Thursday, May 26, 2016

An Adult Sized Spelling Test

Recently I read Walk Me Home by Catherine Ryan Hyde.  The girls in the story wore bandannas.  Notice the two "n"s.  It looked weird to me each time I read the word.  Next I read The Liars' Club by Mary Karr.  She too had a bandana but hers only had one "n".  I heaved a huge sigh of relief.

I started a new book the other day, Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace.  And guess what!  He's wearing a bandanna.  Ugh.  I'm back to two "n"s. Miriam Webster defines a bandanna as a square piece of cloth that is used as a head covering or worn around the neck. A variant of bandanna is bandana.  Oh, thank God, I really did pass my fourth grade spelling test.

Wikipedia on the other hand says a bandana is a type of large, usually colorful kerchief worn on the head or around the neck of a person or a pet and is not considered a hat. Having taught my dog, Ginger everything she knows, the cute and colorful bandana she wears home from the groomer only has one "n".  I'm sure of it.

Synonyms for a bandana are, do-rag, hachimaki, headband and tengkolok.  OK.  I know what headband is and I can tell a funny story about when I learned about a do-rag.  Let's just say the white women got a hairdressing lesson from the black women.  But I haven't met anyone yet who is willing to educate me on the care and use of those other two strange bandana word look a likes.

I'm also told that bandanas reached their peak of popularity in the 1970's, 80's and 90's.  Based on all the contemporary novels I've been finding them in, I believe a resurgence is happening.  Although I struggled with the spelling of this item, I would have been even more freaked out if I'd caught any of these characters wearing a kerchief.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Splintered Silence by Susan Furlong

Splintered Silence by Susan Furlong First off I have to say I happened on this book by chance.  My sister's name is Susan Leigh Furl...