Your statement , “I have to admit that I was one of those men that looked first to find the one word, or phrase in an angry statement a woman made towards men to condemn her for including me ( a good man) in her apparent condemnation of “ALL” men.”, took some courage of you to make I am sure, and also could relate to very well.

Your story of the tragic circumstance that your teenage niece endured last year, had me nearly in tears. Despite justice appearing to have prevailed, thanks to the courage of another young girl, your niece experienced a horror that no woman should ever have to, much less a young child.

My point being that, none of the reasons that I write on this blog are about me. A fact that I apparently was starting to lose sight of. I had figured that after maybe a year or so of not returning to old behaviors, Michelle might start to respond to my comments once again.

Seems that in my absence, that I have not learned a damn thing. However, Robert your post has seemed to drive a message home, or at least put me on the track. For that I owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you my friend.

Al

Many of us have surnames passed down to us from ancestors in England. Last names weren’t widely used until after the Norman conquest in 1066, but as the country’s population grew, people found it necessary to be more specific when they were talking about somebody else.

Thus arose descriptions like Thomas the Baker, Norman son of Richard, Henry the Whitehead, Elizabeth of the Field, and Joan of York that, ultimately, led to many of our current surnames.

There are perhaps 45,000 different English surnames, but most had their origins as one of these seven types.

1. Occupational
Occupational names identified people based on their job or position in society. Calling a man “Thomas Carpenter” indicated that he worked with wood for a living, while someone named Knight bore a sword. Other occupational names include Archer, Baker, Brewer, Butcher, Carter, Clark, Cooper, Cook, Dyer, Farmer, Faulkner, Fisher, Fuller, Gardener, Glover, Head, Hunt or Hunter, Judge, Mason, Page, Parker, Potter, Sawyer, Slater, Smith, Taylor, Thatcher, Turner, Weaver, Woodman, and Wright (or variations such as Cartwright and Wainwright) — and there are many more.

This kind of name also gave a clue about whom a servant worked for. Someone named Vickers might have been a servant to Mr. Vicker, and someone named Williams might either have served a William or been adopted by him.

From the obscure fact department: In medieval England, before the time of professional theater, craft guilds put on “mystery plays” (“mystery” meaning “miracle”), which told Bible stories and had a call-and-response style of singing.

A participant’s surname — such as King, Lord, Virgin, or Death — may have reflected his or her role, which some people played for life and passed down to their eldest son.

2. Describing a personal characteristic
Some names, often adjectives, were based on nicknames that described a person.

They may have described a person’s size (Short, Long, Little), coloring (Black, White, Green, or Red, which could have evolved into “Reed”), or another character trait (Stern, Strong, Swift). Someone named Peacock might have been considered vain.

3. From an English place name
A last name may have pointed to where a person was born, lived, worked, or owned land. It might be from the name of a house, farm, hamlet, town, or county. Some examples: Bedford, Burton, Hamilton, Hampshire, Sutton. Writer Jack London’s ancestor may have hailed from London.

3. From the name of an estate
Those descended from landowners may have taken as their surname the name of their holdings, castle, manor, or estate, such as Ernle or Staunton. Windsor is a famous example — it was the surname George V adopted for the British royal family.

4. From a geographical feature of the landscape
Some examples are Bridge, Brooks, Bush, Camp, Fields, Forest, Greenwood, Grove, Hill, Knolles, Lake, Moore, Perry, Stone, Wold, Wood, and Woodruff. Author Margaret Atwood is probably descended from someone who lived “at the wood.”

5. Patronymic, matronymic, or ancestral
Patronymic surnames (those that come from a male given name) include Benson (“the son of Ben”), Davis, Dawson, Evans, Harris, Harrison, Jackson, Jones (Welsh for John), Nicholson, Richardson, Robinson, Rogers, Simpson, Stephenson, Thompson, Watson, and Wilson.

6. Matronymic ones, surnames derived from a female given name, include Molson (from Moll, for Mary), Madison (from Maud), Emmott (from Emma), and Marriott (from Mary).
Scottish clan names make up one set of ancestral surnames. These include Armstrong, Cameron, Campbell, Crawford, Douglas, Forbes, Grant, Henderson, Hunter, MacDonald, and Stewart.

7. Signifying patronage
Some surnames honored a patron. Hickman was Hick’s man (Hick being a nickname for Richard). Kilpatrick was a follower of Patrick.

Henry, glad you enjoyed my one liner.

Let’s make another male distinction, (Some, and most actually if you think about it) men are dawgs and mostly want you to cater to their needs (with a ‘oh, you have needs, too, just me being here doesn’t cover them?!’ attitude. Yaaa, no) and dogs are the furry four legged loyal luvers that can’t wait to see you every day and every time you come home.

I have some more obvious female LSOS’s but I’ll save em’ for later … have to do some work, been on holiday for 2 weeks

Luv, Zen Lill

I’ve used many of your ideas in my quest for better health. One of my problems is constant fatigue. I know that everyone complains about a lack of energy, but mine seems to be getting worse as I get older.

I exercise, eat right, and get plenty of rest, yet I am always tired. Because I’m a vegetarian, my doctor thought my problem might be an iron or vitamin B12 deficiency, but supplementing with those hasn’t seemed to help much. What are your thoughts?

One potential cause of constant fatigue might be an iodine deficiency. Without enough iodine, your body might not be making adequate amounts of thyroid hormones.

A diet that consists primarily of plants is particularly problematic when it comes to iodine intake—especially if your protein source is from soy. While most nutritional charts indicate that many plant foods can be excellent sources of iodine, the soil in which they are grown is actually the determining factor.

Seafood, kelp, and seaweed products are good sources of iodine, and they’re becoming more popular in this country. Iodized salt can also help, but many people have switched to sea salt—which really isn’t a good source of iodine.

A recent study found iodine deficiencies in 25 percent of vegetarians and 80 percent of vegans—compared to nine percent of those people who are on a mixed nutrition diet. (Ann Nutr Metab 03;47(5):183–5)

I’ve written extensively on the many ill effects of hypothyroidism, including constant fatigue. One of the primary ways to reverse the situation is the addition of iodine to the diet.

For years I’ve recommended an effective and predictable liquid iodine called Iosol by the company TPCS. Begin with four drops of Iosol (don’t use any other form of iodine) in a glass of water daily for two weeks, then cut back to one drop a day once you’ve restored your iodine levels back to normal. I’m currently investigating a seaweed-based supplement option, so stay tuned.

To confirm your iodine level, you can ask your doctor to check them or take an at-home iodine deficiency test. But from an economic point of view, it’s far less expensive to just try the iodine supplement to see if you notice an improvement in your condition. You should see a noticeable difference in a few days to two weeks if you’re deficient in iodine.

Advice From Dr. Williams