Contemplating.

Contemplating.
Wayzata, Minnesota

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Alphabe-Thursday - 5 January 2012 The Letter G

This is an ALPHABE-THURSDAY POST

                  Warning, this photo below is not really our classroom.....right?
Goodness no! Oh my Gosh, Gads! Goodness gracious! No way!
  Please don't worry, this grim looking teacher isn't ours!

Of course our teacher is Miss Jenny




                                         ....and she's way prettier too....

  Today for Jenny's Alphabe-Thursday class, we celebrate
                                 the letter " G " 
     and it's a Great letter, as the color green emphasis so well!

The Letter "G" stands for " gordian "  GOR-dee-uhn (adjective) -  Highly intricate; extremely difficult to solve.  Earliest documented use - 1579.

     Example:     It was so obvious, after the school board meeting that solving the gordian problem of, where to build the school district's headquarters, would take much time.

Brain teaser example of gordian:
Extremely (?) difficult to solve: you be the judge....
     its the beginning of existence and the end of time, its the beginning of everything and the end of space, what am I?

Hint:  do not think too hard on this.


do you want the answer now? Nah, that's too easy......okay, okay



scroll down for the answer




Answer:  its the letter e.


Next- gordian worm

Do we really want to see a close up of a gordian worm? No, probably not, so here is one favorite hunting ground of the gordian worm....the bird bath... a gordian worm, gordius sp., or horsehair- is an internal parasite of crickets, grasshoppers, katydids, beetles, cockroaches and others.
When they emerge from the host's body they are white, but then turn yellowish-tan to brownish-black and squirm and twist in the water much like a gordian knot.  They do not harm humans, animals or plants.  You'd be surprised if you knew all the places you can find these worms....not just in gardens and rivers or ponds, but swimming pools, pet bowls, toilets, bathtubs....!

Next Gordian knot

In Greek Mythology, King Gordius of Phrygia tied a knot that defied all who tried to untie it.  An oracle prophesied that one who would undo this Gordian knot would rule Asia.  Alexander the Great - naturally defied all odds.  He simply cut the knot with one stroke of his sword.  Creating the famous saying, "to cut the Gordian knot" which means to solve a difficult problem by a simple, bold and effective solution.....

Alexander the Great, coercing the Delphian Oracle by artist Castaigne J. Andre - 1898 photo courtesy of the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

The Great and mighty - Alexander the Great, with his mighty sword!


One last cute riddle me this.... 
What does a  racecar and a kayak have in common?
the answer for this one will be in the comments!   

If you haven't had enough class today, why not go here for more

Jenny and all her students will be happy you did....
http://jennymatlock.blogspot.com/2012/01/alphabe-thursdays-letter-g.html
        

31 comments:

21 Wits said...

What does a racecar and a kayak have in common? Palindromes! Words that are spelled the same forward and backward like:
Madam,I'm Adam. ;)

Judie said...

Hahahaha! What a fabulous and fascinating post, Karen!! Now I will go about using that word, and people will think I am either very smart, or a smart-ass!

Aren't palindromes fun?? Nothing at all like PalinDrone!

Galen Pearl said...

I could have skipped the gordian worms, even if they aren't harmful to people! Ha! Great post full of fun with G!

EG CameraGirl said...

Love palindromes! And Gordian is a wonderful word. I must use it. :))

Teresa said...

This was such a fun post~I love all the history, trivia, and vocabulary! Great brain teasers.

Cloudia said...

Having a bit of fun are we?


LOL



Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral

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anitamombanita said...

I love word games and palindromes...and I guess, gordians! Heehee. Nicely done!

mrs. c said...

Oh my stars, I learned so much for your post! Thanks so much for sharing all the info!

Lola said...

Love palindromes too - nicely done!

A very Happy New Year to you and yours!

Great post and thanks for stopping by!

My name is Riet said...

What a great G post. Love it

sage said...

Of course, Alexander the Great got his tail beat in Asia... And a Palindrome could be what Sarah uses to spy on Russia (when she's not at home) :)

Alan Burnett said...

ee by gum (as they say in these parts) amd gee wizz (as they say in your parts). Whatever the letter, a Happy New Year to you Karen.

Haddock said...

Had heard and read about the Gordian Knot earlier, but never knew about how Alexander solved it.

Unknown said...

I think our teacher is prettier too.

Rocky Mountain Woman said...

Hah! I now have some new words to impress my friends with...

Filip said...

Interesting article and very funny photo of Miss Jenny.

Greetings,
Filip

Unknown said...

Very interesting post... I for one would like to see the worm so I may need to look that up:-)

darlin said...

Another interesting post I must say, you had me on the riddles. I've never even hear of a pali... whatever! lol I love the first photo, thank goodness none of my profs look that scary! Enjoy your day!

Steph said...

Really interesting post. I love words and this is an awesome one. You covered it thoroughly too. I couldn't guess the riddles, but when I saw the answers thought...duh... So clever.
Great post.

Leovi said...

Gordian, a beautiful and difficult word, very interesting, I learned something new.

Neabear said...

Awesome post! I had to groan when I finally got your riddle! Thank you for visiting my post too!

~Linnea

storybeader said...

I like your riddles! --- the letter e ---- brain teaser is Great! {:-Deb

Gattina said...

What a great selection of G words ! My teacher had a far stronger grim look, she was a witch ! Yellow big front teeth and when she spoke she spitted ! Yikes !

Maggie said...

Good golly what a great post!

Cathy Kennedy said...

I feel like I've been in class this morning after reading your post. Very nicely done and I learned a few things, too. I wonder how long I will retain this new info?

Leovi said...

Yes, Palindromes! A word fun.

Snowcatcher said...

I'm with Galen on the topic of Gordian worms, but I truly enjoyed all the trivia. It's been a long while since I've thought about palindromes, so that was a fun little bit of trivia, too!

Francisca said...

I studied in desks like those, and I recall having a stern teacher or two... nothing to do with our sweet Jenny though! :-)

I got the first riddle lickety-split. And I wish I could cut Godian knots more often.

Great G post! And have a wonderFULL new year.

Splendid Little Stars said...

ha ha ha! funny! oooo...Gattina's teacher sounds very scary! Not like OUR Ms. Jenny!

I learned a new word and a few facts, and got brain teased with some riddles! very fun post!

KM said...

What a fun post! I love these "g"s!

Thanks for visiting! I am visiting from Ms. Jenny's. :)

Jenny said...

What a great post!

I got the letter e thing right away! Not sure why...normally those kinds of things trick me!

I have to tell you, when I've met bloggers face to face that participate in Alphabe-Thursday they are often surprised. That is totally not me in the picture. It's clip art I found...and she looks wayyyy better then me!

Sigh.

Thanks for a great link for the letter G this week.

It's nice to be back to normal around here!

Hugs and A+