Tuesday, October 07, 2008

DATELINE SICILY

True romance is alive and well in Sicily, reader!

I was tackling the knotty problem of saying and writing dates in English with a group this afternoon and quite complicated that can be, you know, what with our st / nd /rd abbreviations, which are often said but not written , the ofs and thes which are said but not written and then the fact that North Americans put the month first , so that the term “9/11” was at first a puzzle to most Brits, as to us it meant the 9th November. [Now that date, in its infamy, as I’m sure a former President would have put it, is known to us all as it is to Americans, of course.]

Towards the end of the session, I asked students to tell me what were the most important dates to them personally and all the men, I’m glad to report, gave the date of their wedding anniversaries as the most important one in their lives. The Anglo-Saxon male famously forgets this date, along with birthdays and other anniversaries, so I thought that was very sweet and again I was reminded of why I love Italians. How is it where you are?

Why Can't a Woman...? - My Fair Lady



15 comments:

jmb said...

Not all North Americans put the month first, Welshcakes. Canadians still follow the British tradition. But you have to make doubly sure here now since it is creeping in.

One of my favourite songs from one of my favourite movies/plays.

Anonymous said...

Australians are date first.. ah Welshcakes most Italian men are born romantic, surprisingly even my son ...:)

James Higham said...

Maybe she was just a pain in the neck. Anglo-Saxon women sometimes forget that too. :)

Mopsa said...

It's not just the males that forget wedding anniversaries - normally we look at each other at the end of January, smack our foreheads simultaneously , accompanied by "bother" (or similar), we've forgotten it AGAIN!

Dragonstar said...

Sweet romantic Italians!

CherryPie said...

Love the song :-)

Nunyaa said...

Men in Australia treat anniversaries to toilet bowls, they miss them lol

Whispering Walls said...

From the headline, I thought you were going on a date, WL! What's happened to Adonis btw?

Leslie: said...

Hah! Did you read my post about my husband not doing anything for my birthday our first year married? After that he never forgot again. But for me, it's birthdays that I never forget as it's a day that I believe everyone should get to celebrate as his/her special day.

PinkAcorn said...

Yes, us USA folk get a bit confused with the change up of the month and day... My hubby is half Italian/Sicilian and just about half the time he's on the ball with remembering the all important dates.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Thanks for that info, jmb. Great to hear from you, Abbey.
Maybe so, James! Nice story, Mopsa. Dragonstar and cherrypie - I think we agree! WW: haven't seen him for ages! Leslie, yes I did and I agree with you re birthdays. Hi, pink. Well, half the time is better than none, as they say! xx to all

Ardent said...

I get the impression that your male student were trying to impress you by saying that their wedding anniversary was an important date. Too good to be true.

My husband is good with certain dates; he never forgets the date, time and place his football team are playing.
:)

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

You've given me a much-needed laugh here, nunyaa! Oh, Ardent, I'm sure he remembers really!

Maria said...

My Fair Lady is one of my MOST favorite films ever! I love the sentiment of the story and who can resist Audrey Hepburn in anything? Well I can't that's for sure.

I do agree with you, us American's have to be so opposite the rest of the world sometimes I just don't get it.

As for me there are so many dates I keep close to my heart as I am sure many of us do.

Thanks for posting the video!
M

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Glad you like the video, M. x

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