Valentines Day stuff! Also, BRAND NEW EXPERIMENTAL HISTORY MEME!

[beboots]

 Good evening, everyone! Happy Valentines day, for those of you who celebrate it! 

First, a brief link recommendation. If you've never heard of Postsecrets, you should definitely check them out: essentially, people send in anonymous postcards with their secrets on them. Some are sad, some are quirky, some are touching, and all are absolutely awesome. This week they have a Valentine-themed series of postcard secrets for you to look at. This one was my favourite: 


Furthermore, the Edmonton Journal (which, along with the National Post, I read almost every day to keep up with news about the world) apparently held a contest for the best Edmonton-themed Valentines cards, most of them poking fun at the city. This particular one was my absolute favourite, mostly because I had to cross that bridge five days a week to get to Fort Edmonton this past summer. It was murder during rush hour when it was down to one lane. >_<; It's been under construction for at least two and half years.

For more, see here!

As a side note, I did celebrate this Valentine's Day as a single person. Here's hoping that I shall find my true love in the coming year! :) I should mention that I mostly enjoy Valentine's Day because it also doubles as my dearest mother's birthday! We have flowers and chocolate about the house, then, regardless of the state of our personal lives. :) Happy birthday, mother mine! Now, tomorrow is the holiday I look forward to even more than the events of St. Valentine... Cheap Chocolate Day! Celebrated: wherever chocolate is sold!

On a final note... I actually began writing this post in response to the lovely surprise left for me at atla_valentine. I hadn't realized that people would leave me messages! :)  They made me smile. Therefore, my original plan had been, in response to people writing lovely flattering things about the history dorkery that goes on in this journal, to write a post about some of the crazy little tidbits I've been learning about in my History of Translation class... which just so happens to be what I'm studying for at the moment (even as I procrastinate reviewing for the midterm to write this post). I'll get around to that very soon! It will still happen!

I did, however, just have a thought. Maybe I could do something completely and utterly crazy and unprecedented. I could... do a history meme. I want to share the love with you guys. I love telling historical anecdotes; I like to think I got quite good at it while working at Fort Edmonton. Maybe no-one will want to play with me. I will still tell crazy history stories to the world! Just give me a direction, guys. :) What do you want to hear?

It shall be a shameless effort at trying to emulate the cool kids (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE), only instead of fanfic, it will be random history tidbits, in the style of the posts that have appeared in this journal before.

THEREFORE, what I resolve to do is ask you, the readers, for history prompts! Ask me a historical question: anything you like. For instance: "who is your favourite member of European royalty and what was the most interesting thing they ever did?" "What do you think is the silliest reason a war ever started?" "What is the most unusual historical artifact you have ever seen in person?" "What can you tell me about Canada's participation in such-and-such a war?" It can even be something like "tell me the craziest thing you know about the 17th century/the bubonic plague/aboriginal history/etc., etc., ad nauseam." I shall even search for an appropriate image to accompany the historical blather! 

If I don't know the answer to your question, I resolve to use my research skills and access to university databases to find the answer! You may get more coherent history squee if I've heard of the topic before, though. I have studied European history across the ages, some East Asian history, and lots of Canadian and American history, but still, don't let that limit your selection! I suspect that if you ask me something about the history of medicine or the French or English languages you will get extra-long anecdotes. Indulge your curiosity, and I will try to be interesting in return! :) 

Comments

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

I was having a crappy day. I made a (damn reasonable) request for a one-day extension on paperwork. My study abroad trip was cancelled on Friday, the paperwork to work in any other medical office was due Friday, I wanted two hours on Monday to get the appropriate papers filed. The office refused (if they gave me an exception they'd need to give one to everybody... and they refused to give everyone one day), and went the extra mile of treating me like a toddler throwing a tantrum. I'm polite to people when they're doing their jobs. My mom even brought that up when I called her--it was bad enough that I ended up crying because they were oozing disdain and I'd had a rough day and I think I utterly bombed the physio exam because the meds just took my migraine from an 8 to a 4, instead of down to a 2 like usual.

I went to the pet store, and the nice people let me hold a lovebird for an hour and a half, and one of the employees talked about what I could do with a five-gallon. He's awesome-- I can get angelfish. I could get two smalls, or the big black one (if he's still there) that would immediately be named Temeraire. (That would leave the catfish to be Laurence. I think that might happen.) Then I came home and Neville-snake was cuddling around my arm to the extent that I needed strip off the shirt to get him out of the sleeve so that I could feed him, and after his last shed he got even prettier. He has an orange/peach stripe running down his back, not that it shows except in direct sunlight, and there's a prism effect between his belly-scales right now. So animals rock.

Re: French capturing Laurence and baby!Tem: The advantage is that Temeraire is still quite tiny, and probably easy to trick? They'd also have the issue of trying to bring the ship in, and if Laurence is the only surviving officer... it might turn into an abrupt change again, if the British AGAIN try catching the Amite. Might be fun as a comedy-of-errors.

That's perfect! Lien DID mean for him to be some useless animal that can barely talk. Instead, Laurence is very, very powerful and at least as smart as she is-- she might have thought he'd be a Volly, small and simple and oh-so-European. (She wouldn't realize that Volly does his job brilliantly and has a lot of loyal companions.)

The French ship had rather epic bad luck, and I did like that Laurence returned the captain's sword the instant he worked out just why the man had put up such a fight. The captain did his best, but the story would have suffered without Laurence there as a balance.

"Now that would be an interesting situation, if the egg imprinted on someone who was a prisoner of war! ;)" That would be just like Temeraire, too--cause the most fuss possible while being so cute/funny/useful that people let you do it.

They didn't mean for the egg to hatch on the ship, no, but they should have had some kind of contingency planning.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I'm very sad to hear about all of this. :(( I hate it when people don't concede to perfectly reasonable requests for no good reason. >:(

I thought that I was having a bit of a bad day, but it had some pretty good high points. I'm coming down with a cold so I'm headachy, achy in general, and I'm sneezing, sniffling and coughing all the time. The coughs are those deep-chested raspy ones that sound like you're only halfway out of the grave. >_<

I did, however, visit the special collections room in the Health Sciences library this morning to do some research for my thesis, and I took some neat-o pictures of some of the stuff in there. I'll make a blog entry with them later this evening so you'll have something super interesting to look at, at least?

Again, I'm sad to hear about people being stupid. I'm sending you a mental hug right now. I hope that holding the animals helped! :) (A black Temeraire!bird would be AWESOME)

"Laurence is the only surviving officer..." ;_; But but but - Riley is awesome! ;_; That makes me terribly sad.

But yeah, it would be an interesting comedy of errors should the egg/dragon pass between several hands several times. ;)

"she might have thought he'd be a Volly, small and simple and oh-so-European. (She wouldn't realize that Volly does his job brilliantly and has a lot of loyal companions.)" Precisely! She wanted it to be a punishment... which is another reason that Laurence has to buck up, because being miserable means letting Lien WIN.

"The French ship had rather epic bad luck, and I did like that Laurence returned the captain's sword the instant he worked out just why the man had put up such a fight." I really liked that gesture on his part. Also, quick point: I'm not sure if you speak French, but you might want to know that the ship that was captured has an adorable name that has a double meaning, because "Amitié" is where we get our English word "amity" from, although in the original French? It's a noun meaning "friendship". :)

"That would be just like Temeraire, too--cause the most fuss possible while being so cute/funny/useful that people let you do it." And he simply doesn't understand why Laurence can't come up top where it's so much nicer. Temeraire also doesn't really understand the difference in speaking French and English, and doesn't yet understand the concepts of "war" and "prisoner".

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

"I'm very sad to hear about all of this. :(( I hate it when people don't concede to perfectly reasonable requests for no good reason." The part that really upset me is that I was being extremely respectful. I asked politely if I could have a one-day extension, I outlined my circumstances, and both women I talked to (the woman in charge was still on lunch break when I stopped by first, after I went to lunch the woman I needed was there and the first woman was gone)... they both were just plain hostile about it.

I do NOT like getting sick. At all. Sadly I've been sick entirely too often lately, but my morning classes are all video-recorded, so I was able to baby myself past a few instances of 'getting-sick' without turning them into 'infected with the plague,' which is quite impressive when one roommate had bronchitis and the flu at the same time.

Special Collections!!! Love that place-- I could post up a full 1951 booklet about menstruation, and about how you'll probably faint and die if you exert yourself while menstruating. You'll shiver and die if you go into a POOL while menstruating.

(I would be tempted to name ANY bird Temeraire. The one that liked me was orange and green, but he was sweet and loved long-haired people-- I meet a LOT of animals that way.) I think I'll
Again, I'm sad to hear about people being stupid. I'm sending you a mental hug right now. I hope that holding the animals helped! :) (A black Temeraire!bird would be AWESOME)

";_; But but but - Riley is awesome! ;_; That makes me terribly sad." Oh! Sorry, I was going to save Riley and a few other random crew, but Laurence is still furious that the fighting was so needlessly lethal.

"Precisely! She wanted it to be a punishment... which is another reason that Laurence has to buck up, because being miserable means letting Lien WIN." He'll have no choice, the dear man, because Jane and Granby and Temeraire shan't be denied. He IS happy in time, but it's a very hard transition.

I do know that amity's friendship. I know scattered words from lessons in second grade (my teacher used the French pronunciation of my name for the rest of the year-- "Bridget" is MUCH softer in the French version, and he was cool enough to get away with whatever he wanted). I'm decent with Spanish, and know my Latin roots well enough to guess on some words, and some words are directly borrowed from the French.

"And he simply doesn't understand why Laurence can't come up top where it's so much nicer. Temeraire also doesn't really understand the difference in speaking French and English, and doesn't yet understand the concepts of "war" and "prisoner"." Oh yeah. 'But why is he in the prison? You went to fight him, and he fought back, and you have done the same when other people come. He is a very good man, and we are in the ocean, so he could sit with me on the deck out of the way.'

If I wrote that, it would probably be a very short piece that ends with Temeraire critiquing the British escort and everything else about it while Laurence is quite resigned to being the dragon's permanent guide. (Best part about turning Laurence into a dragon: he gets a dragon's lifespan.)

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I mean, I understand their position in that I'm sure that they get lots of people who try to wheedle and whine their way into getting extensions for stupid reasons, but if you're respectful and have a very good reason for making the request, I don't understand what the great hardship is in handing it in one day late. :(

I'm debating if I should go to class tomorrow. It's a once-a-week seminar, so I probably will... I have to hand in a paper proposal anyway. But I still feel ill. :( I hope I feel better when I wake up tomorrow... I also don't want to infect everyone. :(

"I could post up a full 1951 booklet about menstruation, and about how you'll probably faint and die if you exert yourself while menstruating. You'll shiver and die if you go into a POOL while menstruating." That sounds hilariously bad. If you can post something about it, that would be amazing! <3

(Also, I've totally made the blog post about the human skin book. :D Have a look!)

"Sorry, I was going to save Riley and a few other random crew, but Laurence is still furious that the fighting was so needlessly lethal." Oh, that's all right then. ;) I <3 Riley. I can totally see Laurence being pissed about the battle being so ruthless and bloody. This is still a war in which there is still some expectancy of gentlemanly conduct... especially since he treated his French prisoners so well.

I'm reviewing my poor Spanish skills (one semester in grade ten like six years ago!) with the help of a phrasebook for my trip to Spain. :) I had all of my classes in French up until grade ten, and even then all of my maths and sciences were taught in that language, not English. I miss it, actually, although I'm much more comfortable writing long papers in English. French words are instinctive for me.

I think that Novik knows French, because she does throw in a lot of little references in the French names for things. :) I love the way she names her dragons for that reason, too... I wish I knew more Latin so I could know what all of their names mean immediately upon their introduction. ;) All of the dragon breed names, too, are meaningful in their own languages. :)

"He is a very good man, and we are in the ocean, so he could sit with me on the deck out of the way.'" Yes, it's not like he can go anywhere anyhow. (Until, of course, Temeraire is strong enough to carry a full-grown man in flight... but still, they're in the middle of the ocean, so where would they go?)

"If I wrote that, it would probably be a very short piece that ends with Temeraire critiquing the British escort and everything else about it while Laurence is quite resigned to being the dragon's permanent guide." XD Excellent. Resigned!Laurence is the best. :)

That's one of the things that makes me sad to think about: Laurence, as a human, probably only has a good, what, forty, MAYBE fifty years in him, tops? Temeraire will live much longer than that. ;_;

... Need to go watch something lighthearted and humourous, now...

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

'The dean unexpectedly cancelled a trip that has been publicly moving forward for more than 6 weeks, and the 8 student participants had all bought plane tickets to Mexico' wasn't good enough. They didn't even listen to WHY I was asking for an exception before going on the warpath. Basically, she didn't want to file the paperwork. It's not a deadline set by anybody else, but she doesn't want to do any more of the papers for this SEMESTER. You need to have things set up two months in advance if you wanted to shadow somebody in April, and it's just moronic. It would make more sense if there was a uniform two weeks' notice, with maybe three for spring break.

They could have at least looked faintly regretful. "I'm sorry, but we can't offer any exceptions to the policy" is good. "If I gave one to you, I'd have to give one to everyone" in this chiding tone-- THAT was it. Umbridge. She had the same sanctimonious little "I thrive on your misery and think you are pathetic" thing going, and I was having a rough enough time because I'm still unhappy about Mexico. (But my parents said that we can use the rest of the money I have on credit with the airline at Christmas, which means no 22-hour drives this year, and they feel really bad that I can't go on my cool little trip so we'll probably go somewhere really cool. They also feel a little guilty that they're going to Alaska for about 3 weeks with no kiddies, so... it'll work out later.)

My professor LOVED that paper-- the history of tampons, and I had images filed with the U.S. Patent Office. (Did you know that the 'modern' plunger applicator was patented in 1933? Or that disposable sanitary pads and then tampons exist because Kimberly-Clark had a shit-ton of absorbent bandaging left after WWI, and the nurses used it for just that purpose?)

Human skin book? Creepy!

Right!! I think even the French prisoners would be unhappy with all the blood, because it's going to reflect poorly on their honor and country, but the French aviators were too damn furious that the dragon was taken at all, let alone hatched and bonded to some English pig. (Is it pigs? I know the French are pejoratively called frogs on occasion, but don't know if France chose a specific animal.)

Spain? When are you going? Pretty, pretty country, and some awesome history.

I know 90% of dragons on arrival. I didn't know "gloire" at all, but the names so far have been awesome and I have caught what they mean.

"Yes, it's not like he can go anywhere anyhow. (Until, of course, Temeraire is strong enough to carry a full-grown man in flight... but still, they're in the middle of the ocean, so where would they go?)" Right. The crew will NOT be happy when (not if) Tem grabs Laurence and shoots off for a joy-ride. It's clear on return that Laurence is still sputtering and attempting to make the dragon not do it again-- Tem's fault, and they can laugh a little at the poor English bugger that's more like the dragon's pet than the other way around, but I think they'd be friendly. Laurence has been a very honorable prisoner, and he was an honorable jailer, and now he's an honorable dragon-toy.

"Excellent. Resigned!Laurence is the best." He really is! So damn cute when he sighs and relaxes some principles.

I KNOW!! And some dragons just don't do well when they lose their person, so he REALLY needs a kidlet or eight to keep Temeraire from pulling a Puff the Magic Dragon and vanishing into nothing.

/shifts brain back to thinking about Granby's excellent moment of insolence. Jane might even be the perspective for the opening, if I feel like I have her. She's been summoned on urgent business (mostly because Laurence's entire crew vouched that she'd be able to help), and when she shows up Temeraire is all coiled around a flamme-de-gloire (if that's wrong, I'll get it right later).

[beboots.livejournal.com]

"'The dean unexpectedly cancelled a trip that has been publicly moving forward for more than 6 weeks, and the 8 student participants had all bought plane tickets to Mexico' wasn't good enough."
!!! D:< That is... I don't have words. :(((

""I'm sorry, but we can't offer any exceptions to the policy" is good. "If I gave one to you, I'd have to give one to everyone" in this chiding tone-- THAT was it. Umbridge." >:( That is the worst. Is there any way of getting the dean who put you in this mess to pull some strings for you? I mean, if there were seven other students, too, surely you aren't the only one in this situation? Surely they can make exceptions for exceptional circumstances?

The history of tampons? That sounds like a super-interesting paper, I'm not going to lie! :D I love finding out the history behind obscure things. :) I don't know much about the history of menstruation aside from the whole First-World-War-nurses-and-bandages story, and the fact that apparently during the fur trade men would give the softest part of a rabbit's fur to their wives for such purposes... But otherwise, it was absorbent moss (the same plant used in place of diapers) for all the native women of the area. Or so I'm told. I haven't actually looked at the sources.

"but the French aviators were too damn furious that the dragon was taken at all, let alone hatched and bonded to some English pig." Right, I can see the aviators being pissed about that. As for the French insults... I'm trying to remember period appropriate ones. I can't remember how recent "Rosbif" is - it comes from the French pronouncuation of "roast beef" which is apparently the defining English dish to them. I'm thinking... maybe they would call the English "cochon" (pig), but...

Oh, lol, according to Wikipedia: "les goddams - During the Hundred Years War, the French took to calling the English les goddams because of their frequent use of expletives." XD I'm not sure if this term would have still been in use in the early 1800s, but it's hilarious nonetheless!

"Flamme de gloire" = "flame of glory". :) (Also has associations with fame/celebrity, but mostly glory.)

"It's clear on return that Laurence is still sputtering and attempting to make the dragon not do it again--" I suppose it must have even been Laurence that convinced them to turn around. He, as a navyman, knows better than most just how BIG the ocean is and how far away from land they are.

"- Tem's fault, and they can laugh a little at the poor English bugger that's more like the dragon's pet than the other way around" XD I love this idea. SO TRUE. Laurence is but a dragon-toy at times. ;)

I seriously love the image of Temeraire and dragon!Laurence cuddling/comforting and being comforting. Adorable! <3

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The profs went through all the proper channels, the administration abruptly said "you need to make this an elective and give credit," we said 'cool, sign us up,' then they said "through the Study Abroad office," 'awesome, good international health insurance' and then NO, YOU MAY NOT GO and we were :< ten days before our flight left.

"That is the worst. Is there any way of getting the dean who put you in this mess to pull some strings for you? I mean, if there were seven other students, too, surely you aren't the only one in this situation? Surely they can make exceptions for exceptional circumstances?" We're trying to get some kind of compensation for losing over $100 in deposit to the airline because they refused to allow the trip happen. We weren't asking for credit, we were going to do range-of-motion testing in a free Mexican clinic with zero liability insurance because the laws don't support that kind of thing.

Ancient Japanese and Roman women used tampons, which surprised me quite a bit, and some Greek and Mediterranean women used sea sponges. Roman women used wool, Japanese women used paper and had to change the tampon out 10-15 times a day.

"Oh, lol, according to Wikipedia: "les goddams - During the Hundred Years War, the French took to calling the English les goddams because of their frequent use of expletives." XD I'm not sure if this term would have still been in use in the early 1800s, but it's hilarious nonetheless!" I'd use it and call it accurate enough. Laurence is polite enough to LOOK at other people and realize their motives, and that's a way-too-rare gift. 'Ah, the French captain was defending this prize' and 'this is what that man wanted to happen.'

Oh, I see! The words are very similar, but I didn't want to assume when a few different words could feed into "gloire." (I think Laurence will eventually be a bit mollified to have such a lovely name, even if it IS French. I think Jane would solve that by pronouncing him some English equivalent and moving on with life-- you're an English dragon now, we can have an English name. Just a bit of cheerful xenophobia in deference to the war.)

"I suppose it must have even been Laurence that convinced them to turn around. He, as a navyman, knows better than most just how BIG the ocean is and how far away from land they are." Right! Temeraire would not be easily convinced, as he doesn't want to return Laurence to a big cage, but Laurence doesn't want them dead (and doesn't want his crew punished, which may be the argument to sway Temeraire.)

"XD I love this idea. SO TRUE. Laurence is but a dragon-toy at times. ;)" Especially when Laurence is a dragon, because he is such a doting husband at all times. Not that Tem's the lady in the relationship, but Laurence has this intrinsically male approach to it-- quite cute.

"I seriously love the image of Temeraire and dragon!Laurence cuddling/comforting and being comforting. Adorable! <3" I am quite happy that Laurence could end up as a midweight of a very appropriate color. He needs to be big enough to BE paired with Temeraire in fights (and maybe later for some other reasons, but Laurence doesn't think of that for ages). He's still a bit sputtering/indignant that he will be a prominent player in dragon-porn, he'll get over it.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

That is bullshit. And there's nothing you guys can do? >:((( NOT COOL.

See, and it wasn't even a fake vacation thing, it was a legit practical experience thing that may help people. :(( I seriously think that you guys should get compensated because this was the school's mistake, not yours. :(

"Oh, I see! The words are very similar, but I didn't want to assume when a few different words could feed into "gloire."" Oh yes, you always have to be on the watch for false friends. The one I always like shocking people with is the "excited" vs "excité" thing. In Quebec, you can use the latter like you use the word "excited" in English, but in France there are sexual connotations (like, she's sexually excited). I remember hearing about this in a second year French class. The professor had us all ask each other hypothetical questions to practice our answers, and she asked this girl who walked in late (in French, of course): "What would you do if your favourite actor walked into the restaurant at which you were eating?" To which she of course replied "Oh, I would become very excited!" ;) We all laughed.

"Temeraire would not be easily convinced, as he doesn't want to return Laurence to a big cage, but Laurence doesn't want them dead (and doesn't want his crew punished, which may be the argument to sway Temeraire.)" Oh yes, because Temeraire is still quite small and didn't think to take the remaining English crew with him, even if he WERE big enough to carry them all. Laurence still looks out for his men; Temeraire has a personal attachment to Laurence but still doesn't quite understand the concept of "duty" yet.

Dragons are beyond human gender norms. ;) I think it's even canon that Regal Copper females are bigger than males, so along with the laying-of-eggs instead of birthing live young that then have to be taken care of, I think that female dragons are fairly equal, socially, with male ones.

"(and maybe later for some other reasons, but Laurence doesn't think of that for ages). He's still a bit sputtering/indignant that he will be a prominent player in dragon-porn, he'll get over it." I make a winky face at that. ;)

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

We MIGHT get the lost deposit on our plane tickets back ($110 kept back when we cancelled), but I doubt it. Grrg. We were going to be working full days M-W, then a half-day Thursday so we could have some tourist-y time. Motion-range testing, nothing dangerous.

There are many, many little language traps to watch for. Some are because people are assholes. One bastard in my lab got the Chinese doctoral student to repeat inappropriate things for said bastard's amusement. I told him that if I heard one more word, or just one hint that he was harassing Jian again, I would report him to Dr. Gallo. He avoided me and Jian after that, and the other grad students were just as immature (and all male).

"Oh yes, because Temeraire is still quite small and didn't think to take the remaining English crew with him, even if he WERE big enough to carry them all. Laurence still looks out for his men; Temeraire has a personal attachment to Laurence but still doesn't quite understand the concept of "duty" yet." Right! Laurence would become upset if the crew were hurt, so this is obviously a VERY BAD THING. So Temeraire will do what they need to do.

There definitely isn't any ill feelings that Lily is the head of a formation, even when she's not the biggest. I do think dragons go by fighting merit and/or wisdom over "biggest" and "male". I think they have mostly male captains because that's what the corps provides.

Also, ISKIERKA OMG. Probably spelling her name wrong, but <<<<3. It does mess up the planning I had a little for dragon!!Laurence, but I'll just let Granby be the one that bosses the big brass into treating Laurence properly. "Sir" remains.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I'm still angry for you about this trip cancellation. :( What were their exact justifications for cancelling it?

Some little things I find quite funny about how words grew to have different meanings in French and English. "Raisin", as many know, means, in French, "grape". Most people don't know that "grappe" in French means a bunch of grapes.

Also, in French, a "photographe" is a "photographer", not the image itself, which is simple called... "un photo". ;)

I can see Temeraire helping the crew because Laurence wants him to and it makes Laurence happy, and only later growing more attached to Riley and the others. Especially once they stop flinching away from the dragon.

"I do think dragons go by fighting merit and/or wisdom over "biggest" and "male"." I totally think so as well. Later on, I think Temeraire comments on this as well. :)

I KNOW, RIGHT??? I <3 ISKIERKA. That's the question I was going to ask: how does Iskierka react to having a rival firebreather around?

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

Mexico is still </3 right now, but spring break is next week and my parents are very, very happy that I did the mature thing and didn't start screaming at anybody. So I'll get a nice vacation with them later, even if it's not working in a clinic with all the awesome local people and making conversation in the Spanish I can work out. I'll go on my own when I'm a proper doctor. They take any volunteers possible, and whatever I do I'll be able to help a little. "Some little things I find quite funny about how words grew to have different meanings in French and English. "Raisin", as many know, means, in French, "grape". Most people don't know that "grappe" in French means a bunch of grapes." I knew about raisin, but 'grappe' is quite new. (I think I know the Latin term, probably not the Greek this time-- silly medicine borrows from both. 'Acinus' is the scientific name for a circular cluster of gland cells, named because they look like a 'berry.' "Also, in French, a "photographe" is a "photographer", not the image itself, which is simple called... "un photo". ;)" They might have developed separately. From the roots, "photograph" means "light-picture." "I can see Temeraire helping the crew because Laurence wants him to and it makes Laurence happy, and only later growing more attached to Riley and the others. Especially once they stop flinching away from the dragon." Laurence especially likes Riley, so it'll be easy enough for Temeraire to adopt Riley as one of his people. Not his Laurence, but as a person worth protecting for his own merit and not just the potentially for Laurence to approve. "I totally think so as well. Later on, I think Temeraire comments on this as well. :)" England was ready to give APES the right to vote before women (and without considering that right for black men). He will think they're quite odd. "I KNOW, RIGHT??? I <3 ISKIERKA. That's the question I was going to ask: how does Iskierka react to having a rival firebreather around?" She is such a bloodthirsty little monster. I'm kind of terrified to name anything after her, because it'd be asking for trouble, but any piranha I see will get the name in her honor. At first, RAEG!!!! and JEALOUSY. She used to be a lot more special, as The Firebreather, and now Granby is fussing over another dragon. HER GRANBY. So she's pissed as fuck and breathing fire constantly, and I think she only calms down (quite abruptly, and with no clear reason that anyone else can see) when she realizes that of course she'll need to train Laurence in how to /use/ his firebreathing as it's not so intuitive for him, and he's a different kind of firebreather anyway, and as soon as Laurence is a tad happier she'll have her captain's' full attention back. (The hidden motives: she can train him up so that she can still be better than him in the end, and because it's FUN to have somebody else to fight with her. She's probably Temeraire's other flank, and just might end up as the mom for several eggs from the two of them. She likes knowing that her babies are The Best.)

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel about being left out of a trip, though. :( I missed out a trip to Maui two summers ago for stupid reasons.

And hey, you're probably right about being able to go on your own when you're a doctor, especially with lots of programs out there like Doctors Without Borders. :)

I've also just found out that "grappe" can be used to refer to any cluster of fruit or flowers! So theoretically you could talk about "une grappe de bananes" - a bunch of bananas. :3

My favourite quick word-search translation is this website: http://www.wordreference.com/ It's the most epic dictionary ever (and also has other languages, including Spanish!) The nice thing about it is that it gives you the connotations of words, too, and suggest individual usages. It avoids things like looking up the word for "fan" (as in, "I'm a fan of Harry Potter") and writing down the French word for fan (as in that thing that moves air). ;)

Oh, another interesting French word that means different things in English: "sauvage". It's where we get our word "savage" from. Calling aboriginal North Americans "savages" comes from people in New France... except that they weren't calling them "savage" at all, but more along the lines of a neutral "wild", which doesn't have crazy or rugged connotations. It's more like "natural". In fact, you frequently see on juice boxes the words "baies sauvages" - wild berries - with the connotation of it being non-cultivated, healthy fruit. :)

"Not his Laurence, but as a person worth protecting for his own merit and not just the potentially for Laurence to approve." A lovely thought. :)

"England was ready to give APES the right to vote before women (and without considering that right for black men)." I've heard of that! Was it actually seriously considered, or was it a rhetorical argument?

"At first, RAEG!!!! and JEALOUSY. She used to be a lot more special, as The Firebreather, and now Granby is fussing over another dragon. HER GRANBY." I can definitely see her reaction being one of overwhelming jealousy, for sure. I also like the idea of her being brought over not because Laurence needs help - and Granby presumably asks her - but because she can therefore prove her superiority to him by teaching him something he should already know.

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

That clinic in particular is quite cool. It's run by a woman that originally lived in Oregon, she stayed when she realized that there wasn't any healthcare, and it's an almost all volunteer clinic.

"Grappe de bananes" is awesome. I love foreign languages.

Good translation sites are VERY hard to find, and holy crap connotations. Most sites don't give anything past a single foreign word that never seems to translate back the same.

/loves some word-history. My sociology of health care class went over why the Battle of Hastings determined what swearing sounds like in English. Nutshell version, the upper class spoke French, the lower class Brits spoke German, so German was the rough/"ugly" language of cursing.

"I've heard of that! Was it actually seriously considered, or was it a rhetorical argument?" Quite seriously considered. If you want to cry about utterly inhumane treatment, go look up 'the Hottentot Venus,' and compare HER treatment to the treatment of female apes. Lady-apes were dressed up and called demure and sketched admiringly, the male apes were strong and virile and oh-so-intelligent. Ms. Venus (I don't think her true name was ever recorded) was forced against her will to show her "unusual" genitals to people. That particular ethnic group had elongated labia. Her body was kept after she died, too, and... yeah. History breaks my heart nine times for every time it makes me love humanity.

"I can definitely see her reaction being one of overwhelming jealousy, for sure. I also like the idea of her being brought over not because Laurence needs help - and Granby presumably asks her - but because she can therefore prove her superiority to him by teaching him something he should already know." Eventually she's quite fond of him. Again. He's not a competition to her (if it's not done, I'll elaborate on some differences in fire), Granby is extremely proud of her for playing along (and bribes her judiciously, probably, it does seem a useful strategy for special occasions), and Laurence isn't a bad dragon. Odd, yes, but he means that she FINALLY gets to have a 'really fun' formation to play with to set even MORE things on fire.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Wordreference.com is also good because of it's forums; if you're looking for how to translate a phrase, you can ask for the input of native speakers! If you search for a word in a phrase, recent forum topics asking about it appear at the bottom of the entry so you can see what other people have already said. :3 It's sweet.

Aww yeah. That's why all of our defecation curses sounds so rough. "Merde" ("shit" in French) doesn't have the same kind of vitriol to me. ;)

Speaking of swearing in French... The Quebecois are always made fun of because of their style of swearing, which is all based off of things you find in churches. "Tabernac!" ("Tabernacle!") "Calisse!" ("Chalice!") "Hostie!" ("Ossuary!") You can combine them, too - Ostille de Calice! It sounds quite strange to people from France, apparently. ;)

Oh, here is a scene from my favourite Canadian movie - Bon Cop, Bad Cop - in which the francophone cop explains to the anglophone one the Quebecois way of swearing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUGW0jszPzo There are subtitles for the French lines, but you have to make sure they're activated. They're not literal translations, but you can get the idea. Listen for the swears I listed above. They also talk about "pourris" - literally "rotten".

Anyway, long tangent, but I find the culture of swearing a very fascinating topic!

Oh man. I'm kind of scared to look that woman up. :(

"Granby is extremely proud of her for playing along (and bribes her judiciously)" BOTH. She does it for the bribes AND for his approval! :D

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

Good translation will be very, very useful for anything with Temeraire, because if the author didn't do it, I'll be doing something in Africa and remembering what I know about the ape and slave trades.

"Aww yeah. That's why all of our defecation curses sounds so rough. "Merde" ("shit" in French) doesn't have the same kind of vitriol to me. ;)" Right!!! Someone said once (very rough paraphrase) that you could bid someone a good day in German and it would sound worse than cursing them out in French.

""Speaking of swearing in French... The Quebecois are always made fun of because of their style of swearing, which is all based off of things you find in churches. "Tabernac!" ("Tabernacle!") "Calisse!" ("Chalice!") "Hostie!" ("Ossuary!") You can combine them, too - Ostille de Calice! It sounds quite strange to people from France, apparently. ;)" The medieval British style of swearing was to use anything with God. God's thumbs, God's blood... the latter went to s'blood, then blood, then bloody if I remember the progression right.

Swearing is one of the most informative things about a language, oddly enough. It's really funny to watch. And OMG it's almost as funny as Cockney slang! I wonder how on earth that started.

Hottentot Venus... yeah. People didn't think she was a PERSON, and it's terrible. I do a lot of advocacy for sexual assault awareness, and forcing someone to expose herself? That's a form of sexual assault. Not "science."

"BOTH. She does it for the bribes AND for his approval! :D " And because she's still the best firebreather, and working in pairs IS better because it lets her get a lot more done if they don't expect her to do it all herself. More carnage!

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Hey, if you ever need short realistic French for your fanfic, especially in the Temeraire universe, you know who to call. ;)

"Someone said once (very rough paraphrase) that you could bid someone a good day in German and it would sound worse than cursing them out in French." I CAN BELIEVE IT.

I think that you're right about the "bloody" thing. I distinctly remember a project in my grade ten English class in which we got a sheet of paper with a several collumns of words you could ocmbine into Shakespearian swear words and then we had to write a short story/poem/etc. while utilizing AS MANY AS WE COULD. I wrote a short bit about a man walking into a bar to visit a barmaid, only to be found out by his (other) lover. They chew each other out, then him. It was super-fun! One of the best writing projects I ever did in high school. :)

"More carnage!" Iskierka can DEFINITELY get behind that.

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

"Hey, if you ever need short realistic French for your fanfic, especially in the Temeraire universe, you know who to call. ;)" Yay for friends with random skills!

"I CAN BELIEVE IT." German just sounds ANGRY. I have a friend that's just about fluent--he's been in classes since high school, now he's in the translation program at a Detroit university.

"I think that you're right about the "bloody" thing. I distinctly remember a project in my grade ten English class in which we got a sheet of paper with a several collumns of words you could ocmbine into Shakespearian swear words and then we had to write a short story/poem/etc. while utilizing AS MANY AS WE COULD. I wrote a short bit about a man walking into a bar to visit a barmaid, only to be found out by his (other) lover. They chew each other out, then him. It was super-fun! One of the best writing projects I ever did in high school. :)"

Coolest project ever! We used to have to write vocab sentences, by the end of the year it was a challenge to see if you could use all of them in one sentence.

"Iskierka can DEFINITELY get behind that." As much as the name is awesome... I think it would be a problem even if I used it on an obligate herbivore. But it still might happen somewhere because I love that name.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

Yay for random skills! :D

I really do want to take a class or two of German, just because. I was born in Germany (on a Canadian military base) and I was exposed to the language constantly until I was nearly three, and I know that children are little language sponges at that age... At the moment I only know how to count to nine, say yes, no, thank you, you're welcome and the name of my favourite kind of sausage. ;) However, I wonder how much I have still stuck in the far recesses of my mind, and I wonder how much of it would come out were I to be reminded...

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

My friend was born in Germany! She was a German citizen, but then she spent most of her childhood in Singapore before moving to Colorado. She decided to take Spanish all through high school and college.

German also is very close to English, so that's a big advantage. My main issue with languages is that I want to learn all of them, but in time I'll HAVE time to take the classes.

[beboots.livejournal.com]

I totally sympathize. I want to learn SO many other languages... At the top of my list are German, Chinese and Italian. Also possibly Korean. And I'll probably brush up on Cree phrases this summer beyond "Hello" and "thank you".

[feral-shrew.livejournal.com]

So far, I'd like to get better with Spanish, and French and German are awesome. After that, probably some basic Chinese and/or Russian. Nothing fluent, but the basics of "hello, what happened yesterday" and such.