Vocabulary
Righteousness
The story of Judah and Tamar is a racy story, about sex and incest. According to Genesis 38:1-30, Judah bargained for Tamar and gave her in marriage to Er, his eldest son. Er was wicked, and God punished him. He died. Judah ordered his next son Onan to perform the duty of a brother-in-law for her, i.e. to marry her and raise up children. He slept with her, but practiced cotius interruptus. He, too, was wicked, and God punished him. He died. Judah had another son, Shelah, but Judah persuaded Tamar to remain a window until Shelah grew-up a little. The drift of the story is that Judah regarded Tamar as bad luck. She had cost him two sons, and he did not want to loose a third.
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Lagniappe
Lagniappe refers to “a small gift given to a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase.” In some small bakeries, customers have come to expect a 13th donut or beignet when buying a dozen. A “Baker’s Dozen” is lagniappe. More broadly speaking, the word means “something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure.” The word is used in Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico, and various parts of the American South, especially in Louisiana, Charleston,SC, southern and western Mississippi, the gulf coast of Alabama, and parts of eastern Texas. When I use the term, it means that I have gotten something unexpected and really welcome for no additional effort on my part. Your reading this is lagniappe. I hope someone does something equally nice for you.