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Somehow she released this album on the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron’s death seemingly unintentionally. I’m not a fan of either but at least T Swift hasn’t killed any kids through parental neglect so maybe the terrible “poetry” is an extra little punishment for Byron to add to his time in hell.

taylor swift is neither tortured nor is she any kind of poet lol

#lord byron #taylor swift #the tortured poets department #weird way to celebrate 200 years

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I have the most random and oddball question... What would be some expletive type language in Welsh?

I'm playing a dragon in my D&D group who is from this fantasy world's equivalent of Wales and I want to add some flavor when he is fighting that he starts using bits of his mother-tongue instead of Common.

It's easy enough to find a random list of words, but without cultural context I have no clue what would be a proper equivalent of, for example "fuck off you asshole"... I probably am putting "too much" thought into it, but I'm a cultural anthropologist, so it bugs me to not think too much about it.

A funny quirk of Welsh is that we actually tend to swear in English when we need to - because one of the social arenas it survived in was through the chapels, the closest you'd get are things that in English you'd probably associate with your granny saying, or those sad little Christian youth camps in America. One of my favourites is Nêfi blŵ, which is literally just the Welsh transliteration of the words 'navy blue' said in a Welsh accent. Why is this a swear? Unknown. I presume someone somewhere hated the colour.

However, there are a couple:

Sweary

Sguthan/ysguthan: this is probably equivalent to 'bitch', it's certainly gendered the same way and has similar weight. Except much as 'bitch' literally just means a dog, sguthan means 'woodpigeon'. Why is this a swear? Unknown

Cach i fant: fuck off. 'Shit off', literally. Tbh though I don't actually know anyone who would actually use this. Mileage can and will vary wildly (keep an eye on the notes for other Welsh speakers chiming in), but this one always felt a bit like a sheep's eyeball to me, to use a Pratchett-ism. Like something Golwg would use to Appeal To The Youth. But, it is real, and does work.

Dos i ffwcio dy hunan: go fuck yourself. Now THIS one I use

Twll tin bob ____: Every ____ is an asshole. Naturally, the phrase in Wales is 'Twll tin bob Sais', but substitute Sais for the group of your choice.

Cêr y diawl: go to hell. Literally, 'go to the devil', with devil there being a reasonable stand-in for any devil you wish, not just, like, Satan.

And of course, Wenglish can provide:

Be'r ffyc 'dy hwnna: what the fuck is that

Pwy'r ffyc 'dy hwnna: who the fuck is that

etc

Non-Sweary

Bois bach a mawr: okay listen this is going to sound like I'm joshing you but I swear this is real. It's used by an older generation, admittedly, but even younger generations will say 'Bois bach' sometimes. It, uh. It literally means "Big and little boys". Or just "little boys". Just a sort of general mild exclamation. Or what you say when you sit down and your knees complain. Um.

Ych a fi: gross. Can also be Wenglished to 'Ych a ffycin fi' which is, you know, fucking gross.

Be' ti 'di 'neud?: what have you done?

Be' sy'n bod 'da ti?: What is wrong with you?

Cô ni off, bois!: Off we go, lads (gender neutral)!

There's probably a million I'm forgetting and will think of as I try to sleep tonight, but hopefully these will tide you over. Keep an eye on the notes, I expect others will chime in with further suggestions!

#I always just assumed the swears in the pub in Colin & Cumberland were toned down a bit but I guess not 😂 #that old man down the pub just calling everyone mochyn brwnt is still burned in my memory

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I see Shaggy went to the waverly academy snack bar

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Alice Te Punga Somerville, Always Italicise: How to Write While Colonised - Kupu rere kē

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BRB calling my brother in law…the one who used to collect stamps.

#nancy drew #clue crew #her interactive #nancy drew games #secret of the old clock #largemouth bass #stardew valley #19 inches! Alright! #it’s starting to smell a little ripe

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#best bird

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A fun update to the ongoing Reddit meltdown: r/femalefashionadvice has, after polling their users, reopened to only accept posts about 18th century fashion.

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Stuff Nancy remembers to bring on a case:

Stuff she forgets:

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Sakura is clearly a ghost child or possessed or something. Yamamura Sadako is that you?

#nancy drew #clue crew #her interactive #nancy drew games #shadow at the water's edge #SAW #Ringu #what is it with Japanese horror and wells

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the way Taylor Sinclair says “they’re from Oaxaca” has been imprinted on my brain for 20 years

#nothing like that mental image to make you really want a cookie

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This is what Rasputin would've wanted.

#I’m so glad this song is having a bit of a come back #it really is a funny song #and this video is mesmerizing

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I am going to spit on Thomas Edison's grave

#as if we needed another reason to hate that patent stealing asshat #justice for Nikola Tesla and Louis Le Prince

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Let's talk about Language

Jonathan Harker is an Englishman from Exeter. As such he speaks (Devon-accented) English.

He has mentioned a couple of times now that he also speaks German, but not very well. He calls it a "smattering" but it's enough to get him through Hungary, which is famously diglossic. He does not speak Hungarian. When he gets into Romania the language barrier becomes more profound because not only does he not understand any Romanian, the locals don't have a whole lot of German either. When he talks to the innkeeper's wife they're both using a common language neither speaks well.

You've all heard me go on about this but I am going to say it again: I'm obsessed with the fact that in earlier drafts when the Count was located in Austria he specifically requested a solicitor who did not speak German. He's not supposed to be able to communicate with the locals. He's supposed to be wholly dependent on Dracula, who as we've seen in the finished version is arranging all his travel and writing him little letters and such to help him navigate his way there.

[Aside: is Dracula speaking German to the coachman? Because Jonathan is able to understand their conversation, which he wouldn't if it were in Romanian. It makes sense because the coachman refers to him as the English Herr. But if so Dracula must be doing so specifically for Jonathan's benefit - otherwise he would be using his own language.]

But! At some point Jonathan acquired a polyglot dictionary! This is another great character moment. Like his research at the British Museum, it means he is aware of his deficiencies (not speaking the local language) and taken steps to correct them. Dracula wants him isolated, but Jonathan wants to know things and talk to people. He asked questions of the waiters in Budapest. He asked questions of the innkepers in Bistritz (who suddenly forgot how to speak German). He can't ask questions of the townsfolk or other passengers on the coach because he doesn't speak their language, but he's trying to understand anyway by means of the resources he does have - the polyglot dictionary. Communication is key and he's trying to make it happen.

A second aside: people have pointed out that he misspells (and mistranslates) ördög. Other people have pointed out that he's remarkably good at looking up words in a language he doesn't speak just on sound. (To harken means to listen and pay attention - his name means Listener, so maybe he's just preternaturally good at that). But he's writing his diary in shorthand, which may not have an obvious way of rendering the diacritics (he leaves them off of mămăligă as well) so that's an extra layer of translation. And he's relying on his little dictionary, but that dictionary may not be reliable, in the same way that despite all his research he was not able to find Castle Dracula on any map. (Maybe it's like Rokovoko - too real for maps).

We laugh a lot at "I must ask the Count about these superstitions," but here's the thing: the Count speaks English. No one else on this trip is able to communicate with Jonathan in his own language (or in theirs!) even if they wanted to (which they often don't, since vampires are Scary). And this is by design!

And Dracula speaks excellent English. Better than Jonathan's German. And he wants to get better at it (which is totally reasonable). But there's this huge linguistic power imbalance here, in spite of which Jonathan still manages to arrive better prepared and better informed than he is supposed to.

By the time Dracula arrives in England, will he be speaking with a Devon accent?

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damn it, this line is so beautiful out of context (i’m using reference images when i draw now. whatever happened to me?! [growth]) [ID: a digital drawing of a half-open arched door in a brick wall. around the open door are the words “Enter freely of your own will! Go safely and leave some of the happiness you bring! ~ Dracula”]

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Greek Mythology | The Muses

Calliope - Epic Poetry, Urania - Astronomy, Polyhymnia - Hymns, Thalia - Comedy, Clio - History, Erato - Love Poetry, Euterpe - Lyric Poetry, Melpomene - Tragedy, Terpsichore - Dance

The Goddesses | The Lovers | The Constellations

(prints)