Herman Beyersdorf of Bangalee agrees that the hamburger (C8) “comes from an inhabitant of Hamburg who emigrated to America,and added a bun and lettuce to a well-known German mince meat dish. But making a connection to ham is false etymology,burger is not a suffix,despite cheeseburgers,veggieburgers etc. Nonetheless,when I was in Budapest,they advertised Hunburgers,but sadly in Vienna,they didn’t have any Hapsburgers.”
“Wasn’t Hamilton Burger the prosecuting attorney in thePerry Mason stories?” asks Brian Collins of Cronulla. “Not sure though what he had to do with putting a meat patty on a bun.”
Peter Riley of Penrith thinks there is little to take away from all this:“Having an item like ‘where does the word hamburger come from?’ in Column 8 devalues the whole ethos of the column. Just Google it. Lift your game.” And hold the onions!
“CSIRO and NASA,DART and LICIACube nuke Dimorphos? No wonder a spokesman said ‘this isArmageddon,Deep Impact andDon’t Look Up rolled into one.’ Stand by for more acronyms,” warns George Zivkovic of Northmead.
Speaking of acronyms,John Boughton of Pymble asks:“Would someone caught up in the new National Corruption Commission be considered to have been NACCERED?”
Despite the feelgood vibe of Jennifer Lawrence’s gecko tale (C8),Kern Osborne of Bowraville thinks his recent reptile visits are of a larger scale. “Lately,our front yard has been visited by a five-metre carpet snake,a two-metre diamond python and a red-bellied black! It is spring,though.”
“Being 18,I was allowed to seeBlackboard Jungle (C8) and sawRock Around the Clock when on holidays in Woy Woy’s theatre,” recalls Ted Richards of Batemans Bay. “Little depravity was reported in Woy Woy as a result. Another ‘depraved’ film of the time,but totally forgotten now,wasThe Moon is Blue,which was banned in some US states because it used words such as ‘seduce’ and ‘mistress’. Daughters were cautioned against seeing it.” Column 8 TV geeks may recall an episode ofM*A*S*H* where Hawkeye and BJ go to great lengths to obtain a copy ofThe Moon is Blue and are left somewhat underwhelmed by the fact it wasn’t blue enough.
Good news for gramma (C8) devotee Geoff Nilon and his search for seeds. Allan White of Kingsford suggests Eden Seeds in Victoria. “Been using them for years.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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