Why is an Orange Called an Orange?

Photo Credit: Fr Antunes on Flickr

Reading Why is an Orange Called an Orange? by Cobi Ladner inspired me to look into this question. I thought I'd share my findings here.

The book asks why an Orange is called an Orange if a Banana is not called a Yellow and Blueberries aren't called Blues.

What I didn't realize is that the fruit wasn't named after the colour. The colour got it's name from the fruit.

Here's what I found:

The word orange comes from Sanskrit nārangah (orange tree). Other European languages adapted the word - Persian nārang, Armenian nārinj, Arabic nāranj, (Spanish naranja and Portuguese laranja), Late Latin arangia, Italian arancia or arancio, and Old French orenge, in chronological order. The first appearance of the word Orange in English is from the 14th century.
 
Before this was introduced to the English-speaking world, the colour was referred to (in Old English) as geoluhread, which translates into Modern English as yellow-red.

The first recorded use of orange as a colour name in English was in 1512,[2] in the court of King Henry VIII.

The name of the colour is derived from the fruit, first appearing in this sense in 1542.

Extra for word-lovers:
The forms of the word starting with n- are older (like naranja), and this initial n- may have been mistaken as part of the indefinite article, in languages with articles ending with an -n sound (e.g., in French une norenge may have been taken as une orenge), a process called juncture loss.

Sources:

Wikipedia - Orange (fruit)
Wikipedia - Orange (colour)

Sunday Linkage

I'd like to go back to sharing links I've found with my readers. Every Sunday I'll share what I've found. They don't have to be blogs. They could be on a variety of topics. I'll make a catchy graphic for next time.

Exploring Science with Children @ PBS Parents
Lots of helpful ideas on how to teach children science based on everyday living and what's around you. Science in the kitchen, on the playground, in the neighbourhood, at the market and more!

LOST TV Fans
Another LOST wiki, not as filled in as Lostpedia but in my opinion, of a better format. If you know about LOST, help fill it in!


Simply Linked
A new widget like Mr.Linky, with a cleaner design. I think I'll be using this one from now on.

Super Why is showing February 2010 in Movie Theatres (US ONLY)

Two SUPER WHY episodes, Comic Book: Attack of the Eraser and The Big Game, will be in movie theaters on weekends in February as part of the Kidtoons program.

Soar to new places in February with SUPER WHY, as Super Why, Princess Presto, Wonder Red, and Alpha Pig go on reading adventures like you’ve never seen before. Wham! Pow! Join the superheroes inside a comic book, where they’ll use their literacy powers to stop the diabolical eraser from erasing the words in Reader Valley in Comic Book: Attack of the Eraser. Then get ready to cheer for Super Why and his friends as they learn the importance of practicing in The Big Game. Visit http://www.kidtoonfilms.com for more information and to find SUPER WHY in a movie theater near you! Super Duper!

The Kidtoons program is dedicated to helping parents connect with their kids by bringing family friendly animated movies to the big screen every weekend at participating theatres across the country. Participating Kidtoons theatres showcase a fun, affordable family friendly matinee movie and provide a family experience filled with entertaining, kid-friendly characters, as well as cartoon shorts, music videos and sing-alongs before each movie. We even have fun giveaways for the kids, such as stickers, temporary tattoos, activity books or toys after every film.

Discover Your Daughter - for parents of girls ages 8-12

The creator of Discovery Girls magazine has created a website called Discover Your Daughter. It's for parents of girls ages 8-12 and the girls themselves.

There are articles of interest to parents and tweens. Parents can register for the site themselves to leave comments on stories or to ask or answer questions in a format a bit similar to Yahoo! Answers. No information is collected for children. The articles tweens may like are there to read and they cannot leave any comments.

The website is fairly new but articles and features will be added overtime. Most of the articles for tweens were originally printed in the magazine.

Here's a little of what Discover Your Daughter had to say:

We share:
How to help your daughter learn to identify & stand up to bullies.
What she thinks parents don’t understand about her life, and what to do about it.
How parents can teach her to use technology wisely, so she’s not ruled by text messaging, IMs, email, etc
How to know where to draw the line on privacy?  How much should tweens have?
How to help her deal with jealousy, disappointment, and failure so she grows into a resilient, strong, confident young woman
How to help her to love and accept her body
How to build a foundation so she’ll make good relationship choices now and for the rest of her life

There is also a free email newsletter you can sign up for and you can follow Discovery Girls Magazine on Twitter or Facebook.

Also there is currently a contest to win a spot on the back of a Discovery Girls magazine that is open until March 1, 2010. There are other prizes too. Check out the Ultimate Mom Daughter Contest for more information.

If you're a parent of a tween girl you should check out this site, it seems very helpful!

Family Literacy Day

As you may or may not know, today was Family Literacy Day in Canada. I fully intended to post earlier so you could do something to celebrate but today was a bit crazy so instead I share what we did today.

This year's theme is Sing for Literacy to increase awareness of how singing helps literacy. Robert Munsch is the honorary chair for Family Literacy Day.

Singing is a great literacy activity for families because it provides a fun way to expand spoken vocabulary and creates a strong bond. Singing allows you to learn patterns of words, rhymes and rhythms, and is strongly connected to language skills.
 - Sing for Literacy

We went to playgroup today (for those not in Canada, it's like preschool but the parents stay and interact with their kids and other parents.) For Family Literacy Day we brought our teddy bears and did a special teddy bear themed day with teddy crafts, teddy snack and teddy songs and poems and stories at circle time.

This is my children at the sand table

Here they are with their bears at circle time

Here's a poem that was read to us.

We also listened to Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Eric Carle, sang Going on a Bear Hunt and watched a short video of the Teddy Bear's Picnic.

Want to download some literacy activities? (PDF file)

Check out some literacy facts

Super Why soars into a new kind of book!

GET A “TASTE” OF READING WITH SUPER WHY!

Hip Hip Hooray!  Super WHY whips up a whole new reading-powered adventure when the Super Readers soar into the pages of a cookbook for the very first time!  Super WHY and the Cookbook will premiere January 29 on PBS stations from coast to coast (check local listings).  Whyatt wants to bake his little sister a special birthday cake - but he doesn't know how.  So Super Why and his friends soar into a new kind of book  - and get the information they need from a rhyming chef with a silly sense of humor as well as a recipe for fun!  In the end, Whyatt learns how to create the perfect birthday for Baby Joy.

Here are some awesome tips to help you cook up your very own yummy reading adventure!  Encouraging preschoolers to read recipes, signs and more helps them navigate their world and gives them a real reason to use their new-found literacy skills.  Asking questions will expand their creativity as well as reinforce comprehension.  It can also inspire them to write their own signs, recipes or stories! 

• Pick out a simple and tasty recipe with your budding Super Reader.  Ask them to point out all of the letters and words they already know in the ingredients
• Write a grocery list together, sounding out the words as you go along
• At the supermarket, have your kids help read the signs so you can find the ingredients you need
• As you cook, read the recipe out loud every step of the way
• Before serving your delicious treat, create colorful place cards for each member of the family, assisting your preschooler in writing out the names.  Have fun – and bon appetite!

Each episode of Super WHY, the award-winning literacy series from Out of the Blue Enterprises, engages young viewers in fun, interactive alphabet and word games, as well as imagination-stimulating spelling, vocabulary and comprehension activities, helping to instill a life-long love of reading all along the way!

End of Year Meme 2009

I got this from Bleeding Espresso

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? Went to a Harlem Globetrotters game, got my book blog listed in an e-book, visited Kitchener/Waterloo [Ontario], took the train
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? No not really. I don't make resolutions per say but do make some general goals. I don't take them too seriously though because I know they never get stuck to.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Two of my friends
4. Did anyone close to you die? My dad's friend.
5. What countries did you visit? USA, does that count? That's as far as I've gone and not even that far, just Chicago.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? Good health and a new baby
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? January 2009 because I got a little closer to figuring out the specifics of something that's wrong with me (rather not give details) and October 2009 because I had surgery (again no details sorry)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? My book blog has gotten more successful.
9. What was your biggest failure?Not sure.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Well as I said I needed surgery in 2009 but that was from something that happened in 2007.
11. What was the best thing you bought? I haven't really bought a whole lot. Oh my Wii.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I have no idea
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? I have no idea.
14. Where did most of your money go? Bills LOL
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Visiting my brother in Waterloo.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Boom Boom Pow Black Eyed Peas
17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer? Sadder, Fatter, Richer (but not by much)
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? Reading and Blogging
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? Worrying and Overthinking
20. How did you spend Christmas? Christmas Eve at my moms, Christmas Day with my family. We were going to do Boxing Day with hubbie's family but we had to cancel.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009? Nope, was already in love.
22. What was your favorite TV program? Big Bang Theory

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? Dislike: Yes. Hate: no
24. What was the best book you read? I still haven't picked my top of 2009 (yeah I know just a BIT behind) but the one that comes to mind is Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Uhhh. I don't think I discovered music LOL.
26. What did you want and get? An MP3 player
27. What did you want and not get? A laptop
28. What was your favorite film of this year? Orphan was AWESOME!
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 26 and I visited my brother in Waterloo, ON and bought myself things.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Blogging all year with no breaks.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Fashion? Me? Yeah right.
32. What kept you sane? Who said I was sane?
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? I don't really pay much attention to celebrities.
34. What political issue stirred you the most? I don't talk politics on my blog.
35. Who did you miss? My brother
36. Who was the best new person you met? I met a bunch of new friends at playgroup. So far I don't see them outside of playgroup but we're still good friends.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009. Quality vs Quantity

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. 
Is it too late
Nothing to salvage
You look away
Clear all the damage

The meaning to
All words of love
Has disappeared

We used to love one another
Give to each other
Lie under covers so,
Are you friend or foe
-  Friend or Foe, TATU

Winner of Pillsbury Doughboy Giveaway

A winner was picked for the Pillsbury Doughboy Giveaway!

The winner is edmontonjb! 

Also anyone who followed my on twitter and left their twitter ids, I follow you back.

Be sure to check out my You Can Make This Holiday Giveaway for craft patterns!

Make a Healthy Cracker House This Year

I'd love to say this idea was all mine but that would be lying. I got the idea from a Parenting Magazine. (At the moment I can't remember which one and I can't check as I don't own it. )

Instead of a Gingerbread house full of icing and candy, make a healthier version. So I bought some crackers, cream cheese and assorted dried fruits and vegetables, fruit leather and corn nuts and got to work. I could have also used nuts but I am bringing this to a school so I figured I'd better not. You can use fresh vegetables too.

There is no RIGHT way to do this, be creative! My crackers were short so I did a short double house. If anyone else has done something similar, please let me know!

Why not try making one of your own this weekend?

GIVEAWAY: You Can Make This Holiday Gift Pack

Entry Deadline Extended

With the holidays just around the corner, we thought it would be fun to showcase some quick and easy gift ideas you can give to friends, neighbors, co-workers, and oh yes…even your family! You can enter to win eBooks from www.YouCanMakeThis.com and learn some fun new techniques, tips, and ideas not only for the people on your list, but also creative ways to decorate your home!

You Can Make This has created a free download for some fun gift tags. Each of them coordinate with ideas found as part of the DIY Gift Giving Series videos that can be found at www.youcanmakethis.com/blog , as well as designs and patterns found at www.SWAKembroidery.com and www.YouCanMakeThis.com.

You can also enter to win hundreds of dollars in gift certificates just for watching the videos that are part of the DIY Gift Giving Series and answering a question on the You Can Make This blog!

To Enter the Giveaway:  

(Leave all entries as SEPARATE comments to be counted as seperate entries)

Leave a comment on this post. Make sure there is a way I can contact you. Either leave your email address or make sure your profile has a link to your email or your website has an easy to find link to contact you. (1 entry)

Optional:

1. Follow this blog with Google Friend Connect and leave another comment stating such. (if you already follow, just leave a comment)
2. Follow me on twitter (@callista83) and leave another comment with your twitter id. (Again, current followers, leave a comment too)
3. Whether you follow me on twitter or not, post the following message to your account and leave a comment with a LINK to that tweet. (only the first time will count):

"Enter to win You Can Make This Holiday Pack @callista83. Open Worldwide till Dec. 26/09 http://bit.ly/73WriF"