MANY NON-NATIVE ENGLISH speakers don't realize that mussels and muscles are pronounced exactly the same in English.
We have a cousin in Norway who once commented on my "big muss-kuls" (she was hallucinating). When I corrected her pronunciation, she couldn't understand why mussels and muscles were spelled differently if they were pronounced identically. The same thing has come up with some of my Spanish friends. Try explaining English!
I don't know exactly how mussels are farmed and harvested here and am hoping someone reading my blog will be able to explain it. What I do know is that mussels (not muscles) have been around for a very long time. One of the earliest known seafood dinners was discovered and it included mussels, 164,000 years ago. Come to think of it, muscles would have existed at that time, too.
And, speaking of mussels (and muscles), look what the wind blow in.
MUCHAS PERSONAS QUE no son hablantes nativos de inglés no se dan cuenta de que "mussels" (mejillones) y "muscles" (músculos) se pronuncian exactamente igual en inglés.
Tenemos una prima en Noruega que una vez comentó sobre mi gran "muss-kuls" (estaba alucinando). Cuando corregí su pronunciación, ella no podía entender por qué los "mussels" y los "muscles" se deletreaban de manera diferente si se pronunciaban de manera idéntica. Lo mismo ha ocurrido con algunos de mis amigos españoles. ¡Intenta explicar inglés!
No sé exactamente cómo se crían y cosechan los mejillones aquí y espero que alguien que lea mi blog pueda explicarlo. Lo que sí sé es que los mejillones (no los músculos) han existido por mucho tiempo. Se descubrió una de las primeras cenas de marisco conocidas e incluía mejillones, hace 164,000 años. Ahora que lo pienso, los músculos también habrían existido en ese momento.
Y, hablando de mejillones (y músculos), mira en qué sopla el viento.
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| OUT AT SEA. EN EL MAR. |
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| THE ONE AT LEFT MAY APPEAR ON OUR BEACH DURING THE NEXT STORM. EL DE LA IZQUIERDA PUEDE APARECER EN NUESTRA PLAYA DURANTE LA PRÓXIMA TORMENTA. |
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| AT 15, BEFORE I BECAME THE MUSCLEMAN I AM TODAY. 15 AÑOS, ANTES DE LLEGAR A SER EL HOMBRE MUSCULO QUE SOY HOY. |
There, their, they're -english can't be that hard to explain. How can you still have the same waist size after all these years?
ReplyDeleteTravel:
DeleteOne of our friends here complains about trough, rough, cough, bough, through, thought... Anyway, my waist size then was 28. It is now 32!
I love muscles and mussels.
ReplyDeleteSidenote: on an old episode, as opposed to a new episode(?), of I Love Lucy, Ricky was questioning why the words 'through,' 'rough,' and 'though' all sounded different.
That's English, baby!
Bob:
DeleteYes, we have a friend here has complained about those same words.
Lots of anomalies in the English language and all because of the different foreign invaders that introduced their own words into what was being spoken on that island. So in true terms it is a bastardisation of many languages all cobbled together without any rationale !
ReplyDeleteFascinating Mitch.
ReplyDeleteI wonder where the floaters originally came from.
The seas are mighty and drop off unsuspecting treasures a lot.
Mussels & muscles are part of our everyday life too.
Hey, you were a cutie "way back when"!
Now, homonyms are an interesting phenom aren't they!
All the best as always.
Ron
Ron:
DeleteThey are mussel beds. I think the pipes are floated with cord attached that hang down to anchored bases, and that's where the mussels grow. I THINK.
Of course you are correct.....just like mussel farming in our parts! I'm a wee bit slow on that one. Cheers!
DeleteRon:
DeleteIt surprises me I've unable to find images or descriptions online of how this works. The next time I see our portero, I'll ask him for a lesson on local mussel farming.
Ditto the above....
ReplyDeleteMussels are farmed around here as well, I believe because they can control the quality and size. It is HUGE here. As well as the 'wild' ones that are everywhere.
Jim:
DeletePer my reply to Ron, I THINK those pipes are floated at the surface and attached via rope to anchoring points. I will continue to try and get an explanation. (Actually our portero grew up here and is a fisherman; he''ll know!)
In France, at least in the waters around the Mont-Saint-Michel, mussels are grown on bouchots, giant oak spikes that are driven into the sand at just the right location so that they're exposed in low tide and under water at high tide. The spikes have the thickness of an American telephone pole, more or less. The mussels are grown on ropes that are wrapped around the poles. When the mussels are ready to be harvested, big machines on boats strip them from the poles. Grown this way, the mussels aren't full of sand.
ReplyDeleteI read this, by the way. I'm not a know-it-all. But I like mussels. And muscles.
Walt! You are a fabulous source of information -- who would think that there was a whole story behind where the mussels come from in France? Super intéressant, tout ça :)
DeleteJudy
Walt the Fourth:
DeleteI found that same info and was so excited but when I read on i realized these mussel "beds" look nothing like that. I could find nothing that looked like this. So, I'm going to ask a local fisherman.
Well, you may not have had muscles at 15 but -- NICE TAN!
ReplyDeleteDebra:
DeleteI spent my life tan and have the skin damage to prove it!
Muscles or not, you have a great tan there.
ReplyDeleteKirk:
DeleteI was always tan. Should have used sunscreen when I was a kid!
The poles out at sea look like a real danger to boats - they're (there, their) huge!
ReplyDeleteWilma:
DeleteThey are clearly defined mussel beds that aren't in regular boating channels. But I've got to find specific info and will then share. And you're right there, their, they're huge.
wound (as in a cut) and wound (as in a watch). strange. cutie pie!
ReplyDeleteanne marie:
DeleteEnglish is very inconsistent and very difficult to learn. Just look at San Geraldo!
great photo love
ReplyDeleteEnglish is a bastard child of Germanic, Latin and Greek
ReplyDeleteAdam:
DeleteAnd the bastard wasn't raised well.
Ah English.... when I was teaching it to the Polish generals my final defense was always: Common usage!
ReplyDeleteAs to the mussels I'm not sure about there but here they are farmed and we are known for our PEI mussels. Always have a bag in the freezer for those nights when you don't want to cook - a splash of wine, a cut up tomato, some herbs, a big pot and voilà
Willym:
DeleteYes, English is a tough language; isn't it though... I love mussels. These "pipes" are used for farming them here; I just don't yet know exactly how.