Wordy Blog
Disorder of a Man of Letters — Xah Belles-lettres
learn Japanese tools
- Japaneses dictionary https://jisho.org/
- Firefox extension for learning japanase https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/rikaichamp/
- ABC English-Chinese Chinese-English Dictionary 2010 by John DeFrancis , Yanyin Zhang. Buy at amazon
Etymology, a Pit of History
new index page
time to read
The Masque of the Red Death
todo.
shibboleth
A shibboleth (/ˈʃɪbəlɛθ, -ɪθ/ (About this soundlisten)) is any custom or tradition, usually a choice of phrasing or even a single word, that distinguishes one group of people from another. Shibboleths have been used throughout history in many societies as passwords, simple ways of self-identification, signaling loyalty and affinity, maintaining traditional segregation, or protecting from real or perceived threats.
[2020-02-23 Wikipedia Shibboleth]
darkness of humanity series
extol, exalt
Swearing and Long Live Latin
One thing i noticed with swearing (me), is that, it tends to reduce quality in discussion. On the other hand, the other extreme of euphemism, such as today we have by politicians and twitter and google etc public relations department, gets us direct lie and fakenews.
[Long Live Latin: The Pleasures of a Useless Language By Nicola Gardini (Author), Todd Portnowitz (Translator). At Buy at amazon ]
There's actually a chapter in Long Live Latin analyzing the swearing of catullus. It's first person, singular imperative and strongly connected to statements about truth. You can't swear for someone else. [from George Jones https://twitter.com/eludom/status/1224632535730225157]
milen gen don't read these classics much anymore, do they?
like Jane Austin, Charles Dickens, Tolstoy, Jack London, Hemingway, etc.
xah peddles classics for survival. you BUY at amazon to make classics great again
- Charles Dickens Collection Boxed Set Buy at amazon
- Jane Austen Collection, Slip case Buy at amazon
- War and Peace by Tolstoy Buy at amazon
- War and Peace (3 Volume Set) Hardcover – Box set Buy at amazon
let the etymologies seep into u, so that when u write, the diction smells flower.
recalcitrant, incorrigible, now i need to find the etymology of crackpot
“mentally unbalanced person,” 1898, probably from crack (v.) + pot (n.1) in a slang sense of “head.” Compare crack-brain “crazy fellow” (late 16c.). Earlier it was used in a slang sense “a small-time big-shot” (1883), and by medical doctors in reference to a “metallic chinking sometimes heard when percussion is made over a cavity which communicates with a bronchus.”
[etymology of crackpot https://www.etymonline.com/word/crackpot]
let the etymologies seep into u, so that when u write, the diction smells flower. --xah dictum of the day.
effect of sketchy knowledge of history may be drastically different than in depth
(on prev topic of history) i think knowledge of history is interesting in that, knowing a sketch or overview may be drastically different than knowing in depth. e.g. i think most college educated American would know the first few paragraphs of us history of Wikipedia. But, that's really just a outline. I think you get very different feelings and thoughts and behavior, if one know US history in depth.
western brain, a constrast of 2 styles
The Tragedy Of Titus Andronicus
annotated by Xah Lee, Professor of Philology, University of Bovine, USA.
ancient philosophies
ancient Chinese philosophies, hundred flowers bloom.
which school are you?
- US conservatives hawks would be Legalism, and School Of Military (The Art of War).
- Communists would be Agrarianism.
- Green and Cali hippies would be Yin-yang school naturalists.
Lots to read. Am only familiar with chinese and greek (much of whitemen's brain). But other major are indian and islamic or middle east. Indian am somewhat familiar too, cuz buddhism.
currently working to remove all links to wikipedia on that page
currently working on that page to remove all links to wikipedia
Why? because, time's changed. Now everyone knows wikip and use it. So much so that young people find knowledge trite and don't even bother. 2nd reason is wikipedia donation is corrupt. Search xah lee never donate to wikipedia. 3rd reason. I no longer want to link to wikip. In part, it has become a thought well, manipulated by pol interests.
imbibed at his mother's knee
the emoji dilemma
Am thinking, gonna adopt a messaging style sans emoji. Express via the rich heritage of human animal lang sans the debilitating faak of the pol ridden tracking plush tech of the weabo jargon emoji faak of the ignoramuses n technoheads.
though, to be sure, online instant messaging is a new way of human communication beginning in the year of our lord 1980s, and in this channel of expression, it seems to me, traditional writing system n style is lacking, and emoji feels a void.
to wit, a ♥ onscreen at the right moment, is more effective implicit than any explicit verbiage.