Title of the Day

The story of Wamba (English translation of Juliani Toletani episcopi Historia Wambae regis).

This tells the story of the coming to power of the 7th-century anti-Semitic Gothic King Wamba, who expelled the Jews from Spain and southern France almost a thousand years before Ferdinand and Isabella. If we soft-pedal that aspect (in the spirit of revisionist biopics past and present), what treatment would you like to see?

1. Sword-and-sandal spectacular starring a glinty-skinned C-movie actor and exotic Canadian shooting locations.
2. A grand opera in the tradition of Norma featuring the feisty Jewish maiden who can tame his turbulent barbarian soul.
3. An animated epic featuring the voice of Mel Gibson as the uncompromising Christian king with a heart of gold and a head to match.
4. (Add your own.)

German Word-of-the-Day for Owlet: Day 12

gern(e) /ge:rn(ə)/ "gladly"

The translation above can't do justice to this useful little word. A better translation for gern + verb is "like to do (something)". For instance, Ich koche gern. "I like to cook." If you really like to do something, you do it schrecklich gern. It has something closer to the meaning given in fixed expressions like Gern geschehen!, lit. "Gladly happened!", i.e. "My pleasure!" or "Don't mention it." If you want to use it with a nominal object, you need a verb like haben or mögen. Would you like a lovely iced coffee? Then say Ich hätte gern einen Eiskaffee (even if you möchtest lieber einen Eistee.)

Note that there is no *gerner; if you like knitting more than cooking, then you strickst lieber. And if you'd most rather be fencing, then am liebsten fechtest du.