1) A.M. and P.M.
2) B.C.E. and C.E.
3) i.e. and e.g.
4) Scuba
So how'd you do? If you knew them all, then you are more qualified to answer questions from a three-year-old than I am. Or maybe you were like me: a little hazy on the full phrasing for some of those. ( "Scuba! I know this one! Submersible . . . c-something . . . underwater breathing apparatus? Maybe? Wait, lemme Google it.*") If that was you, allow me to save you some Googling.
Answers after a totally unrelated photo of Charlie wrecking the joint:
1) AM and PM=ante meridiem and post meridiem. I thought it was meridian, but that's just the line of longitude on a globe. Meridiem is a Latin word for midday. Good to know.
2) B.C.E. and C.E.=Before Common Era and Common Era. I did know this one, although this is the more recent way of referring to years and I still sometimes expect to see the old B.C. and A.D. I learned as a kid. Because I am ancient, apparently.
3) i.e. and e.g.=i.e. stands for the Latin words "id est" (which kind of means "in other words") and e.g. stands for the Latin words "exempli gratia" (roughly "for example"). Good luck explaining the differences in grammar usage to a three-year-old who thinks "comfortabler" (as in "more comfortable") is a word.
4) Scuba=Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. I got three of the five words there. Is that a passing grade?
Thank God for the Internet. It allows me to appear a lot smarter to my preschooler than I apparently am.
* Or if A. is handy, just ask him, since he knows the answer to everything. This is simultaneously helpful and very irritating.
Well, I almost got the first (although like you I thought meridian), nailed the second and forth. So, almost passing? Luckily, I am good at BS-ing until I can go and look things up (do it at my job almost daily).
ReplyDeleteGood luck keeping up with them both!
-moi
Or you could do like your dad and I and just make something up. Course, that was before the internet's availability so we have an excuse - right? Actually, it was immeasurably more fun and creative, but then we didn't have a household where accuracy in information was a must. Didn't seem to impact any of y'all long-term, so I guess it was OK.
ReplyDeleteAs long as he doesn't ask about snafu--and was he really asking about e.g. and i.e.? Keep prepping him for Jeopardy, and maybe we can all retire early--
ReplyDeleteAs long as he doesn't ask about snafu--and was he really asking about e.g. and i.e.? Keep prepping him for Jeopardy, and maybe we can all retire early--
ReplyDeleteI knew BCE and BC, I also knew SCUBA. I don't remember where I heard it, but it is one of those random thinks that just stuck in my mind. Funny how something like that sticks, but I have a hard time remembering people's names.
ReplyDeletep.s. Charlie is adorable!
I'm still saying BC and AD.
ReplyDeleteShit.
When did we stop saying BC and AD? Don't remember that coming up on NPR, home of all the news I can handle inside of my brain.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, Bubba is that same guy for me - the guy who knows the answer to everything. Except for when he doesn't and then he says he doesn't know and it pisses me off because YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO KNOW EVERYTHING NOW WHAT?
And then he says, "Google".
Oh. Right, that.