More presidential lip-synching
Following up on Kylie Scott's "Drunk in the club after covid", Sarah Cooper performs "How to medical":
How to medical pic.twitter.com/0EDqJcy38p
— Sarah Cooper (@sarahcpr) April 24, 2020
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Archive for Humor
WeChat COVID-19 ditty
[This is a guest post by David Moser]
This little Stück of piecemeal wordplay has been making the rounds on WeChat. It seems to be an amalgam of several little coronavirus memes that had appeared in isolation.
gélí rénquán méile 隔离人权没了
bù gélí rén quán méile 不隔离人全没了
tiānshàng biānfú, dìshàng Chuānpǔ 天上蝙蝠，地上川普
yīgè yǒudú, yīgè méipǔ 一个有毒，一个没谱
bù dài kǒuzhào nǐ shìshì 不戴口罩你试试
shìshì jiù shìshì 试试就逝世
A rather literal translation might go as follows:
隔离人权没了 With the quarantine, there are no human rights.
不隔离人全没了 Without the quarantine, the humans will be all gone.
天上蝙蝠，地上川普 In the sky are bats, on the earth there's Trump.
一个有毒，一个没谱 One has a virus, the other has no clue/no plan.
不戴口罩你试试 Just try not wearing a face mask.
试试就逝世 If you try it, you'll die.
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Language for COVID-19: German and Finnish
A rare find of linguistic news in a blog concerning the Supreme Court:
"Relist Watch: Kalsarikännit edition", John Elwood, SCOTUSblog
SCOTUSblog is about the work of the Supreme Court of the United States. The author must have a streak of the linguist in him, for he chose to begin today's post with three paragraphs about language usage related to the coronavirus crisis. Here they are:
As America begins its fourth week under quarantine with widespread working from home, we’ve begun noticing shifts in grooming, attire and behavior as many of us remain cooped up for weeks on end.
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Looking on the bright side
According to the BBC, a police boat in London was playing Monty Python's "Always look on the bright side of life" for listeners near the Thames last week:
The Police in London are trying to brighten the mood.
The are going up and down the Thames in a police boat playing "Always look on the bright side of life" on a loud speaker.
How wonderfully British. Love it 😂😂😂👏👏👏#CoronaCrisis #coronavirus #COVIDIOT #Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/4dcGsd5sJH
— News Addict 🇬🇧 (@addicted2newz) March 21, 2020
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Quarantini
🤣
TODAY'S SPECIAL DRINK – THE QUARANTINI#COVID19Aus #COVIDー19 #covid19australia #COVID2019 #coronavirus #CoronaOutbreak #coronavirusaustralia #CoronavirusOutbreak #selfisolating #selfisolate #virus pic.twitter.com/4jjTfKT1gY
— Evey Hammond (@EveyHammond19) March 14, 2020
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COVID-19 response?
https://twitter.com/thevirologist/status/1238227100521369600
Winnie the Flu
Tweet from Joshua Wong 黃之鋒, Secretary-General of Demosistō:
Here is Winnie The Flu that we call as #WTF
Credit to Yeahman Tse via Legend Bricks LEGO Forum pic.twitter.com/q04K7QfAku
— Joshua Wong 黃之鋒 😷 (@joshuawongcf) February 24, 2020
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Sino-Semitica, part 2: of massage and Old Sinitic reconstructions
As part of our research on the dictionary of Middle Vernacular Sinitic (MVS) that Zhu Qingzhi and I have been working on for more than two decades, I was tickled by this quaint poem (below on the second page) by the medieval Buddhist poet, Wáng Fànzhì 王梵志 (Brahmacārin ब्रह्मचारिन् Wang; fl. first half of 7th c.).
I have been an avid fan of Wáng Fànzhì's unique poetry for nearly half a century. Quaint, indeed, and also quirky. Wang Fanzhi is self-demeaning in a funny, adorable way. The poem I'm about to introduce you to is a good example of his trademark self-abnegation.
What attracted me particularly to this poem for the purposes of our research on MVS is the first word in line 2, chǎngtóu 長頭 ("for a long time"), which does not exist with this meaning in Literary Sinitic (LS) / Classical Chinese (CC). Finding chǎngtóu 長頭 ("for a long time") in Wang Fanzhi's poem was already enough of a treat, but when I got to the last word of the couplet, I was even more delighted. As you will momentarily see, what Wang says about his wife's tummy is funny by itself, but the word he uses to describe what the wife does to her tummy made me even more excited.
But let's read the poem first, then I'll talk about the word in question, namely, méisuō 沒娑 ("massage").
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Sino-Manchu seals of the Xicom Emperor
Tweet by Sulaiman Gu:
Emperor #XiJinping Winnie the Pooh's Jade Seals 习近平大帝玉玺恭刻完毕 pic.twitter.com/056nEE9W8k
— Sulaiman Gu (@slmngy001) February 10, 2020
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Topless meeting
From Nathan Hopson:
Can't believe I had never heard this marvelous Japanglish until now:
トップレス‐ミーティング（toppuresu mītingu = "topless meeting"）or トップレス会議 (kaigi = meeting)
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Upcoming Russian Referendum on Changes to the Constitution: Да или Нет
This is an old Soviet joke, recycled and updated, that is making the rounds in Russia now.
Вопрос на всенародное голосование –
Вы не против изменения Конституции РФ, чтобы Владимир Владимирович Путин остался правителем России на всегда?
Варианты ответов:
1. Нет, не против
2. Да, не против
Meanest pun of the year
From "Who's Bill This Time", Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! 12/21/2019:
Peter Sagal: Mayor- Mayor Pete has been getting some heat.
I don't know if you saw this.
He attended a big fundraiser in Napa
at a winery with a, quote, "wine cave."
And everybody was so mad that he did this.
But why would you be mad about a wine cave?
It celebrates the two things Democrats are known for, whining and caving.