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November 6, 2022 @ 11:59 am
· Filed under Language and philosophy, Morphology, Writing systems
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 […]
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November 4, 2022 @ 7:21 am
· Filed under Idioms, Language and the military, Slang
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). […]
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October 26, 2022 @ 4:46 pm
· Filed under Errors, Etymology, Words words words
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 […]
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October 18, 2022 @ 5:36 am
· Filed under Language and religion, Usage
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 […]
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October 11, 2022 @ 11:57 am
· Filed under Etymology, Lexicon and lexicography
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 […]
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September 27, 2022 @ 9:48 am
· Filed under Borrowing, Creoles and pidgins, Etymology
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 […]
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August 21, 2022 @ 11:36 am
· Filed under Animal communication, Etymology, Language and animals, Language and food, Language and history, Language and medicine, Onomatopoeia
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 […]
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August 19, 2022 @ 12:53 pm
· Filed under Borrowing, Etymology, Language and music, Phonetics and phonology
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 […]
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August 1, 2022 @ 11:38 am
· Filed under Etymology, Language and culture, Language and food
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’ […]
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July 28, 2022 @ 12:19 pm
· Filed under Language and computers
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?"
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July 24, 2022 @ 4:50 am
· Filed under Etymology, Language and animals, Language and biology
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 […]
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June 25, 2022 @ 5:22 pm
· Filed under Language and biology, Names
If you stroll through the grounds of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania, you may come upon this phenomenal tree:
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June 24, 2022 @ 7:37 pm
· Filed under Borrowing, Etymology, Language and geography, Language and history
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 […]
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