European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 13, 1978, Darmstadt, Hesse Wednesday september 13, 1978 the stars and stripes Page 11 verbal adagio putting reverse English on the Queen s English by Hugh a. Mulligan Ridgefield Conn. A my Hus band smokes like a fish complained the woman in the supermarket the other Day which reminded me that another seminar in obverse English might be in order now that a new school term is beginning. Obverse English you May recall from a previous simmering Here in the Stew pot is delivering a glancing blow to the language so that everyday expressions and Well worn cliches emerged slightly Askew. James Thurber who lived in these exurban parts first discovered this phen me non in a House maid named Delia who bit the Mother Tongue with her Eye tooth so that she Seldom could see where the rest of the sentence was going. She regularly startled the famous humorist with questions like do you want Cre tonnes in your soup tonight and shall i Burn the Refu gee in the incinerator since i last wrote about this rare Knack for putting a Little reverse English on the Queen s English a number of readers have written in reporting on How our living language is fertilized in their area and enclosing documented evidence. From la Verne calif., Clarice Kunz submitted a newspaper article on the Taiwan scene that began Quemoy Republic of China. The Craw that Sticks in the throats of the red chinese is this Little Island just a couple of Miles off the Mainland in the Formosa it s enough to make Edwin Newman swear off crawfish for life especially in chinese restaurants. A Seattle basketball fan wrote that he heard a sportscaster predict his beloved supersonics would have a hard time in the championship playoffs with the washing ton bullets because Elvin Hayes can come at you from any direction he s gifted with perennial a fort Lauderdale fla., psychiatric social worker addressing a local women s club at a Coffee klatch heard herself introduced As a very warm human perhaps because of its French and Span ish heritage new Orleans seems to be a treasure trove of inventive linguists. Re turning there after an absence of 10 years the and Fri peso a european edition col. Billy e. Spangler Usa. Editor in chief it. Col. , Usan. Deputy editor in chief Mert Proctor. Managing editor Elmer manager henrys. Epstein. Circulation manager this newspaper is an authorized unofficial publication for . Armed forces overseas. The stars and stripes is published in conjunction with the armed forces information program of the department of defense. Contents of the stars and stripes Are not necessarily the official View of the . Government the department of defense or the . European command. The appearance of displays in this newspaper concerning commercial publications does not constitute an endorsement by the department of de sense including the military departments. Military address the stars and stripes Apo 09175. International mail the stars and stripes Postrach 11 10 34, d-6100 Darmstadt 11, Germany. Tel Griesheim c prefix 06155 811 m Darmstadt Airstrip prefix 2376 741, telex 0419-332. New York office room 948, 201 Varick st., new York 10014, Tel area code 212 620-3333. Second class postage paid at new York . News bureaus Bremerhaven Germany Dan Synovec building 103, Carl Schurz Cavern Bremerhaven military 8659 or Bremerhaven Civ 0471 88782 Kaiserslautern Germany Floyd Harrington building 2897, Pulaski Barracks Vogel Weh military 6050 or Kaiserslautern Civ 0631 52104 Nuernberg Germany John Savard building 21, William o. 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Abroad my wife was greeted by a random acquaintance out of the Long ago with of Brigid we could t remember what you looked like but you look just like we re member a customer once lectured Jimmy Bren Nan of the famous French Quarter restau rant clan that tipping should be included in the Bill like they do in France. That Way it s a lot less then there is attorney Thomas Garret the always Elo quent voice of the 9th Ward in new or leans who told a Senate subcommittee looking into Urban crime patterns we got every kind of crime imaginable Here in the 9th Ward muggings drugs rape gun Law violations unexpected mothers politicians seem to have a flair for this sort of verbal adagio. Tip o Neill the speaker of the House told the american society of newspaper editors in washing ton he would upturn every Stone to get to the Bottom of the korean influence peddling scandal. In words mistimed at a convention of carnival geeks but exploding on the floor of the Louisiana legislature a cajun Law maker once advised that August body Don t bite your chickens before they it was he who also sought to sink an Aid to dependent children Bill with the ringing cry to hell with posterity what s posterity Ever done for us the Opelousas lawyer who related both these anecdotes to me said his cajun Cylle gue could bring the King s English to its Knees like a Gord of but i think he meant a polled Hereford. This sort of hit and run rhetoric is spreading like wild Flowers according to the resident Lingua Phobe in my office who warned me the Kentucky Derby would be a real Cliff just the other Day at one of those Way Side inns where the menu is always in French and the place Mats in olde English i heard a customer Tell the waitress i Don t want the soup do Jour i had that yes out of deep respect for this Type of verbal ingenuity a neighbor s son who goes to Providence College had his year Book picture inscribed with the words of baseball player intellectual Jim Bouton As his motto for life ill have the pie a la Mode and put some ice Cream on these Days even the visual arts have their own Way of looking at things orally. Witness the words of British fight announcer Harry Carpenter when Joe Bugner her majesty s White Hope was getting his nose badly Bent out of shape by the then Champion Muhammad a Bugner now really is bringing out the Best Rocky Graziano might have said the same of welterweight Fritzie Zivic never a devotee of the Marquis of Queensberry s rules but he said it better that bum put his thumb in my Eye and tried to dial a wife of politician poisoned by wine Montevideo Uruguay up the wife of a former congressman died after drinking a Glass of Poison wine sent As gift to her husband police said. The gift wrapped bottles of White wine had been sent to three men who had served As congressmen for the National Blanco party before the military closed the con Gress in june 1973. Maria Cecilia Heber 49, died after drinking a Glass of the wine. Poison was found in the other bottles sent to the family of Luis Lacalle Herrera and to Carlos Pereyra but no one had drunk any of the wine. Letters to the editor 3 bites and out at the Nursery this letter is written in Hopes that a much needed investigation of the Budinger Nursery will be conducted. I m sure i write for Many concerned parents who utilize this facility. It is be coming a Nightmare. The staff of Sitters they have Are As Good As can be expected and it s not them i m so concerned about. It s the Board it seems to me that it s a dictatorship. It is supposed to be made up of officers wives no wives and Junior enlisted wives but i understand it is All officers wives and one no wife. Also the Price of meals have soared. They now charge 65 cents for dinner and offer no reason for the High prices. Another complaint i have is the kids Are All in one room. This is where All the biting starts. My son is no Angel and i certainly did t sit Down and teach him to bite but when he is pulled around by the Arm and generally aggravated he has been known to bite. They have a policy of three bites and your child is out for a period of 30 Days. What does that teach a one year old one time the Little ones were separated from the older kids. I came in unexpected and was appalled to see they were in cribs and unattended. It was not Nap time either. I know the Nursery is a Busy place but on the busiest Day possible they Only have three Sitters. I m not told when i pick up my child that he bit or someone bit him. A human bite is worse than an animal bite. I d hate to see the place shut Down Alto Gether but something has to be done. Also the hours Are unreal. With movies Bowling or just going downtown to dinner the place closes at 5 30 . I Don t see Why it can t remain open until 10 . Nightly like on thursday. Anything you can do or say in this mat Ter will be appreciated by All the families who use the Nursery. Ann Gasser Budinger Germany editor s note it. Col. William b. Blake commander 3rd so 12th cavalry Budinger military sub Community re plies in response to your query the Buding in military sub Community welcomes the Opportunity to answer questions concern ing the operations of the Cavern Nursery. It is a prime Opportunity to recognize the numerous volunteers who have selflessly Given their time to improve existing facilities. In an attempt to redress the registered complaints from a member of this Community i feel it necessary to answer each question in turn. Concerning the Point on the composition of the Board there Are several facts that must be explained. The principal Rea son for the Lack of a mixed composition of the Board is that the non commissioned officers wives Are fully involved in other Volunteer activities on this Cavern. Currently Board membership is Volun tary. No wives were actively sought yet because this sub Community is virtually self supporting volunteers Are spread to a Point that they Are Over tasked. A second reason for the current Board composition was the Community s Antici pation of the army Community services proposed takeover of both the Nursery and the preschool efforts on oct. 1. Adjusting to a changing schedule the Nursery directory staff will hold a general election and adopt a new Constitution in the Early fall. The key to a mixed composition of future boards is the involvement of every registered family of the Nursery membership. Unfortunately the Price increase for meals is acknowledged. Yet a 15-cent in crease in food is not soaring inflation. The Board its advisory member and the Volun Teer manager Analysed the Lack of Cost effectiveness and determined for reasons enumerated below that a minimal Price Rise for meals was needed. However this Price Rise does not preclude the parents from providing sack meals to their Chil Dren. Additionally food prices for the by Dingen sub Community remain below those found in the other nurseries in the Hanau military Community. Also the officers wives club and the no pm wives club have graciously Given the Nursery Active support in terms of significant Cash donations to insure that prices remain minimal to the users. These clubs have donated items such As cribs in the Community s efforts to keep prices acceptable to the lowest ranking enlisted member of the command. With regards to the bite policy the general membership approved a passage within the Constitution that stipulates a suspension of Nursery use for 30 Days for any child observed by a Sitter who bites other children three times. The Sitters must inform the Parent and keep a record. The membership established such a Rule so that the Parent would become involved in disciplining the child. The Nur Sery tries to Aid in the behavioural pattern of children but backing by the Parent in some form of corrective action must be accomplished. improvement of monitoring the children both in the play area and the rest area has occurred in the past four months. At the Behest of the Volunteer adviser the Nursery can accept no More than 20 children without a minimum of three sit ters. The maximum capacity of the Nursery has been reduced from 45 to 35 children to include no More than seven babies. While the babies Are awake a Sitter is with them at All times. During sleep periods a Sitter regularly observes and checks the babies. Finally concerning the question of the hours of operation the writer hopefully recognizes that the Budinger Nursery is not currently a government funded opera Tion. It exists solely on fees generated by the membership and any donations Ren dered by civic activities within this sub Community. To Date the wives clubs have very generously Given the Nursery monies to in sure Low Cost operations. To hold the Nur Sery open each evening during the week would be warranted Only if there was sufficient density to insure no monetary losses. Each Sitter receives a minimum of $1.60 per hour. It would take at least one three child family and one two child family or four children to allow the Nursery to break even with ony one Sitter on duty. However it should be noted that the Nursery is open during any coordinated special event. If enough people coordinate for a special time other than the scheduled open periods of the Nursery i have been assured that the Nursery would be open. The question Here of course is one of not sustaining financial loss. I think it is appropriate to include two Points. The Community is extremely proud of what the Many volunteers have done to upgrade facilities at Armstrong Barracks. The list is too Long to mention Here but obviously the Nursery is one of those facilities. Secondly there Are both a suggestion Box and a complaint Box in the Nursery. The Nursery Board the adviser and the Community commander actively solicit suggestions and constructive criticism in the Community s attempt to improve con stantly the Way of life at Armstrong bar reminder a letters to the editor must contain full printed name and address of the writer and must be signed. Unsigned k tutors will not be considered for publication
