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]

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.