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Latin phrases
See also “What did the Romans ever do for us?“ Some with personal meaning – And some good ones I need to use more –
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English is an African language
A post I came across which Languagehat enjoyed too when I sent it on to him, it concerns the debate about African writers writing in English, and whether this is an unwanted remnant of colonialism. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o is the writer who has really backed this argument. But Biodun Jeyifo, a scholar of African studies and…
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Words
Barbecue from Spanish via Haiti (framework of sticks). Slogan from Gaelic. Serendipity is a made up word using ancient name for Sri Lanka! Orange from Arabic via French. Majority of 100 most commonly used English words from Anglo Saxon Old English. But tens of thousands from French, besides Latin already being used in 1066 by…
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The Basque Country
So had a Scottish/Basque family in clinic -cue ignorance! Area of northern Spain, main city is Bilbao. Autonomous region. Basque culture extends into Navarre (also Spain) plus over Pyrenees into France. Language is unrelated to any other! Ibendrola, the power company, is based in Bilbao. Ignatius of Loyola, Paco Rabanne, Cristobal Balenciaga are famous Basque…
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Big Man Doctor
“This phrase (dai fu) has two meanings. When pronounced dai and fu with a neutral and soft tone, it means doctor. When pronounced da and fu, it means senior official. Both are rather archaic.”
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Medical rhetoric
Isaiah Berlin would recognise the expert who “knows”: “Happy are those … who have, by their own methods, arrived at clear unshakeable convictions about what to do and what to be that brook no possible doubt. I can only say that those who rest on such comfortable beds of dogma are victims of forms of…
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Glagolitic script
An early Christian alphabet, introduced in Moravia (present day Czech republic, Slovakia), then spread to Croatia, Bulgaria etc. Rites had been conducted previously in Greek but it was an attempt to reach out to Slavic people, and maintain independence from Constantinople. Use continued for 1000 years in Croatia! The letters are fantastically ornate. Some eg…
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How to Gird Up Your Loins: An Illustrated Guide [feedly]
How to Gird Up Your Loins: An Illustrated Guide // The Art of Manliness If you’ve read the Bible, then you’ve probably come across the phrase “gird up your loins.” I’ve always thought it was a funny turn of phrase. Loins….heh. Back in the days of the ancient Near East, both men and women wore…
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Polar lands
Winter animals Warning – before you begin reading. In this book you will find animals who live around the South pole and the North pole of our Earth. They do like sun, but they only ever get a luke warm one.The kind that makes the hairs on your skin stand on end. So: if…
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Gedicht
Het is belangrijk om in een saaie omgeving te leven ik ben een oneetbare nachtvlinderonderscheid mij van de eetbare exemplarendoor mij op het juiste moment als een debiel te gedragenhet is belangrijk om in een saaie omgeving te levenen ik hecht aan de gedachte slechts een voorbeeldje te zijner lopen mensen rond die het recht op…