Mandarin

Mandarin in Mandarin on a mandarin...

Lion-Eating Poet

The Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den is a 92-character tongue-twister poem written in Classical Chinese by Yuen Ren Chao (1892–1982). Because Chinese is a tonal language, it is possible to take a tongue-twister to the extreme in Chinese, where all the words have the same sound but vary only in their tones.

Traditional Chinese:

施氏食獅史
石室詩士施氏，嗜獅，誓食十獅。
氏時時適市視獅。
十時，適十獅適市。
是時，適施氏適市。
氏視是十獅，恃矢勢，使是十獅逝世。
氏拾是十獅屍，適石室。
石室濕，氏使侍拭石室。
石室拭，氏始試食是十獅。
食時，始識是十獅屍，實十石獅屍。
試釋是事。


Pinyin (phonetic translation):

Shī Shì shí shī shǐ
Shíshì shīshì Shī Shì, shì shī, shì shí shí shī.
Shì shíshí shì shì shì shī.
Shí shí, shì shí shī shì shì.
Shì shí, shì Shī Shì shì shì.
Shì shì shì shí shī, shì shǐ shì, shǐ shì shí shī shìshì.
Shì shí shì shí shī shī, shì shíshì.
Shíshì shī, Shì shǐ shì shì shíshì.
Shíshì shì, Shì shǐ shì shí shì shí shī.
Shí shí, shǐ shí shì shí shī shī, shí shí shí shī shī.
Shì shì shì shì.

English Translation:

Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den
In a stone den was a poet called Shi Shi, who was a lion addict, and had resolved to eat ten lions.
He often went to the market to look for lions.
At ten o'clock, ten lions had just arrived at the market.
At that time, Shi had just arrived at the market.
He saw those ten lions, and using his trusty arrows, caused the ten lions to die.
He brought the corpses of the ten lions to the stone den.
The stone den was damp. He asked his servants to wipe it.
After the stone den was wiped, he tried to eat those ten lions.
When he ate, he realized that these ten lions were in fact ten stone lion corpses.
Try to explain this matter.

 

 

Chilling Chopsticks

Consecotaleophobia - Fear of Chopsticks.

Although phobias can be of anything, it's still surprising this is common enough to have an official name.  Generally Chinese and Vietnamese chopsticks are notably longer than Japanese and Korean chopsticks so may have a more frightening appearance.  On the other hand Japanese and Korean chopsticks taper to a much sharper point than the blunt ended Chinese and Vietnamese versions, so maybe this is scarier.

 

 

 

But to be fair to people with Consecotaleophobia, chopstick etiquette isn't a simple affair.  Some do's and don'ts:

• Holding chopsticks incorrectly reflects badly on a child's parents.
• Food should not be transferred between chopsticks. Food in need of transportation should be placed onto the recipient's plate or on a new plate for collection.
• Using the reverse end of the chopsticks is acceptable if communal serving utensils are not provided, but it is bad form to eat with them in this fashion.
• Don't tap chopsticks on the edge of one's bowl as beggars make this sort of noise to attract attention.
• It is impolite to spear food with a chopstick. Anything too difficult to be handled with chopsticks should be eaten with a spoon.
• One should not 'dig' or 'search' through one's food for something in particular. This is sometimes known as "digging one's grave" or "grave-digging".
• Chopsticks should not be bitten on, or held in the mouth for any length of time.
• Holding both a spoon and chopsticks simultaneously is frowned upon.
• Resting chopsticks at the top of the bowl means "I've finished". Resting chopsticks on the side of one's bowl or on a chopstick stand signifies one is merely taking a break from eating.
• Chopsticks should not be placed in a "V" shape when done eating, it is often interpreted as a bad omen
• Chopsticks should not be crossed on a table, as this symbolizes death.
• It is considered impolite to point rested chopsticks towards others seated at the table.
• Chopsticks should not be left vertically stuck into a bowl of rice because it resembles the ritual of incense-burning that symbolizes "feeding" the dead and death in general.

 

Mandarin

Pogonotomy

The latest unusual word I have encountered is pogonotomy.

No, it has nothing to do with the anatomy of a pogo-stick.  It is in fact the act of cutting a beard.

Beard levels:

Once your beard hits max level it stops levelling up.

Nudiustertian

The latest uncommon word I have encountered is nudiustertian.  No, it's not an Austrian word to describe a nude citizen. It's the proper term to describe the time frame pertaining to the day before yesterday.

 

I think it's an important word because it's the pivotal point in history where memory starts to go fuzzy.  Remembering what happened yesterday is fine but the day before... may as well be the year before yesterday. Alternatively if you drink a lot it's where your last memory starts since you woke up.

 

I couldn't find a picture I liked depicting the day before yesterday, so here's one of some nude Austrians.

 

 

 

 

Philippic

Philippic means a verbal denunciation or condemnation, often in a speech, characterised by harsh, insulting language.  What I like most is how positive it sounds.  To me its sound invokes feelings of the word terrific.
 

 

The word also refers to any of Demosthenes's speeches urging Athenians to rise up against Philip II of Macedon in the fourth century BC. which is the origin of the word.  Ironically though, these speeches failed to effectively warn the Greeks of the danger of Philip of Macedon, who turned out be Alexander the Greats Dad.  Later in 44BC Marcus Tullius Cicero of Rome consciously modelled his own series of verbal attacks against Mark Antony on Demosthenes's and several of these speeches were referred to as The Philippics during the time.
 

 

But, for a modern Philippic orator you can't go past Bob Dylan.  A fact which his contemporaries Simon & Garfunkel acknowledged in their 1966 recording of the song A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission) for the duo's album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme.  In the song Simon complains about a man who is, "...so unhip, when you say Dylan he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas," the next line in the songs says, "It's all right Ma. Everybody must get stoned." which is a reference to the Bob Dylan song Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35.  At the end of the song Simon says, "Folk rock," and, after an audible noise, "I've lost my harmonica, Albert." This again refers to Dylan, his music, his harmonica and his manager Albert Grossman.

 

Have a listen.

 

 

Dame Huffing

Known by several names, English Draughts or American Checkers or, Israeli Damka.  Draughts is the more correct name as it drives its meaning from the verb to draw or move.  Draughts evolved from an old Middle Eastern game called Alquerque some time between the 10th and 13th century.  A Standard Draughts board is 8x8 squares.  International Draughts (also called Polish draughts or international checkers) is a variant played on a 10×10 board.  Malaysian and Canadian Draughts is on a 12x12 board for some reason.  Chinese checkers is neither a variation of checkers, nor did it originate in China.

In most non-English languages draughts is called dames or damas, or a similar term that refers to ladies. Pieces are usually called stones, or some similar term that does not imply a gender, but are called dames or ladies when crowned.  Official rules state play is on the dark squares.  If you play on the light squares, you're just doing it wrong.

One rule of long standing that has fallen out of favour is the "huffing" rule. In this variation jumping is not mandatory, but if a player does not take their jump (either deliberately or by failing to see it), the piece that could have made the jump is "blown" or "huffed", i.e. removed from the board. After huffing the offending piece, the opponent then takes their turn as normal. Huffing has been abolished by both the English Draughts Association and the American Checker Federation.


Under International Draughts rules: non-crowned pieces can also capture backward (not only forward). Crowned pieces, can move freely multiple squares in any direction (like a bishop in chess) and may jump over an opponent piece some distance away and continue moving afterwards.

Have a play.

Play Draughts

Queer Stories

Well don't go telling everyone.

Bathykolpian

The latest uncommon word I've read is Bathykolpian.

It's meaning is "deep bosomed".  The picture below is a far more descriptive explanation of the word than I can type using one hand.

Vegitable Slaughterer

Some would say vegetarian is an old Native American word meaning lousy hunter.  Disappointingly, that's not in fact true.  A vegetarian is someone who slaughters and kills fruits, and vegetables for the enjoyment of eating them.  Most people believe the word is derived from the word vegetable but in fact the word was coined by the founders of the British Vegetarian Society in 1842 and comes from the Latin word vegetus, meaning fresh or lively.  The word implies a mentally and physically vigorous person and a balanced lifestyle, not just a lack of meat.

The earliest records of vegetarianism come from ancient India and ancient Greece in the 6th century BC. The diet was closely connected with the idea of non-violence towards animals and was promoted by religious groups and philosophers.  Later vegetarianism fell out of fashion in Europe although in the middle ages  Several orders of European monks practised it for ascetic reasons, but none of them eschewed fish.  The medieval definition of "fish" included all water living animals such as: seals, porpoises, dolphins, barnacle geese, puffins, and beavers.  Yes, medieval vegetarians feasted on the flesh of dolphins and cuddly seals.

The word vegan was originally derived from the first three and last two letters of the word vegetarian in 1944 when people, frustrated at the inclusion of dairy in vegetarian diets, formed the UK Vegan Society.  A popular tattoo for vegans appears to be the word "VEGAN" inside their lower lip.  Ironically the vast majority of tattoo ink brands use animal glycerins.  Also one of the most commonly used ink pigments is derived from animal bones.

...and there they put it, inside their mouths.

It's Trivialis

Floccinaucinihilipilification. No I didn't just slam my forehead on the keyboard, it's a real word. It's the categorising of something that is useless or trivial. I think I do that a bit. I'll have to make a note of being a floccinaucinihilipilificationist. Despite it's meaning, the pronunciation of floccinaucinihilipilification is no trivial task.

As far as I'm concerned, trivialis is the original, more correct descriptive term, not the term trivial. Like most words, trivia originally derived from the Latin, tri meaning triple and via meaning way, "a place where three ways meet".

The word trivia was used to describe a place where three roads met in Ancient Rome. All of which roads were said to lead to Rome, but that probably had something to do with them being built by Romans, and Rome is where the Romans wanted to go when they finished roaming around.  Later the term trivialis became a derogatory term meaning "appropriate to the street corner".

Eventually trivia began referring to the lower division of the Artes Liberales (liberal arts), basic education, being: grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The higher division of the Liberal Arts was the quadrivia, higher education. The quadrivia (four ways) being: arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. So things not of the higher education (the quadvia) became referred to as trivial.

Easter Fears

Here's some Easter related phobias:

Fear of eggs: Ovaphobia

Fear of chocolate: Xocolataphobia

Fear of holidays: Heortophobia

Fear of rabbits: Leporiphobia



"Run away! Run away!"

All The Short Words

Remember when you were a kid and you played scrabble, and you haven't got any good letter combinations so you put down words like “Um” and “Ha” but your parents would tell you it's not a real word.  Well turns out they were cheating! There's over a hundred two letter words and they are all allowed under official international scrabble tournament rules.

This is how you cheat and get away with it next scrabble match. Here's the list of all the two letter words allowed in scrabble under international rules. The (+s) shows if you can just add an “s”

AA (+s) type of Hawaiian lava
AB (+s) short for Abdominal muscle
AD (+s) short for Advertisement
AE Scottish for one (also YAE)
AG (+s) short for Agriculture
AH (+s) express surprise or joy
AI (+s) Tupian for three-toed sloth
AL (+s) East Indian shrub (also AAL)
AM exist
AN indefinite article
AR (+s) letter ‘R’
AS (+s) Norse god
AT denoting place or time
AW expressing sympathy
AX chop or cut down (also AXE)
AY (+s) affirmative vote (also AYE)
BA (+s) ancient Egyptian soul
BE (+s) exist (BES Hebrew letter)
BI (+s) short for bisexual
BO (+s) pal or buddy
BY (+s) pass to the next round (also BYE)
CH dialectic ‘I’
DA (+s) heavy Burmese knife
DE from, as used in names
DI (+s) Latin for god (also DEI) (DIS dismiss or put down)
DO (+s) musical note
EA (+s) dial river
ED (+s) short for education
EE Scottish for eye (also EEN)
EF (+s) letter ‘F’
EH (+s) say 'eh'
EL (+s) letter ‘L’
EM (+s) letter ‘M’
EN (+s) letter ‘N’
ER (+s) expressing hesitation (ERS bitter)
ES (+s) letter ‘S’ (also ESS)
ET short for eat
EX cross out
FA (+s) musical note (also FAH)
FE (+s) Hebrew letter (also FEH)
FY expressing reproach
GI (+s) martial arts uniform
GO (+s) move
GU (+s) old Shetland violin (also GUE GJU)
HA (+s) expressing surprise
HE (+s) male
HI (+s) calling attention
HM expressing hesitation (also HMM)
HO (+s) halt (also HOH HOA)
ID (+s) self
IF (+s) condition
IN (+s) gather in harvest
IO (+s) cry expressing triumph
IS exist
IT (+s) neuter of he, she, him, or her
JA German for yes
JO Scottish for loved one
KA (+s) serve (also KAE)
KI (+s) Japanese martial art spirit
KO (+s) Maori digging-stick
KY cattle
LA (+s) musical note (also LAH)
LI (+s) Chinese unit of distance
LO (+s) see or look (LOS arch expressing praise)
MA (+s) mother
ME (+s) musical note (also MI)
MI (+s) musical note (also ME)
MM expressing agreement
MO (+s) short for moment
MU (+s) Greek letter
MY belonging to me
NA (+s) Scottish no, not at all (NAS has not, or was not)
NE born with the name of
NO (+s) negative response
NU (+s) Greek letter
NY (+s) approach (also NYE NIE)
OB (+s) short for objection
OD (+s) mystical force
OE (+s) Scottish for grandchild (also OY OYE)
OF belonging to
OH (+s) express surprise
OI attracting attention
OM (+s) intoned Hindu symbol
ON (+s) go on with
OO (+s) Scot wool
OP (+s) short for operation
OR (+s) heraldic colour, gold
OS Latin for bone
OU (+s) South African for bloke
OW expressing pain
OX bovine animal, clumsy person
OY (+s) Scottish for grandchild (also OE OYE)
PA (+s) father
PE (+s) Hebrew letter (also PEH)
PI (+s) Greek letter, confuse (also PIE PYE)
PO (+s) short for chamberpot
QI (+s) Chinese physical life-force
RE (+s) musical note
SH requesting silence (also SHA SHH)
SI (+s) musical note
SO (+s) musical note (also SOH SOL)
ST requesting silence
TA (+s) expression of thanks
TE (+s) musical note (also TI)
TI (+s) musical note (also TE)
TO in the direction of
UG (+s) dread or loathe
UH expressing surprise
UM expressing doubt or hesitation (also UMM)
UN (+s) dial one
UP (+s) move up
UR expressing hesitation
US we
UT (+s) musical note
WE group that includes me
WO (+s) misery (also WOE)
XI (+s) Greek letter
XU Vietnamese money
YA you
YE (+s) arch you
YO (+s) call for attention
YU (+s) Chinese for precious jade
ZA (+s) short for pizza
ZO (+s) Tibetan yak (also DZO ZHO DZHO DSO)

See with these short words, getting rid of that difficult letter tile is now easy and you can argue your word with confidence and if they dispute your claim you can tell them to go Funk and Wagnalls.

Pineapples

The word for pineapple in 45 languages.

Azerbaijani: ananas
Belarusian: ananas
Bulgarian: ananas
Croatian: ananas
Italian: ananas
Macedonian: ananas
Maltese: ananas
Norwegian: ananas
Polish: ananas
Romanian: ananas
Russian: ananas
Serbian: ananas
Slovenian: ananas
Swedish: ananas
Turkish: ananas
Ukrainian: ananas
Estonian: ananass
Georgian: ananasi
Greek: ananás
Portuguese: ananás
Slovak: ananás
Gujarati: Anēnāsa
Haitian: anana
Hindi: Anannāsa
Hungarian: ananász
Czech: ananas
Danish: ananas
Dutch: ananas
Finish: ananas
French: ananas
German: ananas
Icelandic: ananas
Indonesian: nanas
Malay: nanas
Irish: anann
Latvian: ananāsu
Bengali: Ānārasa
Lithuanian: ananasas
Tamil: Aṉṉāci
Swahili: mananasi
Kannada: Anānas haṇṇu
Telugu: Anāsa paṇḍu
English: pineapple

Thats right English you go do your own thing.

Quatopygia

This year instead of quoting the Urban Dictionary, I'm going to go old school Oxford and post uncommon words I've come across. To start with:
Quatopygia

The enticing, shaking movement of a persons buttocks that occurs while walking. Also an algebraic equation or function of the fourth degree.

Turns out both definitions consolidate better than expected:

See.

Christmas Abyss

From The Urban Dictionary

Christmas Abyss

The conspicuous absence and lack of communication from all your friends who celebrate the Christmas holiday due to family commitments and/or over-consumption of alcohol on Christmas Eve.

"Man, I can't get a hold of anyone today. They must have fallen into the Christmas Abyss."

Jokers Boner

Funny how language use changes over time.  His henchmen seem shocked at the prospect.



Social Terrorism

From The Urban Dictionary

Social Terrorism

When someone you know comes to visit unexpectedly and inconveniently, often staying for a long time, and you can't tell them to leave without being rude.

"Yesterday, I was just about to go out, and then the doorbell rang. It was Sally, and she invited herself in and stayed for an hour!  It was social terrorism!"

Zombidextrous

From The Urban Dictionary

Zombidextrous

Wherein you are neither one or the other handed, rather you do all things with outstretched stiff arms.

"I handed him a cup of coffee and he tried to pick it up like a fork lift- spilled it all down his pants. He went from being a left handed bloke to zombidextrous."

I thought Bill Murray gave a very believable character interpretation while playing himself in Zombiland.