Monday, September 24, 2012

All About Breasts

If not for San Geraldo, I don't know what I would do for entertainment some days.

We were talking about the unfortunate situation of a friend of ours in the states whose employer only paid her for half the month because he said he didn't have the money. No apology. He's never been very pleasant and she's worked for him for less than a year. She told him if he's not going to be able to pay, she's not going to be able to stay.

As San Geraldo put it:
"That's the way it works. Tit for tit and tat for tat."

I guess that's the way it works in San Geraldo's world. For the rest of us, it's tit for tat.

The expression "tit for tat" means to return in-kind an injury received from another. In the Middle Ages (and San Geraldo may be forgiven for not knowing, since that was shortly before he was born), tippe and tappe were words that signified small blows (as in fighting). Spelling variations abounded and the words evolved to tip, tap, tit, and tat. In general, the expression simply means: equivalent retaliation. 

Lesson complete.

Say Cheese
While I'm on the subject of "tits" (although I've always wanted a tat), we have recently been enjoying a Galician cheese called "queso de tetilla," which means small-breast cheese(I've added the hyphen for clarity.) It's not what it sounds like. (Well, maybe it is.) It's a characteristic cheese made in Galicia (northwestern Spain) and is often used in desserts. It's probably been the cheese used in some of those cheese ice creams I've sampled.

QUESO DE TETILLA.
DELICIOUS, EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT A BREAST MAN (OR WOMAN).

The cheese is called tetilla because it looks like a small breast topped by a nipple. Sometimes, instead of a nipple, it's topped by a shape like that of half a pear; then it's known as perilla cheese — small pear cheese. This is as opposed to small pair cheese, which I suppose would simply require two quesos de tetilla placed together.

A NICE PAIR OF TETILLAS.
Cheese photos courtesy of GranAbade.com

In case you're interested, queso de tetilla traditionally comes from the Galician Blonde Cow. I don't know why that struck me funny. But, enough of this romp with my adolescent sense of humor. My adolescence is not something I really want to revisit. As San Geraldo would say, "cherish the thought."*

A GALICIAN BLONDE.
Courtesy of The Full Wiki.
..........
*Yes, I know, that should be "perish" and not "cherish." But, just try getting San Geraldo to remember!

22 comments:

  1. I had no idea you were a breast man.....

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  2. Hello Mitch:
    In our gardening days we would announce 'tits and teeth' to our helpers as bus loads of garden visitors arrived in order that the best of smiles would be put on and chests thrust forward in what we hoped would be a warmly welcoming way! Now, if we had known about these delightful cheeses, then things might have been slightly different....'tits and crackers' might have been the order of the day perhaps?

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    1. Jane and Lance:
      Your comment made me laugh out loud. Perhaps it's good I won't be on a busload arriving to see your gardens. I would burst out laughing at the meaning of your smiles and posture. Tits and Crackers does have a very nice ring. Forgive me for promising to use "tits and teeth" in future.

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  3. "Cherish the thought" seems a perfectly fine sentiment to me! Love it. The Hattat's "tits and teeth" made me laugh as well. As did the blonde cow. That cheese does look delicious.

    Hello Mitch - catching up on your blog after being without a functioning computer for a while - lots of reading to do!

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    1. Judith:
      It is so great to see you back here. I've missed you!

      Yes, San Geraldo have laughed a few times tonight about the Hattat's comment. That's definitely one to remember.

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  4. LOL! Jerry can't win!
    Interesting cheese alright, believe it or not I am not a cheese eater....got out of the habit in the 80's. I bet that brand sells like hotcakes kin some circles.

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    1. Jim:
      I love cheese (in case you didn't catch on when I started writing about cheese ice cream). I'm sure you're right about the tetilla.

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  5. I saw the word "breasts" and just carry on!

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    1. John:
      Well, since you're a nurse, I know you realize that men have breasts, too. Of course, it would be very strange for us to call them by that name. Mine are called Simon and Garfunkel.

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  6. I like "cherish the thought" too! In fact, I cherish the thought of blonde cows and cheeses shaped like Hershey's kisses. I also love learning the origins of old expressions. I even have several books on the subject!

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    1. Ms. Sparrow:
      You and San Geraldo have so much in common. Cherish THAT thought!

      I had a couple of word origins books that I gave away before we left California. Thank god for Google or I'd really be missing them. I truly enjoy finding out why we say what we do. It's amazing how often all I can find are theories.

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  7. Victor:
    San Geraldo fractures idiomatic expressions so often that I find myself constantly looking things up. Whenever I tell him he's screwed up, he wants to know where the expression came from. Sometimes it's obvious; sometimes -- like tit for tat -- it's not. I really enjoy discovering the origins (and sometimes finding that no one really knows).

    If you love cheese, you would have a ball here. I was in three cheese boutiques today to take photos of queso de tetilla. No one had any (the shelves are usually stocked), but they sure had other gorgeous cheeses. Anyway, that's why I ended up with web photos instead.

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  8. I had an employer like that. I no longer work for her.

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  9. Oh, my heavens, thanks to San Geraldo and to you for giving me a really great chuckle :)))

    Judy

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  10. I LOVE cheese ! And I always want to try new and adventuresome ones. This sounds fabulous. Wish I coul have some!

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    1. Spo:
      I'll try to start learning the types we get to enjoy and will share the names. There's a mild one with the texture of gouda that comes with different things blended in -- so far the one with mango is my favorite.

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    2. I would appreciate this: gouda is one of my favorite cheese, which I allow myself once a year or so at the holidays. Gouda like cheese can't be bad !

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  11. Novelty cheeses eh? As usual I'm on a different set of rail tracks off to one side of the main line and all they remind me of are those little sweet biscuits we used to get - about half an inch across, with a dollop of crunchy coloured icing shaped just like those cheeses set in the middle! I suppose that's the equivalent of staring at the Mona Lisa and fretting about her split ends. Cheese you say, eh? Are you sure?

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    1. Owl Wood:
      ... which made me think of those sweet little "cookies" we had with the nipple-shaped dollop of chocolate on top!

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