Things learned in October
A productive month, most things turned out to be English vocabulary.
01. German idiom: "Schlag ins Kontor" means bad news, literally "a (lightning) strike into the book keeping room" - I didn't know that Kontor is actually the place in a company where the books are kept, and not (only) a warehouse - on www.redensarten-index.de
03. World Architecture Day - England's cathedrals got into a twitter fight! :D - https://twitter.com/StPaulsLondon/status/914859532639260672
04. Architecture: "pilaster", a "fake pillar" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilaster - kinda funny is the fact that nobody can quite define the difference between piers and pilasters, columns and engaged columns, and don't even get me started on the German equivalents: https://dict.leo.org/forum/viewWrongentry.php?idThread=250993&idForum=6&lang=de&lp=ende
05. English: "Winterval" - a "new" word creation for "the week between Christmas and the New Year" - http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/50615481
07. History: "Middle Passage" - I knew what it is but didn't know the word - trade between Europe and Middle America, where the middle passage took on slaves in Africa and transported them to the Americas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Passage
08. Biology: female hornbill birds help their mates seal them into the breeding cave through which the male then feeds the female and the chicks - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornbill#Breeding
09. English: "ramrod" - the rod with which to load an antique gun - I only knew the phrase ramrod-straight, but not what the thing actually is - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramrod
10. FUN! Mixing up proverbs - http://proverb.gener.at/or/ and for German proverbs: http://sprichwortrekombinator.de/
11. Comics: the funny "twins" from TinTin are called, in French "Dupond et Dupont", in German "Schulze und Schultze", and in English "Thompson and Thomson". Here, have a huge collection (in English): tintins-thomson-and-thompson-gallery
12. German: Wald ("wood") + Forst ("forest") : Wald is indogermanic, and Forst comes through the Carolingians to Latin and from there back around to German and English. It used to mean "royal hunting grounds". In German, the two words are close but not identical in meaning: Wald is natural (if no longer wild these days) and Forst is maintainted. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forst - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest#Etymology
12. English: "threnody" - a wailing ode, song, hymn or poem of mourning - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threnody
14. English: "slip" as used in ceramics is a "liquid mixture or slurry of clay and/or other materials suspended in water" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip_%28ceramics%29 -> came across it through this great (Silverflint) song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb2n43yyThk
15. English: "tidewrack" - "rubbish deposited along a shore by a receding tide" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidewrack
16. Pirates: pirates lived by the "pirate code", also called "on the account", here's an example - http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/pirate%20code.html
17. English: "to strop" - to sharpen a razor on a strop (leather band) - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strop
18. It's not just Harvey Weinstein - the first article I read that cast the net wider - http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/greys-anatomy-showrunner-harassment-hollywood-not-just-harvey-guest-column-1049309
19. Poetry: Haikus have 5+7+5 syllables (17), and Limericks have 34 syllables (or 39 but we wont worry about that), which leads to the interesting possibility of mixing the two - https://twitter.com/mutablejoe/status/913331367257235456
20. French: funny indecent (almost-)homonyms - https://cassandrexx.tumblr.com/post/166581194491/shamwowxl-wine-dark-sea-ilyasaurus
21. English: "juke box" is derived from the Gullah word "juke" or "joog" meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juke_box
Gullah is a creole language spoken by African-American populations living in South Carolina, Georgia and northeast Florida - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah_language
22. English: "gold star lesbian/gay" - "narrow" definition of being gay/lesbian by the "virtue" of never having had het sex - I'd never heard the terms before, and I'd be happy if I never heard them again - https://everydayfeminism.com/2016/09/gold-star-lesbian-platinum-gay/
24. Biology (German): "Grunzgroppe" ("grunt sculpin" or "grunt-fish") funny name for a grunting fish - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunt_sculpin
They are related to the "Knurrhahn" ("gurnard"), who are also known for making grunting noises - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglidae
25. Pop culture: "bothie" - the result of taking a picture with both cameras of a smart phone at the same time - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_7
27. French: "cafard" = cockroach
28. English: "carousel" and "carouse" are completely unrelated (aww, it made so much sense in my head :)), but at least they're right next to each other in this etymology dictionary - https://www.etymonline.com/word/carouse
30. Some attempts at explaining differences in AE and BE - http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/why-are-british-english-and-american-english-different
x-posted from dw (comments:
)
01. German idiom: "Schlag ins Kontor" means bad news, literally "a (lightning) strike into the book keeping room" - I didn't know that Kontor is actually the place in a company where the books are kept, and not (only) a warehouse - on www.redensarten-index.de
03. World Architecture Day - England's cathedrals got into a twitter fight! :D - https://twitter.com/StPaulsLondon/status/914859532639260672
04. Architecture: "pilaster", a "fake pillar" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilaster - kinda funny is the fact that nobody can quite define the difference between piers and pilasters, columns and engaged columns, and don't even get me started on the German equivalents: https://dict.leo.org/forum/viewWrongentry.php?idThread=250993&idForum=6&lang=de&lp=ende
05. English: "Winterval" - a "new" word creation for "the week between Christmas and the New Year" - http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/50615481
07. History: "Middle Passage" - I knew what it is but didn't know the word - trade between Europe and Middle America, where the middle passage took on slaves in Africa and transported them to the Americas - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Passage
08. Biology: female hornbill birds help their mates seal them into the breeding cave through which the male then feeds the female and the chicks - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornbill#Breeding
09. English: "ramrod" - the rod with which to load an antique gun - I only knew the phrase ramrod-straight, but not what the thing actually is - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramrod
10. FUN! Mixing up proverbs - http://proverb.gener.at/or/ and for German proverbs: http://sprichwortrekombinator.de/
11. Comics: the funny "twins" from TinTin are called, in French "Dupond et Dupont", in German "Schulze und Schultze", and in English "Thompson and Thomson". Here, have a huge collection (in English): tintins-thomson-and-thompson-gallery
12. German: Wald ("wood") + Forst ("forest") : Wald is indogermanic, and Forst comes through the Carolingians to Latin and from there back around to German and English. It used to mean "royal hunting grounds". In German, the two words are close but not identical in meaning: Wald is natural (if no longer wild these days) and Forst is maintainted. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forst - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest#Etymology
12. English: "threnody" - a wailing ode, song, hymn or poem of mourning - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threnody
14. English: "slip" as used in ceramics is a "liquid mixture or slurry of clay and/or other materials suspended in water" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slip_%28ceramics%29 -> came across it through this great (Silverflint) song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb2n43yyThk
15. English: "tidewrack" - "rubbish deposited along a shore by a receding tide" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidewrack
16. Pirates: pirates lived by the "pirate code", also called "on the account", here's an example - http://www.thepiratesrealm.com/pirate%20code.html
17. English: "to strop" - to sharpen a razor on a strop (leather band) - https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/strop
18. It's not just Harvey Weinstein - the first article I read that cast the net wider - http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/greys-anatomy-showrunner-harassment-hollywood-not-just-harvey-guest-column-1049309
19. Poetry: Haikus have 5+7+5 syllables (17), and Limericks have 34 syllables (or 39 but we wont worry about that), which leads to the interesting possibility of mixing the two - https://twitter.com/mutablejoe/status/913331367257235456
20. French: funny indecent (almost-)homonyms - https://cassandrexx.tumblr.com/post/166581194491/shamwowxl-wine-dark-sea-ilyasaurus
21. English: "juke box" is derived from the Gullah word "juke" or "joog" meaning disorderly, rowdy, or wicked - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juke_box
Gullah is a creole language spoken by African-American populations living in South Carolina, Georgia and northeast Florida - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullah_language
22. English: "gold star lesbian/gay" - "narrow" definition of being gay/lesbian by the "virtue" of never having had het sex - I'd never heard the terms before, and I'd be happy if I never heard them again - https://everydayfeminism.com/2016/09/gold-star-lesbian-platinum-gay/
24. Biology (German): "Grunzgroppe" ("grunt sculpin" or "grunt-fish") funny name for a grunting fish - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunt_sculpin
They are related to the "Knurrhahn" ("gurnard"), who are also known for making grunting noises - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triglidae
25. Pop culture: "bothie" - the result of taking a picture with both cameras of a smart phone at the same time - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_7
27. French: "cafard" = cockroach
28. English: "carousel" and "carouse" are completely unrelated (aww, it made so much sense in my head :)), but at least they're right next to each other in this etymology dictionary - https://www.etymonline.com/word/carouse
30. Some attempts at explaining differences in AE and BE - http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/why-are-british-english-and-american-english-different
x-posted from dw (comments:
)