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Tuesday 19 May 2020

Thing Not To Be Today: limp.

How are you? As we move out cautiously into the sunlit world once again are you bristling with energy and full of enthusiasm to grab life by the scruff of the neck...

...actually, we can't do that, can we? Not while maintaining social distancing. Neither can we seize the day: even grabbing our chances might be slightly hazardous.

Still, never mind, the principal is still there. We may be exhausted from kneading endless loaves of sourdough, learning the beautiful Turkmen language, and investigating the darkest corners of the loft, but this is not a time to be limp.

New opportunities are out there and need to be embraced...

...well, perhaps not actually embraced...

Ah well. At least we can stiffen our sinews, can't we?

Thing Not To Be Today: limp. The word limp meaning not stiff appeared in the English language in the 1700s. The Icelandic word limpa means looseness, so the word might have come from Scandinavia.

On the other hand there's a German word lampen which means to hang loosely, so that may be a (probably much older) connection.

Yet again, in Middle English, limpen meant to happen or befall...so what I'm really saying is that no one's sure about this one.



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