PLEASE forgive my OT indiscretion. But Saul so powerfully changed my financial life that you bet your bottom dollar I just had to order his sex after 40 book! Tim
Since this thread is all off-topic, I’ll just add one more post to it. In 1966 and 1977 Masters and Johnson wrote their two books. For you youngsters it’s hard to imagine how daring those books were. They were SHOCKING! No one talked about male and female sexual organs and sexual methods in print unless it was sleazy porno. Nowadays there are explicit articles about how to have better orgasms and whatever in every magazine you can look at. I was a professor at the UT Med School when the second book came out, which described their therapy methods. Well, I started doing M&J type sexual therapy, working with a female co-therapist. Talk about daring! This was in Texas! In the early 1970’s! If I hadn’t been a professor at the university I probably would have been considered a quack at best, and run out of town on a rail at worst. But when the therapy worked, I had some of my most grateful patients!!! After I went into private practice, in addition to my regular practice, I set up the Sexual Therapy Clinic of San Antonio, and my wife and I published a print newsletter (print was all there was then), called Sex over Forty. She ran the business and I wrote the articles. A lot in revenue but hardly anything in profit. Had an IBM System 34 computer (I think it was called), that was 3 feet by 6 feet and 4 feet high that didn’t have 1/100th the capability of my little MacBook Air (probably not 1/100th as much as my iPhone either). When we sold the newsletter after five years, I wrote the book.
I loved writing the books teaching English speakers about French. After all, 60% of English words come almost directly from French. After William the Conquerer conquered England in 1066, the upper classes (Normans) and the legal system and the courts, were all in French. Only the serfs spoke English. Richard the Lion-hearted didn’t speak a word of English. His real name was Richard, Coeur de Lion. Over the centuries words in each language grew apart so the same word sometimes means different things in each language. They are called faux amis (false friends). When you see them or hear them you assume you know what they mean, but you don’t. Here are some of the words that do mean the same:
abandon – abandon
abandonné – abandonned
abandonner – to abandon
abaque – abacus
abattoir – abattoir
abbaye – abbey
abbesse – abbess
abcès – abcess
abdication – abdication
abdiquer – to abdicate
abdomen – abdomen
abdominal – abdominal
abducteur – abductor
aberrant – aberrant
aberration – aberration
abhorrer – to abhor
abject – abject
abjuration – abjuration
abjurer – to abjure
ablation – ablation
ablution – ablution
abnégation – abnegation
abolir – to abolish
aboli – abolished
abolitionniste – abolitionist
abominable – abominable
abomination – abomination
abominer – to abominate
abondance – abundance
abondamment – abundantly
Believe it or not, this whole list came from just the first two pages of the A’s in my French dictionary! We are still in words starting with Ab !
But sensible in French comes from the family of words around sensation, and means sensitive, while sensible in English comes from the family of around words common sense, or that makes sense, and means that what you are talking about makes sense. That’s what a faux amis is. In addition to French Faux Amis, I also wrote books on The Rules for the Gender of French Nouns (French people just “know” if a noun is masculine or feminine), French Key Words and Expressions, French Words You Use Without Knowing It, etc.
Enough on this. I hope it was interesting in getting to know the eponymous “Saul” who turns out to be a real guy after all!
Best,
Saul