members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

All that aside, the big news of the week in these parts is that our first great-grandchild has been welcomed into the world. Mother and baby are doing well. The baby, a healthy boy weighing six pounds, seven ounces, and sporting a headful of dark brown hair, has been named Banks. His great-grandpa, an old-fashioned sort of guy, would not be surprised if the next child born in that family is named Grocery Stores.

I'm kidding.

But you can't deny that just as times change and meanings of words change, even so do names that are popular for giving to new members of the human race change also. Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher who lived around 500 BC, said that the only permanent thing is change. He had a point.

As much as the name Banks surprised me, I am grateful that our new descendant was not named Mephibosheth or Tiglath-pileser.