Sunday, May 09, 2021

MOTHER'S SAYING -- AGEING ODDITY

Best wishes to mothers the world over with this repeat post, some current editing, I wrote here years ago.

My mother enjoyed language, words, and the double-play of meanings.  Prominent in my mother's time was Dorothy Parker who was quite adept with word humor as a later quote will attest.  Ms. Parker is described in Wikipedia as "an American poet, writer, critic and satirist based in New York; she was best known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th century urban foibles".

Phrases, Sayings, Idioms, and Ageing

Lying in bed one recent night thoughts of the world's financial precariousness caused me to wonder why so many corporate, financial and government leaders fail to accept and implement problem solving solutions provided them in ways to benefit their country's population multitudes and not primarily just the 1-2% obscenely wealthy as in the U.S.

Somehow, I evolved into thinking about how we receive information for ourselves or that we provide others and yet do not often apply what is in their as well as our own best self-interest in a balanced approach benefiting all.

I thought of my mother's youth occurring during horse and buggy days, the changes and necessary adaptations wrought in her world.  Autos, planes were invented.  Women's right to vote the year she became age 21 and cast her first ballot were some of the highlights in her time.

What else came to my mind was typical of what I've often experienced since my mother's death years ago.  The older I become, the more I think of her with increasing understanding, identification with some of her aging experiences.  One of her favored sayings will pop into my mind as did this one:

"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink." 

My curiosity led me to this information from phrases.org.uk.  Interestingly, that Old English Homilie was recorded as early as 1175, the oldest English proverb that is still in regular use today.

"The proverb 'lead a horse to water' has been in continuous use since the 12th century.  John Heywood listed it in the influential glossary A Dialogue Conteinying the Nombr in Effect of all the Prouerbes in the Englishe Tongue:

'A man male well bring a horse to the water, But he can not make him drinke without he will.'

It also appeared in literature over the centuries in a variety of forms.  For example, in the play Narcissus, which was published in 1602, of unknown authorship, subtitled as A Twelfe Night merriment, played by youths of the parish at the College of Saint John the Baptist in Oxford:

Your parents have done what they coode, 

They can but bringe horse to the water brinke,

But horse may choose whether that horse will drinke.

It wasn't until the 20th century that 'lead a horse to water...' got a substantial rewrite, when Dorothy Parker reworked it from its proverbial form into the epigram 'you can lead a horticulture, but you can't make her think.'

I don't mean to offend the sensibilities of any reading this, but Parker has been considered to be quite a wit.

Noticing English wording and spelling in days of yore, I wonder how our language as we speak and write will evolve, perhaps looking antiquated to those encountering our current communications in future generations.

Aging observations Dorothy Parker is quoted as saying a few years before her death in an interview with Gloria Steinem with which my mother, I'm sure, and now I can agree.

"You know, the odd thing about being old is that you see something--something especially good or rotten or funny, and you think, 'Oh, I must show this to so-and-so, it's just his [or her] sort of thing.'  " She smiled, and walked slowly to the door.  "And what's odd--is there are so many gaps in the circle now--that so-and-so is gone."

 

15 comments:

  1. My Mom was a Dorothy Parker fan also. Laughed out loud at "horticulture." I'd forgotten that. How true about the gaps in our circles now. The price we pay for long life.

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    1. So many with whom we’d like to share even mundane daily experiences have long since parted this life and my mother is one of those people.

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  2. I adore Dorothy Parker. You mentioned wise-cracking; one of my favorites among her quotations is, "There's a hell of a distance between wise-cracking and wit. Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words."

    In case you're wondering, you've suddenly appeared in my Feedly feed again, so perhaps I can keep up again. Why has it happened? I have no idea. There are mysteries in this life!

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    1. That’s a great Parker quote! Hope you read the New Yorker article in the link Nance provided below in her comment.

      Glad the kinks worked out so you’re able to comment here again. Missed your words!

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  3. Dorothy Parker was a helluva lady. Her wit was monumental, but so was her heart. Did you know that she left the bulk of her estate to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr? She was a great civil rights activist, and stipulated in her will that if something should happen to MLK, the money should then go to the NAACP, which it did upon his assassination.

    The story of her death and remains is heartbreaking. You can read of it here.

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    1. Quite a story! I can only imagine what Dorothy Parker would have to say about what happened with Hellman and then her own ashes. Thanks so much for sharing the link I hope others read the article.

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  4. All my mother ever said about ageing was that she felt increasingly tired. She didn't like to make a song and dance about her various ailments so she tended not to mention them.

    There are some wonderful quotes from Dorothy Parker. I like this one: "The first thing I do in the morning is brush my teeth and sharpen my tongue.”

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    1. Can appreciate your Mom’s not mentioning her ailments. Can sometimes be good to let others know for several reasons but not to dwell on the issues or inflate them. I recall asking my Mom once, “Why didn't you tell me....” about some symptom she was having. She replied, “If I told you about every little ache and pain I was having you might not want to come and see me.” Generally she kept me apprised of how she was feeling and once she moved to Calif. i accompanied her to her medical appointments which she welcomed.

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  5. I adore Dorothy Parker. One of my favourites has always been about Katharine Hepburn after a performance: “Miss Hepburn ran the whole gamut of emotions—from A to B.”

    Gosh but she was sharp!

    XO
    WWW

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  6. Old age is difficult to adjust to for most. Some go to extremes with surgery but in the end, it can't be defeated-- short of dying before getting there. I think it's hard for us as we are middle aged for a long, long time. Then boom, along comes the body wearing out in unexpected ways lol

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    1. Yes, we know old age is coming, if we’re fortunate enough to keep living, think we know all that lies ahead but never fully appreciate the reality until we actually experience all the variations.

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  7. The last part of your post says it all. It is the sharing that disappears.

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    1. Sharing with so many who are gone is what I miss, too.

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  8. Blog policy requires all comments must be in English.

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