Chrysti The Wordsmith: Aesop - 1

The Montana State University in Bozeman this is Christie the wordsmith. The Greek storyteller Aesop is said to have invented hundreds of fables or short stories designed to teach lessons the narratives and morals of Aesop's fables have become part of our linguistic heritage. Let's look at a couple examples. The expression to cry wolf meaning to raise a false alarm comes from Aesop's tale of a mysterious shepherd who to fool and frighten his neighbors cried wolf wolf again and again the neighbors ran to rescue the boy's sheep who were never really in danger. But one day a wolf did appear and attacked the flock. The shepherd cried wolf in earnest but his neighbors having been tricked too many times before ignored him. The shepherd lost his sheep by crying wolf too often. To have an attitude of sour grapes is to disparage what you would like to have but cannot attain this notion was inspired by Aesop's story of a hungry fox who spied a bunch of grapes overhead and though she attempted to get

them they remained just out of reach. The Fox walked away consoling herself that the grapes were probably sour anyway. Join me next time for more of Aesop's moral sensibilities and the storytellers linguistic contributions to the English language. I'm Christie the wordsmith. The series is recorded in the studios of them in Bozeman Montana. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.