For most of us in our personal lives a "High Water Mark"is a peak achievement, the attainment of one of the grand adventures in life. For a building, nearly a mile from the Ohio River, the "High Water Mark" if the sign of a tragedy, a massive flood. Quick research shows the river crested at 85 feet above normal in late January of 1937, the result of 20 inches of rain and ice in the river. 70% of the buildings in Louisville flooded. In the three years I spent in Louisville in graduate school, I saw the river flood a couple of times, one morning there were cars in a parking lot, on the way home that afternoon the cars were floating downstream, but I never saw anything like 1937.
So a high water mark can be good, or bad, a strange language.
wound = a boo boo
ReplyDeletewound = gathered up tight (like a ball of yarn)
depends on the pronunciation
Yes it is. I have so many conversations about that with Spanish friends. But don't get me started on similar things in Spanish.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded of an old I Love Lucy episode. Well they're all old, but that's beside the point. Lucy was trying to improve Ricky's English before the baby was born. I still laugh at him trying to read words with "ough" in them. Cough, rough, through and such. I'd hate to have to learn English.
ReplyDeleteA little bit of history in a tiny plaque
ReplyDelete