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Month: April 2017
Is the culture on Corfu any different than in the rest of Greece considering it was never occupied by the Ottomans?
I’ve wanted to know the answer to this question bad enough, that I want to spend time in Corfu or Zante next time I’m in Greece. Though as a friend has justly pointed out to me, there’s no way I’d grok the cultural differences between the Ionian Islands and the rest of Greece as a […]
In “whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her,” might that ‘to’ indicate a purpose clause?
To corroborate John Simpson’s answer to In “whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her,” might that ‘to’ indicate a purpose clause?: The Greek literally says Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι πᾶς ὁ βλέπων γυναῖκα πρὸς τὸ ἐπιθυμῆσαι αὐτῆς, ἤδη ἐμοίχευσεν αὐτὴν ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ αὑτοῦ, “towards the desiring of her”. That “towards” is […]
How did the world’s major countries all conform to using first and last names from an early era?
Surname – Wikipedia Surnames seems to have been invented independentishly in Europe at a similar time: they were reintroduced after the Roman three-way names fell out of use in the West. From Wikipedia, I see it’s a messy web of transmission. Wikipedia suggests (not very loudly) that the Modern Western notion of surnames was transmitted […]
Are “humility” and “humiliate” related?
Yes. Using tools from Online Etymology Dictionary: Humilis is Latin for humble. Humble is Old French humble < *humle < *humile < humilis. Humility is from Latin humilitas “humbleness”, which comes from humilis. Humiliate is to make someone feel like crap: you’re humbling them, you’re making them feel low (which is actually what humilis originally […]
puerile
Not that recondite a word, but any soupçon from the Magister is welcome here: https://necrologue.quora.com/201… I just want to say, publicly, and despite the possibility of offending some friends, that I thought the fake death gag puerile and unhelpful. puerile 1. Immature, especially in being silly or trivial; childish. 2. Archaic Belonging to childhood; juvenile. […]
Why do some Greek surnames end with “oğlu” which means “son of” in Turkish?
The proper answer is Kutluk Ozguven’s: Kutluk Ozguven’s answer to Why do some Greek surnames end with “oğlu” which means “son of” in Turkish? Turkish Republic did not enforce surnames to its population before 1934. Turks had patronymous names like in Arabic countries or Iceland. However Greeks and Armenians used family surnames of their choice. […]
What does Genie’s case illustrate about first language acquisition?
The linguistics textbooks will tell you that the unfortunate case of Genie (feral child) demonstrates that puberty delimits a window of opportunity for language acquisition, past which full language acquisition is not possible. Genie learnt enough English for the first time at 13 to communicate, but her English was never grammatical. There are plenty of […]
Is there such a thing as “taking things too literally”?
Yes, and there’s a linguistic pragmatics set of principles at work there, over and above the inherent limitations of language pointed out by Daniel Bamberger : see Daniel Bamberger’s answer to Is there such a thing as “taking things too literally”? The Cooperative principles defined by Grice are a way of making sense of how […]
Is Khalisi a weird name for a baby?
For starters, the proper Dothraki pronunciation is [ˈxaleːsi], not [kʰaˈliːsiː]. That’s not canon from GRRR Martin, because GRRR Martin is a language dolt, but Peterson’s Dothraki is not mere funny-looking English. Of course, it only matters what you heard the actors say on the TV anyway. I agree with what Lara l Lord said: Lara […]
Can the U0001f4a6 emoji be used to represent semen?
Yes; see Why is the splashing sweat emoji associated with semen? For evidence that this is happening: Definitions offered by the public under: U0001f4a6 Sweat Droplets Emoji Urban Dictionary: U0001f4a6 A boy sends this emoji when he is horny. ” Hey send nudes?? [math]unicode{x1F4A6}unicode{x1F4A6}[/math]” A girl would send this to her man, basically telling him […]