Did you know that bassets buck? This happens at happy times, but also when cutting their toenails--as I attempted to do yesterday. Imagine trying to pin down a bucking basset, get the clippers around the nail and squeeze at the same time--or, for the real problem nails, position the dremel tool so as not to grind down the foot pads. All this is no mean trick, but the deed was done with a minimum of yelping and a victorious wrestling match.This got me thinking about bucking---a strange word at that--conjures up images of cowboys--and bucks, as in Harry Truman waiting for some hovering buck to stop on his desk.
So, I looked up "buck" in the internet dictionary. It just reinforced why English is such a hard language to learn. Here is this four letter word whose meaning as a verb ranges from leaping to dislodge a rider to objecting strongly to butting to gambling. And then there are the nouns-- Bambi's father, dollars. Remember white bucks? What about young bucks or sawbucks? When were you last buck naked? "Buck, buck," go chickens. Confused yet?
This dictionary also offered translations. My favorite was Swedish " hoppa och sparka bakut ." Yep, that's just what my basset did. So buck up, little buckaroo, and buck the system. Maybe next time your toenails can keep on growing.
