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#Post#: 19613--------------------------------------------------
Wild Flowers
By: Nikola Date: December 4, 2019, 2:56 am
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Do people in your country know the names of the most common wild
flowers? I recall asking some native speakers of English the
names of some flowers and being told "it's a... flower" while
they looked at me with genuine surprise as if to say "do you
really expect me to know this?" It was the kind of look you
would get if you asked someone about nuclear physics or
neuroscience. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think Czech people
know everything, quite the opposite actually, but I believe
there is this expectation and a slightly apologetic "gosh, I
should know this" that doesn't seem to be universal. Please
correct me if I'm wrong.
Do you know if any of these grow in your country and do you know
their names? Do kids learn their names in school? And how many
of these can you name in your second/third language?
[img width=300
height=234]
HTML https://img26.rajce.idnes.cz/d2603/16/16180/16180660_21afdc90e26c5b326ea7e3912d8aeac9/images/wildflowers.jpg?ver=0[/img]
#Post#: 19615--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: SuKi Date: December 4, 2019, 12:35 pm
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A generation or so ago, people in Britain did know the names of
everyday flowers, trees, birds and so on. Now they don't.
There've been lots of studies in the UK on what's known as the
'Nature Deficit' and the results are heartbreaking. For example,
a few years ago they did a test on some primary school kids,
showing them pictures of Pokemon creatures alongside some common
British birds and animals. It turned out the kids could name the
imaginary characters without any problem at all, but they failed
to recognise even a robin or a blackbird. In another study,
their parents fared no better.
What's even sadder is the updates to the Oxford Children's
dictionary. In recent years, they removed words like 'acorn' and
'dandelion' to make room for 'vlog' and 'selfie stick'.
Now to your pictures. Sadly, kids don't learn about flowers at
school. Off the top of my head: dandelion, some kind of nettle?,
some kind of daisy?, don't know but it looks garlicky, poppies,
lily of the valley, forget-me-not, thistle, probably a buttercup
but not too sure. I also know the French names for those that
I'm sure about.
How did I do?
#Post#: 19616--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: Nikola Date: December 4, 2019, 1:32 pm
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You're right, SuKi, it's definitely a generation thing as well.
I'd like to think that kids here still learn names of flowers. I
know I did when I was little but I already knew many of them
because my parents had taught me them - and they're no plant
enthusiasts. Also, I think that our culture revolves around
forests and fields and quite a few classic cartoons and stories
for kids mention specific plants. So there's still hope for kids
who have their faces glued to a screen of some sort. Schools
definitely still teach about different types of trees and birds
that stay here during the winter months and ones that migrate.
For some reason this seems to be very important.
You did great! (I hope this is a situation where "great" can be
used as purely positive.) It's a nettle, the blue one is chicory
and the green one that looks a bit like wild garlic is plantago
lanceolata, also called ribwort plantain, narrowleaf plantain
or, this may surprise you, English plantain :)
HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_lanceolata
Not to be
confused with the other plantain, a cooking banana.
#Post#: 19618--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: SuKi Date: December 4, 2019, 5:13 pm
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Why would 'great' not be positive?
I don't think I've ever seen a chicory flower (though I note
that one of its names is 'blue daisy', so I wasn't far off), and
I'd never have guessed the plantain one. Are those common in the
Czech Republic?
I grew up with the Cecily Mary Barker flower fairy books, so
most of my flower recognition ability comes from those.
Here's the very cute chicory fairy:
HTML https://flowerfairies.com/the-chicory-fairy-2/
#Post#: 19621--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: Nikola Date: December 5, 2019, 2:51 am
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I was thinking things like "well, that's just great" or simply
"great" with a sarcastic tone. Ever since you wrote about
"thanks a lot", I've been thinking twice before using something
that could be misinterpreted in writing. I don't think "you did
great" could be taken the wrong way, though, could it?
The chicory fairy is cute. Yes, we get chicory here, although
from a distance I sometimes get it mixed up with cornflower that
grows here, too.
[img width=300
height=300]
HTML https://www.americanmeadows.com/media/catalog/product/b/l/blue-cornflower.jpg?quality=80&bg-color=255,255,255&fit=bounds&height=&width=[/img]
The plantain is super common here. So is its relative that looks
like this:
[img width=300
height=168]
HTML https://www.magazinzahrada.cz/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/jitrocel-plantago-1100x618.jpg[/img]
#Post#: 19623--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: SuKi Date: December 5, 2019, 4:35 pm
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I don't think "you did great" could be taken the wrong way,
though, could it?
No, I don't think it could. I'll take it as a genuine compliment
and shan't quibble over the lack of adverb ;)
#Post#: 19624--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: Nikola Date: December 5, 2019, 5:41 pm
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The Sublime Killer returns ;D
#Post#: 19626--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: SuKi Date: December 6, 2019, 6:50 am
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So, here's the question:
We're wandering through the flower-filled Czech woodlands and
pastures and we pick a posy of wildflowers to present to our
loved ones. Which way up do we carry it? See video below:
HTML https://www.quora.com/What-does-it-mean-to-hold-a-bouquet-of-flowers-upside-down
#Post#: 19628--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: Nikola Date: December 6, 2019, 9:03 am
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Ah, the well-known Eastern European bouquet grip! The idea of
carrying wild flowers this way makes me giggle, not sure why. It
might be because of the stems, they're shorter and thinner than
in cultivated flowers you get from the shop. I'm not sure why
that matters, either.
#Post#: 19629--------------------------------------------------
Re: Wild Flowers
By: SuKi Date: December 6, 2019, 9:18 am
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Ah, the well-known Eastern European bouquet grip!
So it's true, then? You folks really do carry bouquets with the
heads pointing downwards?
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