As promised, here are the additional paragraphs from Vandermeersch on the roots of rationality in the earliest levels of Sinitic script. They come from John Lagerwey who will be awarded the 3rd “Prix Vandermeersch” on November 18. John explains: I don’t have the time right now to give the full answer JPL deserves, but I […]
jin defang asked: New expression, or at least new to me: soup sandwich. All that meant to me was an option at Panera, which didn’t fit the context. So I asked the last person who used it, Fred, and this is his reply. (I also didn’t know what FUBAR meant but that was on google). […]
Next time you hear or use the expression "scot-free", don't think that it has anything to do with Scots language or Scot people. I have always avoided using this expression because I didn't want to disparage a whole people. But "scot-free" is such a useful phrase that I wished I could use it with a […]
After uttering that affirmation in response to Peter Grubtal's wish (here) that "the [Butkara] stupa doesn't get destroyed like many other Buddhist relics in that area" — thinking of the Taliban and Bamiyan — I worried that what I said may have been too Christian and Jewish. Upon reflection, however, I realized that nothing could […]
Makes your head spin. Takes so many different shapes and serves so many different purposes: Historically, a kiosk (from Persian kūshk) was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of […]
As native speakers of English, we have a direct, non-analytical understanding of the differences among "look", "see", and "watch", the three main verbs for expressing visual perception. The first indicates that we have a purposive gaze at / toward / for something; the second that our sight focuses on what we were looking for; and […]
A couple of days ago, we had occasion to come to grips with the word "garble": "Please do not feel confused" (8/19/22). This led Kent McKeever to write as follows: Your recent use of "garble" has prompted me to pass on something I recently stumbled on. I have been poking at the digital files of […]
For a good example of how music and musical instruments, together with the words to designate them, could travel long distances in antiquity, we have already taken a look at the case of the shawm: "The shawm and its eastern cousins" (11/16/15). Since writing that post nearly seven years ago, a few more interesting facts […]
Many of us first learned about the Balkan red pepper sauce / relish / spread called "ajvar" in this post: "Bosnian menu" (7/28/22). Simplicissimus contributed a nice comment in which it was averred that the BCS (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian) "word ‘ajvar’ and the English word ‘caviar’ both derive from the same etymon, the Ottoman Turkish word ‘havyar’ […]
On Facebook, this conversation thread followed from a post by Bill Benzon, commenting on his recent blog post, "Once more around the merry-go-round: Is the brain a computer?"
The giraffe is such an outlandish animal that many otherwise sensible people have thought that it must be a combination of several species. From the concept of a giraffe being an amalgam of several animals jointly; compare Persian شترگاوپلنگ (šotorgâvpalang, “giraffe”, literally “camel-ox-leopard”) and Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλῐς (kamēlopárdalis, “giraffe”). Noun زَرَافَة • (zarāfa) f (plural زَرَافَات […]
If you stroll through the grounds of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, you may come upon this phenomenal tree:
Every five years or so, popular science magazines have a "Genghis Khan tomb" story. Here's a current iteration: "Where is the tomb of Genghis Khan?" By Owen Jarus, published 12 days ago The location of the tomb of Genghis Khan (c. 1162 – August 18/25, 1227; the founder and first great Khan [Emperor] of the Mongol […]