The Sword and Laser discussion

We wrap up our thoughts on A Night in the Lonesome October by Roger Zelazny. Tom lays down some very obscure hints about the next pick. And why we’re glad Andy Weir got fired.

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The OG radio drama > everything else.

Trike wrote: "The OG radio drama > everything else."

I’ve never listened to the original radio drama, although I’ve read the book several times. Perhaps I’ll give it a try if it’s easily available.

Veronica may be relieved to hear that, despite the name, the “catgut” used traditionally for tennis racquets (and stringed instruments) isn’t actually made of cat’s guts. It’s usually made from the intestines of sheep and goats. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catgut

Ruth wrote: "It’s usually made from the intestines of sheep and goats"

And witches! 🧙

Trike wrote: "Ruth wrote: "It’s usually made from the intestines of sheep and goats"

And witches! 🧙"

It could be witches
Some evil witches
Which is ridiculous 'cause witches they were persecuted Wicca good and love the Earth and woman power
And I'll be over here

I've also been mispronouncing "panko". I have been using the same A sound as in the word "bang", but when Tom said it, I instantly knew that I'd been saying it wrong the whole time, and my jaw dropped. I knew panko was Japanese, and Japanese words almost always have a standard form of transliterating into English (based on 20 years of watching anime and a short stint of trying to learn the language). The "pa" part represents パ which is always a soft A sound. The full spelling is "pan" パン "ko" 粉 which means bread flour. Makes sense.
Anyways, now I don't know what to do... If I start pronouncing it properly while making dinner with my wife, she'll probably just get annoyed with me for confusing her, and then she'll tell me to stop getting uppity about pronouncing Japanese words. But if I keep pronouncing in like pangko, I'll hate myself a little more every time I say it...
If only I could go back to the simpler days when I never realized I was mispronouncing panko... But there's no unscrambling that egg.

Scott wrote: "It could be witches
Some evil witches
Which is ridiculous 'cause witches they were persecuted Wicca good and love the Earth and woman power
And I'll be over here."

We’re doomed.

Paul wrote: "I've also been mispronouncing "panko". I have been using the same A sound as in the word "bang", but when Tom said it, I instantly knew that I'd been saying it wrong the whole time, and my jaw drop..."

The Japanese change English words to their sounds, so turnabout is fair play.

Speaking of bread crumbs, I made this a while back. Highly recommended: https://www.instagram.com/p/C_RlNDFvL...

"The word catgut may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may derive by folk etymology from kitgut or kitstring — the dialectal word kit, meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word kit for a young cat, the word "kit" being possibly derived from Welsh." -- wikipedia

I wonder if Zelazny knew, but thought it was a good play on words. Or didn't know and thought it was an even better play on words.