I have always liked the trillium flowers. They grow wild
near where I grew up, and my dad is always so delighted when they appear in the
spring. In recent years, any time I've come across them in the woods, I've
taken a picture or two. I never knew anyone else was as fond of them until the
past few days, when I ran across two people talking about them. So it's time I
did an Apple on trillium.
White
trillium. Note the three petals and the three leaves.
(Photo
by the Apple Lady)
The first question is, what is the plural of
trillium?
It's a Latin word and the way
the Latin works, the plural would be trillia. However, the word has been
adapted to English usage, and the way English works, plurals are made
(generally speaking) by adding an -s. Therefore, the plural of trillium is
trilliums.
Some people do use the word
trillium as either singular or plural. Trilliums sounds weird to me, so
I'm going with trillium all the way.
The
petals and leaves in threes are more obvious here.
(Photo
by the Apple Lady)
Trillium are members of the
lily family. I've never thought lilies smelled very good, and
trillium are no different. They're pretty stinky. The stink is off-putting
to us, but insects love the smell. To them, it smells like something
rotting and therefore something good to eat. So they show up, looking for
food, and wind up collecting all sorts of pollen. Clever stinky trillium.
They are so stinky that in
fact, one common name for trillium is Stinking Benjamin.
You might think that name
comes from a reference to some guy named Ben who was especially ripe, but
the origin is not so colorful. The name is actually a
mis-pronunciation of another word benzoin, which is itself a corruption of
another word, benjoin, which was an essence derived from plants in Sumatra to make perfume.
The essence of our fair
trillium is pretty stinky, so it was distinguished from its
sweeter-smelling benjoin providers with the moniker Stinking.
Yet another name for trillium
is birthroot. People usually use this name to refer to the red varieties
of trillium.
Red
trillium, sometimes called birthroot, sometimes also called Stinking Benjamin.
Birthroot was used in native
medicine at the time of birth to stop excessive bleeding. It was also used
for other women's health purposes, such as soothing tender nipples and
other menstrual discomforts, and treating bleeding related to uterine
fibroids. Native healers also applied it topically to treat
headaches, sunburn, and acne.
Yet another common name for
trillium is the wake-robin. Europeans thought the trillium was the
same as a plant back home by that name. They were mistaken, but the name
here has stuck. The name indicates that the flowers are sighted around the
same time that the first robins of spring appear.
A pink trillium -- or would you say purple?
(Photo by the Apple Lady)
They like to grow in the shade, which means they thrive in wooded areas.
People say that they grow in the East or Midwest, but according to the USDA,
some variety of trillium grows in every state of the country except Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New
Mexico.
Their roots are actually underground rhizomes, so they can spread to form a
dense mat. Pale yellow ones used to grow all across one part of our lawn
in the spring time. Then the gas company came and tore up the yard to put in a
gas line, and after that the trillium didn't come up anymore. That's why I'm
always so happy to see them.
I had always thought they only grew wild, but you can purchase trillium
plants from some nurseries. All of my photos of trillium were taken in April.
So it seems that, where I live, that's where they bloom. Even this year, when
it seems that everything bloomed early.
Here's a white variety with wavy petals. I
took this photo toward the end of April, when the flowers were starting to turn
brown and wilt.
(Photo by the Apple Lady)
After the flowers fade, red or purple seed-berries
form. The seeds get distributed by ants.
By the way, it's best not to pick the trillium. They bruise
easily so the flower won't look very pretty after you've picked it, and the
plant will also be damaged and won't fare so well after the picking.
As you may recall, a while ago Daily Apple reader Roxanne asked me a question about graphology. Specifically, she said she'd heard that "left-sloping handwriting means you can't trust someone" and she wanted to know if this is true, or was that related to a more general bad opinion about people who are left-handed. I investigated various facts about left-handedness and we found out that left-handed people are no better or worse than the rest of us. So now I'm ready to tackle the other part of her question, about left-sloping handwriting, and what that means.
Analyzing the slant of someone's handwriting falls under the category of handwriting analysis. There are two types of handwriting analysis. The first, generally more reputable one is called forensic document examination or forensic handwriting analysis. In this type of examination, the investigator will compare the handwriting in one sample against another to determine who wrote it, or if a document has been forged, that sort of thing. Forensic document analysts may be asked to testify in court about their conclusions. This is generally considered a more verifiable science, although recent court cases have questioned its reliability. But compared with graphology, forensic handwriting analysis practically embodies the scientific method.
The other type of handwriting analysis is graphology. It is, as Hermione Granger would say, a very woolly subject. Graphologists examine various characteristics of a person's handwriting and they say those characteristics indicate various features of the writer's personality or future. Lots of spaces between the letters? Why, you must be a lonely person! The dots over your lower case i's are placed far away from the letter itself? Why, you are most certainly a forward thinker! Sign your name with big huge swooping letters? You're an artistic person!
One graphologist says this handwriting indicates unflappability. Oh, and this note happens to have been written by Mata Hari. (Image from Personality traits in handwriting)
Graphology is reminiscent of astrology or tarot card reading or palmistry, in that some combination of attributes is said to therefore mean x, y, and z about your personality or your future. But if anyone tries to pin this stuff down scientifically, to see if they can create reliable and reproducible results, either the practitioners back away and say you're disturbing the aura or some such thing, or the results fall apart like a house of cards.
I have to admit from the outset that I was quite interested in graphology once upon a time. I read a whole book about it. When I was in the eighth grade.
Graphology (graphoanalysis) is the study of handwriting, especially when employed as a means of analyzing character and personality traits. Graphologists examine loops, dotted "i's" and crossed "t's," letter spacing, slants, heights, ending strokes, upslant pressure, downslant pressure, etc., but they believe that such handwriting minutiae are physical manifestations of unconscious mental functions.
However, [according to the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association,] "in properly controlled, blind studies, where the handwriting samples contain no content that could provide non-graphological information upon which to base a prediction (e.g., a piece copied from a magazine), graphologists do no better than chance at predicting... personality traits." Even non-experts are able to correctly identify the gender of a writer about 70% of the time.
Since there is no useful theory as to how graphology might work, it is not surprising that there is no empirical evidence that any graphological characteristics significantly correlate with any interesting personality trait.
[Finally he sums it up, and this is my favorite part:] Graphology is another pipe dream of those who want a quick and dirty decision making process to tell them whom to marry, who did the crime, whom they should hire, what career they should seek, where the good hunting is, where the water, oil, or buried treasure is, etc. Graphology is another in a long list of quack substitutes for hard work.
It is appealing to those who are impatient with such troublesome matters as research, evidence analysis, reasoning, logic, and hypothesis testing. If, however, you can live with reasonable probabilities and uncertainty, you might try another method besides graphology to pick a spouse or hire an employee.
Well. Now that we know his opinion about graphology, let's see if the data bears him out.
I decided to look at various websites about graphology and see what they said left-sloping (or left-slanting) handwriting was supposed to mean. Would the various graphologists all agree on what it meant, or would different people have different interpretations? Even astrologers will pretty much agree that people born under such & such a sign are generally supposed to have thus & so traits. Would a similar consistency be true among graphologists?
To be clear, left-slanting refers to the tilt of the individual letters.
The slope of the lines is something else. While the lines tilt down to the left, this is actually referred to as downward slanting and is something entirely different, according to the graphologists. (Both samples from AFMag)
Here's a run-down of what various graphology sites say about
left-slanting writing. All errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation,
etc. are the graphologists'.
Extreme left slant: such persons have a repressed childhood and are fearful of the life itself. They are emotionally withdrawn, apprehensive of intimacy and defensive. --Aryabhatt Astrology Services
In general interpretation of writing it may be said that the left direction is interpreted as the direction towards the mother as well as the past. Left slant writing is seen more often in women than in men. We often see left slant in people who have a disturbed balance in the parental equilibrium. Writers with left slant are generally much closer to their mothers. -- "The Graphology article of Paralumun New Age Village is wrote by graphologist Daryl Gordon"
A left slant tendency shows emotion and reserve. This writer needs
to be true to self first and foremost and can be resentful if others try to
push for more commitment from them. --graphology page from businessballs.com
If it leans to the left to a large extent, it means that the person tends to be withdrawn to himself. He doesn't
like to mix up with the people around.Such a person may have
experienced a very bad tragedy earlier in his life and is scared of the
future. If you have a left slant , it is recommended that you do
something about it immediately. -- Know Your Handwriting, Know Yourself
The leftward slant is indicative of people who are emotionally unexpressive, introverted, and even selfish. They literally "pull back" towards themselves when they utilize a left hand slant. Left hand slant is the hardest slant to write with. Using this choice is due to emotional withdrawal and repression. They can be defiant, and very difficult to deal with. They just don't trust other people and don't want them in their life. Thus they make difficult relationship partners. Leftward slant writers are often writers, artists, and poets. These people will often show great emotions in their creative works. I interpret this as an exhibition of their inability to express themselves emotionally in reality; and therefore they sublimate these strong emotions in their writing or art. --Toughcases.net
Left slant in writing can show introversion, self-denial, egotism, fears the future and withdrawal. --Graphology at MysticBoard.com
Left slant: Most writers who write with left slant, are
persons who were emotional, sometimes even highly emotional during
childhood (natural characteristic) but due to trauma and/or childhood
difficulties of all sorts and difficulty to adapt, switched
(unconsciously, without awareness) into a more rational mode of
thinking, suppressing their emotional issues and avoided dealing with
them. They say "no" to the father figure for any possible reason (a weak
father, a too stern father, no father at home) and identify with the
mother figure (out of love or of identifying with her strength, a
strength which might be masked at time). saying nay to the father figure
results often in saying nay to authoritative figures in adulthood. --adva weinerman at Schvoong.com
If the slant is at 100 degrees, it indicates that
the person remembers all the good and bad things that
have happened in the past. It shows a nature that
is suppressed and controlled, and which therefore
could collapse when faced with problems and difficulty. If the slant is at 120 degrees, the person is cold
and self-centred, and has no respect or regard towards
others. --Sheetu Deep
Well, there is some consistency here. Withdrawn, repressed, unfriendly, prefers the mother. I wish I wrote with a left slant so I could say whether any of this is accurate. I don't think I know anyone who writes with a left slant. Anybody out there with a left slant care to ring in on this and agree or disagree with these interpretations?
These people are being withdrawn and unfriendly. I wonder if either or both of them have left-slanting handwriting. (Photo from Who the Hell is Eden Hansom???)
I'd like to try another test. I've noticed that a lot of graphologists like to offer analyses of famous people's handwriting as a way to prove their abilities. And they all seem to want to talk about Bill Clinton's handwriting for some reason. So I'm going to compare what they say about his handwriting a) one graphologist against another; and b) their interpretations against what graphologists say in general about a key feature.
Here's the same of Bill Clinton's handwriting to which many of the graphologists refer:
Since we just talked about slant, I want to point out that, to me, it looks as if Bill's handwriting is primarily upright, but it does seem to lean a bit to the left. I'll get into that in more detail in a bit. First, let's hear how the graphologists interpret Bill's handwriting.
In Clinton's handwriting one can discern two very prominent forces which motivate his activity.
One is a particularly strong and untiring urge to constantly prove himself, up to the point of having difficulty of resting on his laurels and of feeling satisfied with his achievements.
The other force which motivates him is the need to belong. From early childhood Clinton has struggled with a feeling of rejection and of not belonging. It is so important to him to belong that he sees the entire nation as his family.
In addition he is a very sensual person.
It is important to him to touch and to be in contact all the time and only then he feels he belongs.
He does not see himself as 'upper class'.
He feels more as part of the system and therefore it is convenient for him to cooperate in a team framework, to listen, to consult and only then to undertake responsibility and to move forward.
He also has a considerable amount of stubbornness and determination. He does not easily let go of his position and is able to fight for his principles, keeping his self-control and coolness.
Hmm, I wonder what she would have said if she'd only seen the handwriting and hadn't known who wrote it. On to the next one.
Bill Clinton’s handwriting is a mixture of curves and angles: the angles
give strength to the curves and the curves soften the angles. Thus, he
is an emotional person who feels things deeply, someone who will go to
some lengths to create a consensus. Yet, when he strongly believes in
something he has the capacity to stand firm in his viewpoint. The
overall picture of space is compact, indicating a strong need for social
contact and genuine caring for the welfare of others.
Rounded writing is generally seen as a more feminine quality. When it
appears in a man’s script it is interpreted as emotional softness, an
indicator of one whose heart is easily touched. It can be seen that
Clinton both laughs and cries easily and is not ashamed to show his
feelings. Another aspect of the round forms exemplified by this
handwriting sample is a need for physical contact. He is someone who
touches others frequently, and enjoys hugging and holding them close.
Clinton’s predominantly rounded writing style suggests that his most
important motivation is the need to help and serve others. Failing in
this would leave him feeling useless and miserable. He needs to know
that he has made a difference. The capital B in his signature, which is
larger than his surname initial, demonstrates a desire for others to
think of him as “Bill,” more than “Mr. Clinton.”
I wonder if a man would interpret Clinton's handwriting differently.
Bill Clinton's handwriting indicates the trait called Surface Thinking. (Yes, he is
intelligent, but has a tendency to make quick decisions based on surface
information.) Also,
Bill's handwriting shows insatiable sex
drives, persistence, ambition, caution, anger at women, and even the
tendency to lie and have poor ethics. A great actor and good at poker.
Could you have predicted that from his writing? I did... four years
ago.
The pressure is very heavy. This usually
indicates greater accomplishments. Heavy pressure writers' emotions are very strong and long lasting. Bill may be
inclined to hold grudges and he will not quickly forget the actions of his friends or enemies. His pressure will amplify all
other traits found in his writing.
The slant is vertical. He tries not to show his emotions. He makes decisions based on logic, not emotions (his head
rules his heart). Anyone who holds back their emotions makes a conscious effort to do so, causing a certain amount of
stress and inner turmoil. Bill's baseline is also very straight, indicating even more control over his emotions. These
emotions buildup over time and have to be released.
Bill concentrates on the middle zone (daily activities, running the country, etc.), and the lower zone (desire for material
wealth, sex drive, etc.). There is not much going on in the upper zone at all ( Bill has advisors to do his thinking for him).
Clinton's handwriting is smaller than normal, giving him the ability to
concentrate. His lower loops are quite large compared
to the size of the rest of his script. If you look closely, you will see
the lower loops in his g's, p's y's are very fat and are
magnified by his deep emotions.
Bill is under emotional pressure and he has to release some steam from time to time. He releases some of this physical
desire by running two or three miles, and then stops and has a couple of Big Mac's. But there is the strong sex drive.
How does he relieve that?
That last one seems to suggest that it's Bill's handwriting that gives him the ability to concentrate. As opposed to the handwriting being an indication of something. But that's just the tip of the logical problem iceberg.
Gosh, how could that guy tell from that handwriting sample that Bill Clinton likes Big Macs? (Photo from Fox News)
Interesting that all of them talked about Bill's sex drive or at least, his need to touch people often. Let's summarize each one and see how they compare:
Reading 1 says he needs to belong, needs to be touched, is stubborn and will fight for his principles but he keeps his cool.
Reading 2 says he can stand firm in his viewpoint, genuinely cares about others, needs to serve others or he's unhappy. He's an emotional person, cries easily, is not ashamed to show his feelings.
Reading 3 says he's ambitious, intelligent but prone to making quick decisions, has an insatiable sex drive and anger toward women, plus a tendency to lie and have poor ethics.
Reading 4 says his emotions are strong and long-lasting, he holds grudges, he doesn't do any thinking for himself, he does not show his emotions but makes decisions based on logic, but his emotions will build up and he has to let them out at some point.
If I read those four descriptions completely out of context, I'm not sure whether I would guess that they were all an attempt to describe the same person.
I've paid particular attention to what they say about his emotional situation because, having just talked about slant, the first thing I noticed about Bill's writing was that its slant is pretty much upright though it does lean slightly to the left.
As we just learned, a leftward slant suggests being withdrawn, repressed to the point of being unfriendly, and prefers one's mother. I don't think we can say any of these things about Bill Clinton, not even a little bit.
But since the slant is primarily upright, let's cut the graphologists some slack for a moment. What do they say about an upright slant? In the interests of brevity, I'll give you just a few.
This handwriting is indicator of independent, self controlled, self restrained and self reliant. Their head controls heart. --Aryabhatt Astrology Services
If it is vertically upright or very slightly leaning towards right ,
this person is ruled by his head and not by heart. This is a very positive
trait one can have. Emotions have no or very less roll to play in the
decisions he makes. All his decisions are based on logic and thinking.
There is no need for this person to express emotions. When someone asks
him a favour or asks him to buy something, he needs to know all the
facts , any emotional stories will have no effect on the writer. -- Know Your Handwriting, Know Yourself
If the slant is more upright; then we have a self-reliant person who is
reserved emotionally. Upright slanted writers suppress their emotions.
This person neither "reaches" out; nor "pull back". Because of their
reserve, they have an uncanny ability to remain calm under pressure.
Here is where they have an advantage over the emotionally expressive
person. People with upright slants or slighty left make good employees
in pressure packed situations like an airline pilot, or paramedic,
firefighter, or police officer as example. They think and act with their
"head". These people are "head over heart". They use logic and reason
to make decisions. They "think things out" rather than rely on any
intuition or gut feelings. --Toughcases.net
If the slant is right-angled at 90 degrees, it shows a selfish nature. These people are analytic and unemotional, but could also be sincere and reliable. They always recognise obligations and hence prove good friends. --Sheetu Deep
These graphologists all seem to agree that an upright slant suggests "head over heart" and that the writer is self-controlled and emotionally reserved. That is certainly not anything like what any of those graphologists said about Bill Clinton.
Funny how that worked out, isn't it?
Bill
Clinton on a visit to Haiti in 2010. A guy who likes to touch people,
or an emotionally reserved person? Graphology will tell us. (Photo from Permaculture)
I also want to point out something else about the vertical slant. A friend of mine in high school was from England, and she wrote with a very vertical slant (or non-slant) to her handwriting. I have since noticed this is true of lots of people educated in England.
It turns out, at some point in the history of British education, teachers thought that vertically slanted handwriting was more legible
and took up less space, so that's how they began teaching British
children to write. So the suggestion that all people are "head over heart" and emotionally reserved seems like a load of hogwash. Because that would mean that nearly every Brisih-educated person is like that. Or does it just mean that graphologists are only perpetuating the cliche about the British? Stiff upper lip and all that? Either way, I say, bunk.
Finally, I tried one last test. I found one site
that promised to give me an online analysis, free of charge. It told
me to find a sample of my handwriting (cursive) and then answer some
questions about its various characteristics. For each attribute, it
gave three options to choose from, and I had to choose which one of the
three was most similar to my handwriting.
I
went through the whole thing and at the end, it asked for my name and
e-mail address. For the cause of research I obliged. I received an
e-mail within seconds. I will post the full content of the message for
you here. Now, totally unedited and unaltered, here is what it said:
Dear apple lady,
Here is your personal handwriting analysis! This will be a general
reading of your handwriting, and what it says about you and your
personality. Enjoy.
We hope that gives you a little more insight into your personality, and your handwriting. Thanks for visiting us.
As you may recall from my last entry, I am in the midst of answering a multi-part question from Daily Apple reader Roxanne. But before I continue with that, I have to address the fact that today is Easter
Word-curious Apple Lady that I am, I naturally wondered, why is it called "Easter" anyway? The Christian celebration has to do with Jesus being raised from the dead, but the word for it seems to have nothing to do with any of those concepts. So where does the word "Easter" come from?
This is about our how culture celebrates Easter: a little bit Christian, a little bit pagan. (Photo from Discovery News)
The answer, I'm afraid, is rather iffy.
I consulted my compact edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (my favorite reference tool ever), and it gave me an uncharacteristically confusing answer. I'll spare you the heavily abbreviated and perplexing details and rather summarize the illuminating explanations provided elsewhere.
The word "Easter" comes from a whole lot of old Germanic words that, in lower case form, refer to the place where the sun rises, or the dawn itself.
The Venerable Bede, or Baeda, who was a priest living in a monastery in Northumbria, England around 700 A.D. provided an additional definition. He wrote a number of books, some of them histories, some of them Biblical commentaries.
Venerable Bede, or Baeda, a priest from Northumbria who wrote down a lot of stuff. (Image from NNDB)
In one of his books, he said that back before his time, before there were any monasteries in Northumbria, or before there was much practice of Christianity there at all, the month of April was called Eosturmonath, or the month (monath) of Eostre.
Eostre, he said, was the name of a pagan goddess of the dawn (or perhaps spring, depending on your translation of Bede), and that pagan worshippers used to celebrate her feast day on the first day of Spring.
Well, if he's correct, that means the most sacred of days on the Christian calendar is named for a pagan festival.
Artist's depiction of the supposed goddess Eostre, by Jacques Reich, 1909. The artist associated her with all sorts of spring-like things: flower petals, babies, rabbits, the stork. (Image from Wikipedia)
That's not very unusual, actually; all sorts of Christian holidays are linked in some fashion with pagan celebrations. I suppose the only reason I find this startling is because I never heard anyone talk about this before. Sure, there are bunnies and egg-dyeing (as opposed to egg dying, something any expectant mother would lament) but I never heard anybody say that the very name of the thing refers to a pagan feast.
But, as it turns out, the Venerable Bede might have made the whole thing up. Nobody can find much evidence of this supposed Eostre goddess.
Jacob Grimm, (yes, one of the Brothers Grimm), confirmed Bede's story but only in a word-origin sense. He said it seemed like the word for the goddess came from a particular Old High German word ostar. But he did not say he saw any evidence of the existence of the goddess or actual celebrations carried out in her honor.
Scholars still debate whether any goddess named Eostre or Ostara ever existed in the way-back day. Some say they have found evidence; others say the evidence is still rather scant.
So the jury is still out about whether there was a goddess named Eostre.
But our word "Easter" today does come from those original lower-case root words: the place where the sun rises, or the dawn itself. And therefore, beginnings.
Sunrise. New Day. Fresh start. Also, Easter. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons)
I've had a request! Regular Daily Apple Reader Roxanne wants to know:
I've heard that left-sloping handwriting means you can't trust someone, but that might just be an extension of the notion that left-handed people are evil or that left-handedness is a product of the devil--my mother-in-law tells tales of nuns slapping her hand with a ruler when she tried to write with her left hand. Has there been a Daily Apple about this? I'd read the shit out of that!!
Actually, Roxanne's enthusiastic request covers two topics: the notion that left-handed people are evil, and whether left-sloping handwriting means its owner is untrustworthy. And really, the second part of that question may relate to issues of graphology in general, which is a rather large topic and one best tackled on its own.
So I'm going to take up the topics separately, and left-handedness first.
The way Rick is holding the pen is one of the many inventive ways left-handed people use to write so that they don't smear the ink just after they've put it on paper. (Photo from The Nibster, a really interesting site that makes and sells specialty pens and nibs)
Some Facts to Start With
The funny thing about left-handedness is that it doesn't take very long for the conversation to veer off from known facts into superstitions, claims about people's character, and their tendency to be bad people. It seems like, even with all our fancy science, we still hold a lot of superstitions about left-handed people.
I'll start with the most basic facts I found, and then you'll see how quickly the topic turns toward speculation and finger-pointing.
Roughly 10% of the population is left-handed.
That rate seems to hold true throughout the world, and since there have been people. Cave paintings depict some of the people holding spears in their left hand.
The fact that it's persisted in generation after generation suggests that there is some biological reason why we need some people to be left-handed.
Some researchers think that lefties have the benefit of surprise, that they come from a direction others don't expect, or they're on the lookout for predators coming from the side where the righties aren't looking.
Handedness--a preference for one side or the other--exists in all sorts of species, not just humans, and not just animals. The same 10% rate seems to exist in chimps, toads, and even schools of fish. (In general, the rate of left vs. right varies a lot from one species to another.)
One study found that female dogs prefer their left paw and male dogs prefer their right. Until they are spayed or neutered, after which they don't seem to care either way. Aw. (Photo from the Daily Mail)
Even though we think of people as being either left- or right-handed, it's probably best considered on a spectrum, that some people are very strongly left- or right-handed, some who prefer to use one hand over the other but do have a choice, as well as varying levels of competency with the non-dominant hand.
Case in point: 4 of our last 7 Presidents have been left-handed: Gerald R. Ford, George H. W. Bush, William J. Clinton, and Barack H. Obama.
However, Ford said if he was standing up, he wrote with his right hand. Some people say that though Reagan wrote with his right hand, he may have actually been left-handed or was at least ambidextrous.
What do these men have in common? They're all lefties! Yes, possibly even Ronald Reagan! (Photo from Rants 'n Reviews)
Left-handedness does run in families, which suggests a genetic link. But researchers hesitate to say for sure that there is one gene for left-handedness. They say it is much more complex than that, since it is often connected with language preferences and capabilities, and since there is a "nurture" element to the equation as well.
Recent research suggests that the more stress a mother is under during pregnancy, the greater the likelihood that her child will be born left-handed. Also, if the mother is over 40, or if the child has a low birth weight, the child will be more likely to be left-handed.
One review of research in the field found that genetics is considered to be responsible for left-handedness only about 25% of the time.
One reason it gets difficult to sort all this out is because the brains of left-handed people may be arranged differently. In right-handed people's brains, the parts that deal with language are on the left. You might expect, then, that for left-handed people, their language parts would be on the right. Not so simple.
About 70% of left-handed people's language centers are also on the left. But 30% of left-handed people either have their language pieces on the right, or else their language parts are evenly distributed across both sides of the brain.
Researchers also currently suspect that symmetry--when both sides of the brain try to manage the same task--is actually harder for the brain, and it's been linked to disorders such as schizophrenia, dyslexia, and ADHD.
So, being left-handed may mean that you're more likely to have those sorts of brain disorders.
Superstitions and Pseudoscience
All this current research linking left-handedness to scary disorders uncomfortably reminds me of the way people used to regard left-handed people: in a word, as scary.
For centuries, left-handed people were regarded with fear and skepticism.
In many cultures, the left side of the body was/is considered the "taboo" side.
The devil was thought to come from the left (see Latin sinister) so anyone who was left-handed surely already had the devil on his side.
Paintings of Satan often put him on the left side of the picture because there are some passages in the Bible that say Lucifer was on God's left.
Here, Satan is in the middle, but Eve is taking his apple with her left hand. She's also standing to Adam's left, and he's pushing her away with his left hand. This is a good example of another equation that also gets made, which is that men = right and thus strong or good, and women = left and thus weak or bad. (Image from Bartered Breath)
The Devil was said to baptize with the left hand. (Even today, we in the US would never swear an oath with the left hand raised. Right hand only!)
Left-handed women were often suspected of being witches, or vice versa (see Joan of Arc).
At one point, the Catholic Church, ever the paragon of tolerance, at one point declared that left-handed people were the servants of the devil.
Consequently lots of people were burned or otherwise executed primarily because they were left-handed.
Children who exhibited signs of being left-handed got whacked with a ruler to have that tendency beaten out of them, or they had their left hand tied behind their back so they would have to use their right hand instead.
It's not just a Western superstition, however. Lots of African and pre-Christian peoples have superstitions about left-handed people.
The ancient Egyptian god Set is the god of chaos and storms and destruction and sometimes he is also evil. He is known as "the Left Eye of the Sun." He is associated with animals like crocodiles and hippos, which are considered unclean. He is usually depicted holding his staff in his left hand. (Photo from Ancient Treasures)
In Buddhism, there are two paths. People should avoid the path to the left but choose instead the path on the right, which leads to the eight-fold path of enlightenment.
Until relatively recently, in Japan, if a woman was left-handed, that was sufficient grounds for divorce.
Eskimos believe you have to keep an eye on left-handed people because they may become sorcerers.
In 1903, physician Cesare Lombroso published a study in which he said you could identify a criminal by all sorts of physical features, such as an excess of moles, a "primitive" distribution of pubic hair, and left-handedness. He thought criminals (and prostitutes and "lunatics") were more primitive types of people, and he said their their uncivilized or savage behavior was linked to their proclivity to the weaker, more primitive side of the body, the left.
He summed up with this proclamation: "left-handedness, united to many other traits, may contribute to form one of the worst characters among the human species."
Cesare Lombroso, the man who brought all sorts of superstitions and prejudices about left-handed people into the realm of 20th century science. (Photo from goodquotes.com)
Ah, here we go, someone agrees with me. Harold Kushner, writing in The Lancet, says that Lombroso's ideas were eventually dismissed as "pseudoscience" and are now the subject of much ridicule. But, he cautions, a lot of studies being bandied about now are making claims that we may also soon see as rather silly. He cautions that even though we have all sorts of tools like genetic analysis and brain imaging technology and high-powered biostatistical methods, we are not immune from reaching biased and even somewhat laughable conclusions.
Language
What people think of the left side shows up in the language. Here are various languages, their words for "left" and what those words also mean.
Latin : sinister. Our word "sinister" comes directly from there, meaning that we think someone who is evil and suspicious must be left-handed.
Greek : skaios, which may mean either left-handed or ill-omened or awkward.
German : links, means both left-handed and weak.
French : gauche, which means awkward or clumsy and also very outre -- in general, something no French person with an ounce of self-respect would ever want to be.
Good Stuff about Being Left-Handed
On the other hand (har har) left-handed people are thought to be better at what's called "divergent thinking," which means they come up with new ways of doing things, or innovative solutions to problems.
There's been lots of debate about whether left-handed people are smarter, but one researcher's study found that more people with IQs over 140 were left-handed. Lots of really famous smart people were left-handed: Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, to name a few.
Left-handed people may have an advantage on the big screen. Lefties tend to gesture with their left hands. When viewed on screen, that looks to us as if they're using their right hand. So they seem to us righties as if they are the dominant person on screen. This may be why lefties seem to do better in politics in this current, highly televised world.
Barack Obama, waving with his left -- and to us viewers, his preferred -- hand. (Photo from Hand Facts)
Or, maybe left-handed people are just like you and me. Ever thought of that?
Famous Lefties
To counter what seems to be a stubborn prejudice, I'll list just a few of the famous people throughout history who were or are left-handed.
Scientists
Einstein says: Ha ha, I'm left-handed and you're not. (Photo from Jokes with Einstein)
Isaac Newton Albert Einstein Buzz Aldrin Dr. Albert Schweitzer
Inventors Benjamin Franklin Henry Ford Bill Gates
Military Leaders "All the decisive blows are struck left-handed" --Walter Benjamin
Julius Caesar Alexander the Great Charlemagne Napoleon (also his wife Josephine) Fidel Castro General Colin Powell Joan of Arc (or she may have only been depicted as such to make her seem like a witch who therefore must be burned)
Presidents
Gerald R. Ford ended our "long national nightmare" by signing Nixon's pardon -- with his left hand. (Photo from Fitsnews.com)
James A. Garfield Herbert Hoover Harry S Truman Gerald R. Ford Ronald Reagan (and his son Ron) George H. W. Bush William J. Clinton Barack H. Obama
Kings, Queens, and Other Leaders
Queen Victoria was left-handed. How unconventional, how un-Victorian of her! Here she is pictured with her beloved Collie, Sharp, at her left side. (Photo from The Border Collie Museum)
Ramses II Queen Victoria Prince Charles Prince William Benjamin Netanyahu
Criminals Billy the Kid Jack the Ripper John Dillinger Boston Strangler
Supreme Court Justices and other Lawyers
One of the tests for left-handedness is to fold your hands and see which hand is on top. In Ruth's case, it's her left. (Photo from Felber Frolics)
Ruth Bader Ginsberg Anthony Kennedy Clarence Darrow F. Lee Bailey
Artists
Escher's Drawing Hands -- possibly a reflection on what it feels like to be left-handed? (Image from io9)
Michelangelo (ambidextrous; also his Adam on the Sistine Chapel) Leonardo da Vinci R. Crumb M.C. Escher Matt Groening (also Bart Simpson) Albrecht Dürer Pablo Picasso Paul Klee Edvard Munch Raphael Rembrandt
Entertainers
Would that we all could be as dashing as Cary Grant. Who happens to be left-handed. (Photo from the Museum of Modern Art, sourced from the Encyclopedia Britannica blog)
Jerry Seinfeld Oprah Winfrey David Letterman Jay Leno Lenny Bruce Robert Redford Robert DeNiro Whoopie Goldberg Marilyn Monroe Greta Garbo Judy Garland Charlie Chaplin Harpo Marx Cary Grant Betty Grable Dan Aykroyd Diane Keaton Richard Pryor Julia Roberts Sylvester Stallone Bruce Willis
Authors
James Baldwin. Left-handed. Simple as that. (Photo from Joe Vogel)
Mark Twain Marshall McLuhan Eudora Welty Lewis Carroll James Baldwin H. G. Wells Jessamyn West
Athletes
Right-handed batters supposedly have a harder time hitting against left-handed pitchers. Especially when they're Cliff Lee. (Photo from Observing Baseball)
Jimi Hendrix. Possibly one of the most creative musicians of modern times. Also left-handed. (Photo from Jimi Hendrix.net)
Ludwig van Beethoven Sergei Rachmaninoff Cole Porter Jimi Hendrix Paul McCartney Ringo Starr Robert Plant Paul Simon David Byrne John Lydon a.k.a. Johnny Rotten Kurt Cobain Billy Corgan Glen Campbell
Good People my dad probably lots of people you know too
So a friend of mine recently bought a house. I'll call her Margaretta. (No, her name isn't really Margaret. I'm thinking of that part in The Sound of Music when the children go to the convent to talk to Maria, but they only get Sister Margaretta, and she won't let them in. They say her name over and over so plaintively, "Oh, Sister Margaretta, please. Please, Sister Margaretta. Please.")
So my friend Margaretta bought a house. I wish I owned my own house. I think this means that I am jealous. Or am I envious? I know there's a difference between the two, but what is it? And which of the two am I?
I think maybe I'd like a bungalow like this one. Nothing too big or too fancy. But I would like a big tree out front, for some shade. (Photo from StarCraft Custom Builders)
I'm looking at my Oxford English Dictionary, and there are scads of definitions for these terms. I'll summarize the best I can while still preserving some sense of organization.
Envy
Looking into my OED, I'm actually rather shocked at how bad envy is. I'd thought it meant something along the lines of wanting what you don't have, but no. It goes way farther than that.
Envy comes from the Latin invidere, which strictly speaking, means to look upon. But somewhere in there, even in Roman times, it took on a negative connotation: to look maliciously upon.
Our English definitions not only include the malicious part, they make it a pretty major element of what the word means.
Envy is first of all, "malignant or hostile feeling; ill-will, malice, enmity."
Whew, that's harsh. I do not bear any of these feelings against Margaretta. Not even close. But wait, there's more.
"Active evil, harm, mischief."
Egad, no.
The Wicked Witch of the West might be the best personification of the malicious meanings of envy. She wants those ruby slippers so badly, she's filled with ill will, malice, and enmity toward Dorothy. By the way, to be "green with envy" means you're so filled with envy, you're sick to the point of turning green. (Photo sourced from The Pop Culture Divas)
Not until way down in definition 3 do we get to the plain wanting-what-someone-else-has part:
"The feeling of mortification and ill-will occasioned by the contemplation of superior advantages possessed by another."
Well, that's closer to what I mean, but I don't feel mortified, and I don't feel any ill will toward Margaretta. I'm happy for her that she owns a house. It must give her a great sense of achievement, and I can imagine how gratifying that must be for her. I'm glad she's experiencing that. All that said, I'd like to own my own house and experience something like that too.
OK, now, down in definition 4b, we get a much tamer meaning: "A longing for the advantages enjoyed by another person."
Yeah, this is much closer to what I mean. But I don't think I want to say "I'm envious" and then have to direct people all the way down to definition 4b to arrive at my true meaning. Let's look at jealousy and see if that comes any closer.
Jealousy
Jealous (jealousy's root word) starts out pretty harsh, too: "Vehement in feeling, as in wrath, desire, or devotion."
I think most of us use the word jealous with a much tamer sense than this, probably not approaching anything like "vehement."
Later definitions get more specific and tend to focus more on the desire part, especially in an amorous sense.
Definition 2 is "covetous of the love of another, fond, lustful." This doesn't apply at all to what I feel about Margaretta and her house.
Definition 3 gets into the ways in which jealousy mess with the jealous one's head: "Zealous or solicitous for the preservation or well-being of something possessed or esteemed" (That is, you own something or you think you do, and you start to get all protective of it, out of fear that you might lose it); "vigilant or careful in guarding; suspiciously careful or watchful."
This image gets jealousy about right. The kid in the foreground is angry, begrudging what's going on behind him, looking a bit sideways at the two kids hugging behind him. One of the huggers is taunting the foreground kid--or maybe that's only how the foreground kid perceives it. (Image from MotiFake)
Definition 4 really digs into it: "Troubled by the belief, suspicion, or fear that the good which one desires to gain or keep for oneself has been or may be diverted to another; resentful towards another on account of known or suspected rivalry."
I don't feel any kind of rivalry or competition with Margaretta. I'm not trying to hang onto something in the face of her pursuit of my goods. I'm beginning to think that jealousy doesn't apply to my situation at all, but I'm pretty fascinated by how detailed the OED is getting with this. It even makes me wonder if some definition-writer for the OED was ever afflicted with jealousy at some point.
It parses this very detailed definition still further, saying that jealousy takes on this particular characteristic in relation to sexual love: "Apprehensive of being displaced in the love or good-will of some one; distrustful of the faithfulness of wife, husband, or lover."
There are still further definitions, and they all deal pretty much with suspicion. "Suspicious, apprehensive of evil," "Doubtful, mistrustful," "Suspiciously vigilant against," "Requiring suspicious or careful vigilance," etc.
Leave it to the French to depict jealousy in all its fullness. In this 1994 remake of L'Enfer (Torment or Hell), Cluzet plays a hotel manager who is increasingly suspicious that his wife is cheating on him. As the movie progresses, his jealousy becomes more and more obsessive until, well, until things go very wrong.
The original L'Enfer, filmed in 1964, intended to go even further. The director, Clouzot, filmed a lot of sequences in which he played with lighting like mad. The effect is an evocative indication of the distortion of the jealous husband's mind, the way he sees her as constantly changeable, taunting, yet always out of reach. I think the green/blue/yellow portions are especially effective.
I say the film "intended" to go further because the director suffered a heart attack during filming and the movie was never finished. A documentary from 2009 (L'Enfer d'Henri-Georges Clouzot) showed some of the extant pieces of the film together including test shots like the ones in the above sequence, along with commentary and stills of what happened during filming.
And, as long as we're on the subject of the Fench and jealousy, there's also Alain Robbe-Grillet's Jealousy. But while it's quite gripping and travels much the same path that L'Enfer does, it's a novella and it doesn't have any pictures in it, which sadly makes it less exciting for most website audiences.
All right, now that I've distracted you with all sorts of pretty moving pictures, I'll get back to the topic at hand. I think it's safe to say that jealousy, which seems to involve a lot of suspicion, guarding of goods (or people) one already has against possibly losing them to someone else, most often in the context of sexual relationships, does not apply to my desire for a house like Margaretta's.
Covetousness
So if jealousy isn't what I mean, and envy is kind of what I mean, but only way down in Definition 4, maybe there's another word that would work better. The only other word I can think of that might fit my situation is covet.
This word isn't used all that often anymore -- I think because it makes too many people think of the 10th Commandment, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." Nobody wants to admit, with something so obvious as a simple word choice, that they're going around violating one of the Ten Commandments. (I don't care if you say you're not religious; I bet you're still too spooked to use this verb in real life.)
But maybe the shoe fits. I'm not afraid to wear shoes that fit. So let's consult the dictionary and find out.
Covet's primary focus is on desire, but mainly as it relates to material goods.
Covet comes from the Latin cupere, which is also the ancestor of our word cupidity. It, too, means "passionate desire," but it very quickly becomes "inordinate greed." Covet probably isn't too far away from that.
Definition 1 of covet says it means "to desire eagerly" but that's said in reference to things or material objects.
That's true of my situation. I desire a house, and that's a material thing. But I don't know if I'd say "eagerly." Let's see what else the dictionary says, though. Maybe definitions farther down will fit better.
Ah, by definition 3, the eager desire takes a turn toward the negative: "To desire culpably; to long for (what belongs to another)." Here's where covet gets all commandment-y.
The fourth and final definition is, succinctly, "To lust" or "To have inordinate or culpable desire for."
You may remember what Dr. Hannibal Lecter taught us about coveting. He asks Clarice, about the serial killer "Buffalo Bill," "What is his nature?" She guesses that he kills women, but Dr. Lecter says, "No. That is incidental. He covets." Buffalo Bill (Jamie Gum or Jame Gumb) is perhaps the best example of how coveting can go seriously wrong. (Photo from starpulse.com)
Well, I'm not lusting after Margaretta's house, or any house, for that matter. I would like to own a house. I wish I could, like Margaretta, own my own house. But I don't think that wish is inordinate or culpable.
It looks like definition 4 of envy is the one that fits best. I am envious (definition 4) that Margaretta owns her own house. There.
Comparison
To sum up, here are the basic differences between envy, jealousy, and covetousness:
Envy: "A longing for the advantages enjoyed by another person" sometimes to the point where you feel malignant or hostile feelings toward that person. Someone else has something and you'd like to have it.
Jealousy: you have something, or you're in a relationship with someone, and you're all freaked out that you might lose it. You get very suspicious and guarded lest you lose whatever it is you have to a real or perceived rival. You have something and you're afraid of losing it.
Covetousness: you really want something, especially some material goods of some kind, but you want it to the point of lust.
None of these things is really a good emotion to have. I wouldn't recommend that anybody go around feeling envious all day, for example. And in exploring these words, we've encountered some pretty unsavory people. So in this sense, I've violated the spirit of the Daily Apple.
But I did want to know the distinctions between these words, and I do feel better for knowing them. And I would recommend going around consulting the dictionary all day, if you felt like it. So I think the appropriate thing to celebrate here is the Oxford English Dictionary.
The magnolia trees in my neighborhood are blooming. I know they're early bloomers each year, sometimes so early the snow is falling on the blossoms. But since we've been having summer-like weather in early March, I wondered if the magnolias are blooming any earlier than usual.
Magnolias in bloom (Photo by the Apple Lady)
Well, of course the answer to that depends on what kind of magnolia you're talking about.
There are about 80 different species of magnolia, many of which have several cultivars (varieties) within each species. The Southern Magnolia, for example, has over 100 different kinds of cultivars.
Not even discussing the variations among cultivars, there is all sorts of variation among the species. Those variations can affect a lot of things, including when the flowers bloom.
Some species are deciduous (the Saucer Magnolia is one of these), some are semi-evergreen (the Jane Magnolia, for example), and some are evergreen year-round (Southern, or Magnolia grandiflora).
The Jane Magnolia is semi-evergreen, and it has tulip-shaped flowers which are pinkish-purple on the outside and bright white at the center. (Photo from Fast-Growing-Trees.com. You can order a 3-4 ft. Jane magnolia from here for $69.)
The Southern Magnolia can grow to be 60 to 90 feet tall. Its flowers are entirely white. (Photo from Missouri Botanical Garden)
The Sweetbay Magnolia is a favorite among gardeners in South Carolina. But the same species may be deciduous, semi-evergreen, or evegreen depending on where in South Carolina it is grown.
Sweetbay Magnolia flowers are a creamy white and the petals tend to do this rounded, scoop-like thing. They also have a light, lemony fragrance. (Photo by Rodger Hamner, from University of Florida IFAS Extension)
I'm going to guess that the magnolias in my neighborhood are Saucer Magnolias. Here's why:
Saucer Magnolias are deciduous (check).
They can grow to about 20 to 30 feet high (check. It was difficult to get close-ups of the blossoms because nearly all of them hung at heights taller than I am.).
The flowers are large and saucer-shaped (check).
The petals are white with pink, purple, or lilac on the outside (well, check, I think.).
One site has a drawing of a Saucer Magnolia tree and its flower, and the drawing shows a flower whose petals on the interior are nearly all white with a blush of pink, while the exterior of the petal is pinkish-purple (definitely check).
Close-up of what I think is a Saucer Magnolia. Looking down on the blossom from above, you can just barely make out a tinge of pink in the otherwise white petals. So you might be tempted to say these flowers are white. (Photo by the Apple Lady)
But what fascinates me is that from underneath, these very same flowers appear to be mostly pink. The pink color seems to be confined to the outside, undersides of the petals. It's funny that more of the pink doesn't appear in the flowers when looking down on them from above. (Photo by the Apple Lady)
So, assuming that these are Saucer Magnolias, when do Saucer Magnolias bloom? Once again, the answer depends. This time, it seems to depend on where the tree is growing:
In New York's Central Park, they bloom "as early as late March."
In South Carolina, they bloom in March or April.
In Houston, they bloom in late February or early March.
Along the coast, they may open as early as February.
One site generalizes it best: as early as late winter, or as late as mid-spring.
So I'm heartened to learn that while the weather may be wackily out of season, the magnolias, at least, seem to be right on schedule.
Whenever the Magnolias bloom, they sure are a welcome sight after winter. (Photo by the Apple Lady)
Magnolias in General
Despite all the variations among magnolia species, there are some things you can say about the lot of them.
Magnolias are relatively easy to care for. Most species are not bothered by bugs or other pests.
That said, most magnolias are pollinated--not by bees--by beetles. The beetles don't bug the trees, they're just there to help out.
Magnolias generally don't like to be transplanted once they've got a root system going.
This is because, while a magnolia's roots don't run deep, they are long and ropey, so it's hard to make sure you've got them all bundled together when you're moving the tree.
If you really must move a magnolia, dig as wide a rootbed as possible. It's more important to make it large in circumference than it is to dig deep, since most of the roots live close to the surface. Also, if you can, snip a few roots a year before you're going to move the tree. This will encourage the roots to branch, making it more likely to withstand being moved the following year.
For the same reason, it's a good idea not to plant other flowers or shrubs around the base of the magnolia. Those other plants will interfere with your magnolia's roots.
Most people call Magnolias trees, but apparently it is more accurate to say they are shrubs.
The primary difference between a tree and a shrub is that trees usually have one or maybe two main trunks, while shrubs have lots of stems. Shrubs are also usually shorter than trees, but what constitutes "shorter" versus "taller" seems to vary from one shrub/tree to another.
This magnolia plainly has lots of main stems, so even though it is fairly tall, it should probably be called a shrub. (Photo by the Apple Lady)
That said, while "shrub" may be technically correct, in person, I'd probably call a 90-foot Southern Magnolia a "tree." I think in that case, its height would trump its multi-stemmed-ness.
In the history of plants, magnolias are thought to be among the earliest, or most primitive, of all flowering plants. Some of the oldest fossils of flowers look very similar to magnolia blossoms.
Did the earliest flowers look something like this? (Photo by the Apple Lady)
