On May 27, 2004, at 14:56, Weronika Patena wrote:
True, there doesn't seem to be, although I always thought that was just because I've never dealt with sex in Polish.
Possibly a vicious circle: there's no "ordinary" language to talk about it, because nobody talks about it?
(of course the idea of using condoms wasn't even mentioned, since the Caltholic Church doesn't allow them, for no reason that I ever managed to understand).
The first and foremost reason for having sex is procreation, not pleasure; pleasure is icing on the cake, and not strictly necessary. By using a condom, you turn that principle upside down. Then, too, the Catholic Church is ruled by men, and it's men who object the most to using condoms, so, who knows what the real reason is :)
I don't know what the Forsyth Saga is... When was it out?
Sorry, my mistake. It's Forsyte Saga (by Galsworthy). I just checked as to when, and the first volume was published in 1906, but the last not till 1922.
I don't know anything about Ann Landers either.
Too late now; she'd dead and burried. But she used to have a syndicated advice column, which used to be published in half the newspapers in the US. The other half of the newspapers published the advice column wrtitten by her twin sister (Amy van Buren? The Washington Post had Ann Landers, so her name is more familiar to me). I used to love Ann Landers when I first came here; her replies to all sorts of questions (some totally bizarre) was so no-nonsense and straightforward... Reading the column gave me many a chuckle (as well as some insight into what "American society at large" was like).
And then I got seduced by lace, spare time got short, so reading the Style section had to "go"... I don't know who (if anyone) is writing advice columns these days, nor what kind of questions "exercise" Americans now... Are the "bathroom issues" (how to hang the toilet paper, and the matter of the toilet seat) still all-consuming issues? If they are, is there someone like the indomitable, ole Ann Landers telling people "why don't you get a life"?
In the US I get in lots of conversations I'm completely lost in... Tamara, does this ever go away?
No, not really. After 31 yrs here, I still fail every trivia test there is, even the ones designed for my generation. But it doesn't bother me; I can't be expected to know things I didn't grow up with (my growing alongside US started when I was 23), these *are* trivia afterall (so I don't "hafta" burden my two remaining brain cells with them) and, it's always interesting to learn something new (even if I'm unlikely to remember it the next day). Plus, my asking a question about things which are "natural" to every born-and-bread American but "obscure and esoteric" to me, is likely to make someone's day, providing the explanation, so, why not? I just make sure that I apply the heaviest accent I can, to remind my "instructor" that the question is legitimate, and not prompted by innate stupidity <g>
--- Tamara P Duvall http://lorien.emufarm.org/~tpd Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) Healthy US through The No-CARB Diet: no C-heney, no A-shcroft, no R-umsfeld, no B-ush.
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