Create Angela's Alphabet With Cutlery, Cocktail sticks, and Toothpicks in restaurants and on flights

 

I tried making curved letters using the lids of miniature jam pots which you get in hotels. That did not work well. The O worked. I have seen business logos where the O in the business name was turned into a solid disc pattern, sometimes to respresent something they are selling.

I had already broken a cocktail stick in half for the entre horizontal line of the letter E.

But a G with half cocktail sticks, from a cocktail stick broken in half, with the horizontal alone, or a horixontal half stick with the other half hanging down from the tip was not easily recognizable as a G.

Then I started looking at alphabets and realised that you can make a squared alphabet.

You have a choice. For example, the letter E can be made with the three full size cocktail sticks for the horizontals, needing four sticks altogether.

At Home

At home I have a complete  set of a cylinder of cocktail sticks, bought from a hardware store. You can buy them in many supermarkets. 

In Restaurants

In a restaurant you would need to collect several. Either a container with several. Or unused ones if everybody at your table has been given one. 

On Planes

On a plane, you might be given one wrapped toothpick per person per meal.

With a family of three, such as two parents and one child, you would get three per meal, six if you saved them on a two leg outward journey, or six if you savved them from the first journey for the return journey. 

You could even use them still in their paper wrappers so that they can be returned to each person for use as a toothpick.

It might be simpler to use the metal or plastic cutlery. Or ask the server if they had any spare toothpicks. Or ask other passengers if they have unwanted wrapped toothpicks.

Have fun. Lots of fun for adults and children. Amuse and amaze your family, friends and colleagues.

My previous posts give more details and pictures of creating names with cutlery, and cocktail sticks.

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Angela's Alphabet with Cocktail Sticks & Chopsticks. Create the names Ava, Ali or Li with knives and forks or chopsticks - Ava's Knife & Fork and Angela's Chopstick Alphabet games

 Ava's Alphabet With Cutlery

You can play a game with small children. and teach them to read the Roman (English and European) alphabets using knives and forks. This teaches them the alphabet. 

It also keeps children at the table with you.  This is good because it stops them getting bored. It creates rapport. It prevents them from running away colliding with waiters and restaurant patrons, disturbing diners at other tables.

Or worse still, going out of doors left open or opened by incoming and outgoing guests. Then the child disappears, potentially running into traffic. I've seen this happen Worried bystanders intervene, calling the parents or carers away from the table. Much more fun to keep everybody at the table, busy, learning, creative, happy.

Now, how do you create names? Let's start with simple ones. Which are used not just by English speaking people but can also be used for Asian and Oriental people and languages, when travelling to other countries, or out to a restaurant serving ethnic food in your home city.

It is easy to create short names such as Ava, Al and Ali and Li.

Ava created from chopsticks. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Li - Surname

For example, the surname Li is very common in Chinese and oriental families. It is a surname or family name. But in the orient the family name is first, as in Singapore Late Lee Kuan Yew. Li  is written differently in Chinese picture writing or Vietnamese picture writing, but transliterated into the English as Li or Lee (depending on the tribe or area or country). 

It is also easy to create E, as a first name or family name.

Add A and you have Ali.

Subtract I and you have Al, short for Alexander and other names..

AVA's Knife and fork Alphabet

I was shown the use of knives and forks to make the letters A and V by a Norwegian friend who was teaching her niece. I can't find any references to this on the internet so after adding spoons for the horzontals of the A and chopsticks for an orintal version, I first thought of naming it after myself. That goes well because it is alliterative. 

 Angela's Alphabet. But Ava's Alphabet would be even more appropriate as this uses the straight line letters, shorter letters. So maybe the knife and for version should be Ava's alphabet, and the chopstick version should be Angela's alphabet.

Ava's Alphabet - with cutlery

So, here I shall use the name Ava's Alphabet for the knife and fork version which Ava used when I last saw her.

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Make The Alphabet With Ava Cutlery Game - How to use Cutlery in Restaaurnats to Teach children to read letters

 V I watched with amazement and admiration as Helena showed her niece, Ava, how to turn knives and forks into letters of the alphabet. Helena was teaching 4 year old Ava how to spell her name, A, with the knife and fork tips together. Then create V. E and F. 

Helena did it first. Then Ava copied her.

Do you know how to create letters with knives and forks?

A common name in China and Vietnam is Li. Easily created with chopsticks.

Photos by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

I lay awake at night thinking it through. I kept counting how many letters you could make using the liner shape of a knife or fork. I counted sixteen straight letters. 

The other letters had circles, half circles, and quarter circles. How would you make the circle and curves? Easy, Look for items with curves on the table. 

Either draw arond theme, or place them entire., or use pieces of multiple small fruit such as grapes, strawberries, cherries, to create lines and curves,

Here is my list of letters.

Line Letters - using knives and forks 15 of them

A E FHIKLMNTVWXYZ

Letters with curves (11 of them)

BCDGJOPQRSU

You could also do this on planes with their cutlery.

Useful Wwebsites

https://www.policybazaar.com/plans/baby-names/2-letter-baby-boy-names/

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How I remember the International NATO Military Phonetic Alphabet

 The military and police and many telephonists have to learn the phonetic alphabet. This morning I woke up early and went back to bed and tried to clear my mind and use the time by trying to remember the NATO alphabet, wwhich I learn and forget on a regular basis.

I used to type it out and keep a copy stuck into the front of my diary, in my mobile phone and before I had a mobile, and in hotels, on the wall by a fixed phone.

The current (2025) international alphabet has been changed a few times. Originally z was zero, but that got mixed up with zero hours. You can read about all the changes in a general Wikipedia article which covers the history of the alphabets used around the world. 

I'll. first list the latest international alphabet, then my latest ways of remembering it.

A - alpha

B - bravo

C - Charlie

D - Delta

E - Echo

F - foxtrot

G - Golf

H - hotel

I - India

J - Juliet

K - Kilo

L - Lima

M - Mike

N - November

O - Oscar

P - Papa

Q - Quebec

R - Romeo

S - Sierra

T - Tango

U - Uniform

V - Victor

W - Whisky

X - X-ray

Y - Yankee

Z - Zulu

A is easy. Alphabet. Bravo for remembering that.  You are a right Charlie if you forget it.

Six first or persoanl names are in the phonetic alphabet: Charlie, Juliet, Mike, Oscar, Romeo, Victor. Romeo and Juliet, are a pair, of course.

Delta is one of two geographical features. The other one is sierra.

Echo - please echo my recitation of the phonestic alphabet.

Foxtrot, golf and hotel are a threesome. I do a three-step foxtrot at an afternoon tea dance at the golf hotel.where my partner is playing golf. Foxtrot is one of two dances, foxtrot and tango.

I for India, one of the 4 placenames from all the continents. From the Americas, Y for Yankee, Q for Quebec. From South America the Spanish word sierra, and the city of Lima, which is the capital of the the country of Peru. And Latin Americn dancing, not the foxtrot but the tango.

From Europe, Italy's Romeo and Juliet. From the UK, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet and Scottish whisky. 

From Asia there's India. 

From South Africa the Zulu.

J - Juliet, one of the five people names, and one of a pair, as in Romeo and Juliet.

K - kilo, now hthe UK has joined Europe in being metric.

Lima - one of the five placenames.

M for Mike, one of the five people names. I met him in November.

N for November, when I met Mike.

O for Oscar. One of the six personal names. Papa should have got an Oscar for playing a papa. 

Q for Quebec. Not just the Yankees in North America, but also the Canadians.

Romeo, one of the six names. He went after Juliet, ran after her, courted her. His name is after hers in the alphabet.

S for sierra, one of two descriptions of land, ending with the letter a.

T the tango dance from South America. A pair with the other dance, foxtrot.

U uniform, worn by the military, and school children.

V - Victor - a militry man, a Yankee, or a school boy called Victor in school uniform.

W - for whisky, not drunk by the military, Yankees, nor by anybody in uniform.

X for X-ray

Y for Yankees, who lieve across the border from the Canadians in Quebec.

Z for Zulus, one of the placenames.

Italian Names Translated

Italian - English

Aida - happy

Alba - Dawn

Alberto - Albert

Alfredo - Alfred

Aldo - Donald

Alessandro - Alexander (defender of mankind)

Andrea - Andrew (the Italian is a male name)

Angelo - angel or messenger

Anita - grace

Antonio - Anthony

Arturo - Arthur

Barbieri - barber

Barone - baron

Bianca - white

Bruno - brown (referring to clothes or hair)

Carlo - Charles

Caterina - Catherine meaning pure

Cipriani - from Cyprus

Constantia - constancy

Cosimo from Greek Cosmo meaning order

Cristiano - Christian

Dante - lasting

Dario (from Latin Darius) posessing goodness

Dino - little sword (we used to have Dino's restaurant in Edgware. Several restaurants of this name are found worldwide.

Donna lady (ma donna = my lady)

Edmondo - Edmund (prosperous)

Eduardo - Edward (

Elena - bright light

Enrico - Henry /home ruler

Eugenio - noble

Fabio - bean farmer

Faust - lucky

Filippo - Philip  (loves horses)

Franco/Franceso - French

Gemma - gem, jewel

Giacomo - James

Giorgio - George (farmer)

Giulia - Julia (youthful)

Grazia - Grace

Gregorio - Gregory (watchful)

Juan - John

Juliet Julietta - child of Jove

Leo/Lenya - lion

Leonardo - bold lion (as in painter Leonardo Da Vinci)

Lennon - cape/cloak

Leopold - bold

Liliana - lily

Lorenzo - Lawrence (Laurel tree) 

Lucia/Lucan/Luciano/Ludo - light

Maria/Margherita/Mario - Mary (bitter)

Marcello - hammer

Marco (as in Marco Polo) from the Roman God of war Marcus

Marco - Mark

Maximo - greatest

Mona - lady

Nicola, Nicolò - Nicholas (the accent on the o of the Italian means emphasize that syllable) Victorious

Giorgio - George

Pascal - born on Passover

Paulo - Paul (small)

Primo - first one

Regina - queen

Ricco - Richard, powerful or strong ruler

Roma - from Rome

Romeo - pilgrim to Rome

Rosso/Rossini - red (maybe red haired)

Rosa, Rosetta, Rozalia - rose

Serena - serene

Slvatore - Saviour

San - Saint

Silvio - silver

Stefan0 - Stephen (crowned with laurels)

Teresa - harvester

Tomaso - Thomas (twin)

Valeria/Valentino - brave or strong

Violet - flower

Vincenzo - Vincent

Vito/Vittorio - Victor

I have at least ten dictionaries of baby names. 

People and Places

guida - guide

museo - museum

telefono - telephone

torre - tower

Useful Websites

https://adoption.com/baby-names/origin/italian

https://www.behindthename.com/name

https://www.oocities.org/irishkenj/givename

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Teaching English Overseas - or to incoming travellers - idioms and other idiocies

 Teaching English

I was listening to other speakers of English and I heard the idiom, by a country mile. I'm sure that would perplex speakers of Chinese (Mandarin). I have taught English for many years to O level and A level  pupils in schools, first in the UK and later in Singapore.

Cats and Dogs

I remember looking out of the window in Singapore with my English Language For Foreigners class pupils, after a lesson ended. Rain was pouring down. I said, 'it's raining cats and dogs'. 

A puzzled pupil replied, "I see cats. I don't see any dogs.'

The phrase comes from the old days of thatch roofs, when cats and dogs would sleep in the rafters or on rooftops. When it rained the thatch became slippery so the cats and dogs slipped off. To protect those underneath, large family beds had a canopy supported by four posts, called a four-poster bed. You can stay in hotels with four-poster beds in many UK hotels, especially in The Lake District, where people did and still do go for honeymoons and wedding anniversaries, and Stratford Upon Avon where people go to see buildings relating to Shakespeare and his wife Anne Hathaway.

For the benefit of one of my pupils, whose first language is Mandarin, I have been noting down and compiling a list of idioms. Here are some of my favourites.

When you are travelling, you may have to simplify your English when speaking to those who appear to be speaking English fluenty - until you use an idiom. Most idioms were originally metaphors from the mutual acitivites of speakers and listeners. But over the course of a century or more the original context has been forgotten.

Country Mile

by a country mile - a lot (distance or time - like a winding country road which is long in both distance and time)

Tenterhooks

on tenterhooks - in suspense, anxiously waiting for a decision or result (hooks used to suspend drying fabric)

  

Majestic Warehouse, Ruislip - Free Tastings and Affordable Wines

 

Majestic 

The Majestic Wine warehouse in Ruislip puts on tastings regularly. Free. Get on their mailing list to be informed.

On April  10th 2025 we tasted five wines, a sparkling, two whites and two reds. I liked them all, although I don't normally drink or like red wine.

Photo by Angela Lansbury.

We started with a British sparkling wine, Silverhand Estate Sparkling Brut, from Kent. This area of the downs is chalky (you may recall the image in your mind on hearing the song about the white cliffs of Dover, immortalised in the Vera Lynn song). Those chalk soils, which the French call terroir, like territory, are the same as the base in France's Champagne region. But the British sparkling wine is cheaper, only 18 pounds sterling a bottle, the price comes down to only 12.0 if you buy it in the Majeti Wines Mi Six, a case of six mixxed wines.

Magestic sell wines, beers, spirits, low and no alcohol beers and spirits, packets of nuts and crisps. They do deliveries, free tasting, beginner learning sessions for a low price), wines by the bottle cases of 6 or 12, and a wine club. Their premises are in England, Scotland and Wales.

Useful Websites

https://www.majestic.co.uk/stores

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majestic_Wine

https://www.u3a.org.uk/

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Angela Lansbury, author - travelling, wining, dining and learning languages. 

Blogs on travel, dress of the day, comical poetry.