This week I have a tidbit about the origin of the word Balawick and a meeting middle about

side dishes and other side words to get you in the mood for Thanksgiving.

Let's get started.

Have you ever asked someone for a favor and been told that's not my Balawick?

If so, they turned you down.

In short, they said, that's not my specialty.

It's not something I'm good at, so you should do it yourself.

As you started to work alone and rejected, you might have wondered what is a Balawick

anyway.

A Balawick is an area that's under the jurisdiction of a Balaiff.

In the US we think of a Balaiff as an official who helps to keep order in a court room.

They're the people who walk prisoners in and out of the room and escort the jury members

to their seats.

But in Britain, a Balaiff is more like a sheriff.

He or she can make arrests, serve court papers to a person, and see as the property of a

debtor.

There's also the term sheriffwick, but it seems to have fallen out of favor sometime

in the 1800s.

An example of a real life Balawick is the Balawick of Gernsey, a set of small islands in the English

channel.

They're a part of England, but they have their own legislative assembly, which is presided

over by you guessed it, a Balaiff.

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