Bissextile
What’s it like being bissextile?
Find out now 
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Posted on February 29, 2008 · Filed Under Lessons
You’re hilarious, Marina! It’s impossible for YOU to be bissextile, but you’re funny nonetheless - hey!! nonetheless! Who came up with that word and how does that mean what that means? none + the + less - hmmm…. we should investigate!!! Is it also an idiom?
What does the suffix -ide incite? I mean what does the suffix -ide add on to the end of words like homicide, insecticide, suicide, fluoride and with fluoride - is that like the killing of your teeth? Please expound.
- Shawn M. Norris
The suffix -cide indicates killing. Fluoride is from “fluor-” meaning fluorine, the element, and -ide, meaning acid. Like “oxide” is a combination of oxygen and acid. Usually -ide is attached to elements, like bromide, but there brom- probably derives from the Greek brōmos, meaning a stinky odor.
I looked it up on dictionary.com and you’re right! Thank you for your input - so then fluouride wouldn’t have anything whatsoever to do with killing, but an element acid would it be? I’ve heard that flouride actually over time kills your teeth and gives you some kind of cancer or something of the like, but flourine doesn’t. I don’t know how that would play out scientifically, but I definately don’t want to brush my teeth that would give me cancer or anything like it. Thanks, Qermaq!
- Shawn M. Norris
lol so like whats the problem if Marina is bisextile
.i mean about these things i cant suffer gay people but i think lesbians and bisextile girls r hot as hell.after all it is her life and she is the onli one who decides about whats best for her.as for the rest of u.if ya all realy like Marina ya just have 2 accept her the way she is becaus who knows… it might payoff.anyways.Marina.. u rock girl !!! 
. keep up the good work.
what an idiot
oh just shut up
ur 2 stupid 2 talk 2 a guy like me 
Ok, so I am confused, was Marina born on February 29th, that’s why she’s “bisextile”? If so then that means she’s 28, not 27 as it says on her YouTube page? Or, is she not actually bisextile herself and was doing a “what am I” game with leap years?
I mean, I understand what “bisextile” means, but how is Marina bisextile?
As a confirmed bissextile, do you also enjoy metemptosis and proemptosis?
Hola, there is one phrase that I have always heard, as well as everyone else I am sure, but there is only one individual that has ever given me a different perspective on it.
The Phrase is “Spitten’ Image, or Spit ‘n’ Image.” Meaning: Someone that looks like or resembles someone else.
I was told that this phrase is actually “Spirit and Image.” Meaning the same but more reasonable. To resemble someone else’s Spirit and Image.
Larry Horn, Professor of Linguistics at Yale, suggests that “Spirit and Image” is wrong and “Spitten Image” is more accurate. Where an individual would come from the “spit” of another person either by salivation or ejaculation with reference to DNA.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-spi1.htm
Can HotForWords investigate?
Gracias,
Roger
Hi Marina!! Your videos are great, if all teachers were as hot and cute as you no one would drop school, I have a word request for you, this is a word used a lot lately on the web, music and in video games, it is “Vixen”. I really want to know it’s meaning and origin, and know if it’s right to call you a “CyberVixen”
Thanks for reading.
Julian
Word Request
Testify
Neatorama ran an interesting article about the etymology of testify and I was wondering what if you could delve into the word’s origins.
http://www.neatorama.com/2008/03/05/trivia-the-bal lsy-origin-of-testify/
Hello,
I would like to know why feller, sawer. Can both mean The lumberjack and the use of a saw. A technique of sawing and the one that is sawing,
But the word to fell and to see have nothing in common apart that one is doing the other is looking
Please tell me.
JCParis
PS you don’t mention enough that 60% of English is From French
I would like to request not a word…but merely the prefix “chrono” such as in chronological, chronograph, chronogram, chronobiology, etc….and why the name of Khronos, son of Uranus, Titian and Ruler of the “GOLDEN AGE” from Greek Mythology, came to mean time…????….
hope you make a video…
I think you should do the word yummy,
i dont know why but it’s been bothering me what it really came from these past few years
Hi Marina:
I just recently came out with a series of books on a form of divination that I have been working on for over 25 years. The new form of divination is called Diceology. I am curious as to your explanation of this word as you understand it.
You can see my site at:
http://www.diceology.com/
I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun with this one.
Oh, love your page. Good luck with it.
Sincerely,
Steven Wagenheim
Creator Of Diceology
I’m sure I’ll have a lot of fun with my dinner.
alex
creator of noodleology
doh!
haha, i was almost born a bissextile, my bday is on the 28th of feb. You should do a video about the expression ‘ to babel ‘, I don’t think it’s been done before. There was a documentary on tv about piramids and the fact that the pyramid of Babel was the biggest of all, and it was interpreded as humans trying to reach god, so he made all of them speak different languages so they wouldn’t understand each other, that’s why when you say something people dont understand they say you’re babeling
Greetings from Iceland
I have a good word for you…
Viking
See prospero811’s and my posts at the bottom of the Sirens page.
err … and buzzword’s and my posts. six horns. haha.
Wrestling vs judo
I am uncertain if you have viddied it or not, however I submitted a video response to one of your lessons a little while back. I am intensely curious as to the meaning/origins of “tintinnabulation”. If you could see fit to cover that in a future lesson, the gratitude will flow boundlessly.
I find etymology interesting as well.. I listened to your podcast regarding 11 and 12 but wonder why the trend didn’t continue with 13/14… etc. Or, why they didn’t call them one-teen, two-teen to keep a pattern?
This is for the general audience: Semantics is the study of the meaning of words. Words have literal “dictionary” meanings but also may have connotations. A good example would be “hot” and “cool”
Can a person, say Marina, be both hot and cool. Well literally it’s a contradiction, but in American parlance one can be both attractive and sophisticated. These are implied meanings of hot and cool.
With regard to the vitriolic comments of alx, as well as buzzword, I say…get a life… you misbegotten adolescents.
Thoughts to ponder:
There is neither apple, nor pine in a pineapple.
There is neither bread, nor fruit in a breadfruit.
There is neither worm, nor wood in wormwood.
Quicksand isn’t quick.
Sweetbread isn’t sweet (or bread).
Strawberries are not made of straw.
Buttermilk has no butter.
Grapefruit has no grape.
Eggplant has no egg.
There is no ham in hamburger (and ham on a bun has no name).
Panda bears and Koala bears are not bears.
Glowworms are fireflies, but they are neither worms nor flies.
Guinea pigs are neither pigs, nor from Guinea.
Titmice are birds and have no tits.
Groundhogs are not hogs.
Horned toads are not toads.
One tooth, two teeth.
One booth, two beeth?
One mouse, two mice.
One house, two hice?
One goose, two geese?
One moose, two meese?
If adults commit adultery, do infants commit infantry?
If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
If olive oil comes from olives, what do they make baby oil from?
Hi, Marina, my “Slavic sister”…
I’m from Croatia and I am also a philologist. Recently majored in English and Czech language and literature. I love etymology (too bad we didn’t do much of it in college) and my thesis was about etymology and comparison of football (soccer) terms in Czech and Croatian.
Keep up the great work, I guess I belong to the minority that watches your videos because they are interested in etymology. Sure, the fact that you are pleasing to the eye is a nice bonus.
Oh yeah, my youtube username is hbanffzg so if you want you can check out my band’s videos (tambura music, instrument similar to the Russian balalaika or domra).
Всего наилучшего!
Marina,
I am a new viewer and just love what you are doing, great job. I do have a word that I would like to submitt. “Contrarian”
Buzzword: You make my point “res ipsa loquitur.” If Latin exceeds your capacity: try this in German:”Affenschwanz, Lech mir am Au’l, du Schwueler!”
if you want to insult someone in a foreign language, you better be able to do it correctly. otherwise it’s pretty
fucking stupidridiculous.I admit the superiority of Latin and German exceeds my inferior capacity. By capacity I assume you mean intellect. Perhaps this is a result of my inferior breeding. I do admit to many limitations that may in your scale of human value place me far below you. I humbly request that you provide to me the content of your post that I am unable to read. I am sure that those of superior rank such as yourself have valued the additional insight provided in the Latin and German phrases. Since the post is directed toward me, would you please afford me the access to your meaning? Your attempt to use language to exert intellectual authority over me and convey to others in this public discourse your own linguistic and intellectual dominance is apparent. Perhaps it was my brute instincts that brought to this understanding. Your attempt to use language as leverage in a social exchange is actually common and I assure you easily within my grasp. Indeed my use of vulgarities can be understood in the same manner, serving similar purposes. However, I am sure indeed that the audience is very impressed with your brilliance and have recognized your point most clearly. I hope this same audience may take pity upon my ignorance and vulgarity as you have. My inferior words have been reduced to ashes under your scrutiny. Your indulgence is further required as I am limited in capacity and left with only the most basic human rights regarding self expression. Such freedoms I am sure your are aware of. In sad anticipation that you choose not to correspond further I wish you this farewell, Shalom. It is Hebrew and means peace among other things.
Dear Hot For Words,
I can’t find the origin for the word “slang” so maybe you can help me out.
Thank you Hot For Words
This is my first inquiry and I don’t mean to overindulge.
What is the difference in meaning between “VINTAGE” (exclude wine) and “ANTIQUE”?
if you got old crap to sell, call it “antique” and double the price.
Damn! Why didn’t I think of that?! Could it because I know there are people who have no intellectual depth and deductive abilities?
Seriously: I do need productive input. I am not a ’seller’ by any means; I collect. The problem arises when sellers try to scam others ( and hopefully not me!) by tossing around those terms helter-skelter. By getting a consensus of reliable thought, I can help my self, and moreover, my friends are come to ask now and then about ‘items.’
Thanks!
Esteemed teacher and favorite philologist,
What is the difference between a philologist and an etymologist? I’ll only ask this once, as bugging you with another request would be better suited to an entomologist, no?
Dobry Denh Marina:
I agree with the response to mind your “p’s” and “q’s”: that it was a custom in old English puds (Taverns) to use a chalboard at the bar to tally the drinks a customer consumed. Beer (bitters) and ale were served by the pint or quart. Essentially you “ran up a tab” by having the bartender or barmaid write down your name and then put a “p” or a “q” for each beverage you drank. If you got too inebriated a disreputable barkeep might add a few extra “p’s’ or “q’s” to increase his profits. Hence the expression imp;lies be aware of your consumption and don’t drink until your oblivious.
I propose two word for you to explore for the silly children who are always dropping the F-Bomb. The first word is SCATOLOGY.
The second word is PUERILE. There are too many puerile attempts to lure you into the semantic meaning of scatological terms.
XOPOIIIO
I fucking hate semantics.
I suppose that would make you anti-semantic.
Ty dupajasz!
alx, I’m shocked. Hate is such a strong word. I am sure there are prettier words that you could have chosen to convey your not happy attitude.
alright.
I fucking loathe semantics.
for the silly children who are always dropping the F-bomb.
whoa, dude, wait. tom waits is one of my favorites and this is one motherfucking great song. goddammit.
I feel much relieved
actually, buzzword, it reminded me of another great song.
if you don’t like the boss, you ain’t got no heart.
marina, anytime.
What’s the “semantic meaning” of the word “semantics?”
prospero, did you reply to my reply or to the anti-f-bomber’s posting?
ah, nevermind, just scrolled down …
Hi alx - I was basically replying to the anti-f-bomber guy. I am not sure what that guy means “by semantic meaning.’ That’s not the thing that most concerns me about his post, however. What bothers me the more is, in no particular order, his poor: spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and formatting.
funny you should ask about the “semantic meaning”. I stopped short, too, when I read that. yeah, he probably means “meaning” since every word — even every free morpheme, if we want to go down one level — has a “semantic (better: lexical)” meaning, not just a grammatical meaning.
OK, waits, the boss… These guys are favorites. Generally I hate lists but what is artists are important to you, lyrically. Since this is hotforwords.
uh. I didn’t really get it. :/
I like tom waits and springsteen mainly because of the lyrics. I enjoy being introduced to new musical artists and was wondering who you may be listening to. I generally hate questions like, “what music is in your stereo?” Because often it is a value based question and I’ve met a lot of people who judge people based upon who they listen to, read, whatever. I try not to, being a cultural relativist and all. People come to appreciate what they do for whatever reasons. I just like listening to new stuff. Since hotforwords is all about words I thought asking about music based upon lyrical characteristics would be appropriate. Lyrically I like Nick Cave, Leonard Cohen, Randy Newman, Nina Simone to name a few. I thought you could throw a few my way.
waits, springsteen, tom petty, johnny cash, tori amos, joan osborne … yeah, well, that’s the singer/songwriter corner.
then there’s stuff that is “music-music” … freak kitchen, bumblefoot … industrial stuff like agonoize, cyborg attack, blutengel … iam (french hiphop) …
and some german stuff, of course.
From what you’ve mentioned I think you would really appreciate Nina Simone singing Strange Fruit .
Another supposed origin of the phrase “mind your p’s and q’s” comes from the printing trade, when type was hand assembled one letter at a time by “compositors,” who composed a page of type in preparation for printing. Because the letters were set backwards into a frame (so they would print forwards when turned upside down against the paper), p’s and q’s looked very similar and were easy to confuse. A competent, sober printer would “mind his p’s and q’s,” whereas a sloppy or hungover printer would confuse the two similar, reversed letter forms.
There are two basic God damn types of F-bombs. The first are ass kicking weapons which produce a shit load of explosive energy through fucktomic fission reactions alone. These bastards are known colloquially as obscenities, F-bombs, or vulgarities. A useless bag of monkey shit won’t fucking do. In fucktomic fission weapons, a big ass mass of fissile fuck material (enriched radioactive shit or ass burning pooptonium) is assembled into a bowel blowing supercritical ass material—the shit load of material needed to start an exponentially growing fucktomic expletive chain reaction—either by shooting a shovel full of sub-critical shit into another (the “son-of-a-gun” method), or by compressing a sub-critical bucket of shit material using piss and vinegar explosives to many times its original density, shit so thick you can stir it with a stick (the “eat shit and die” method). The latter mother fucking approach is considered more fucking smooth than the former, and only the latter approach can be used if ass burning pooptonium is the fucking fissile material used to fuck off. Scatology is a pretty word but it still smells like fucking shit to me. Punk as fuck.
LMAO!
What is the “semantic meaning” of a word? Is that different than the “meaning” of the word?
Semantic meaning would be a tautology, i would’ve thought.
Tautology is redundant word use.
The adjective “Semantic” is superfluous when preceding the word “meaning” above.
Marina, i’d love if you did the etymology of the word “Tautology”.
fadeintoyou,
in this case you’re right since, as mentioned above, every “word” has a semantic (lexical) meaning.
but there are elements that don’t carry a semantic meaning but just a grammatical one. consider bound morphemes (i.e. suffixes, prefixes, infixes, circumfixes, and so forth). they do have a meaning. e.g. the suffix -s, which pluralizes nouns. thus, its grammatical meaning is [+plural]. since it doesn’t refer to anything in the outside world it does not have a lexical meaning.
Perhaps someone could address the “p’s and q’s” issue in a connotative sense and also by explaining its denotative reference. Add to that an analysis of any applicable truth conditions, argument structure, thematic roles, discourse analysis, and the link all of these in terms of the syntax of 84jimmy4×4’s post. That might help clear things up a bit.
hm. I’d call “semantic meaning” in the phrase in question a (semantic) pleonasm.
and tautology?
I’d go with one of the (imho) greatest thinkers of the 20th century:
so, yes, “semantic” in “the semantic meaning of a word” is redundant, but “the meaning of a word”, even “the semantic meaning of a word”, does have a sense.
Wittgenstein? Wittgenstein? He was a beery swine - just as shloshed as Schlegel!
In the immortal words of the Monty Python troupe:
Immanuel Kant was a real pissant
Who was very rarely stable.
Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar
Who could think you under the table.
David Hume could out-consume
Wilhelm Freidrich Hegel,
And Wittgenstein was a beery swine
Who was just as schloshed as Schlegel.
There’s nothing Nietzsche couldn’t teach ya’
‘Bout the raising of the wrist.
SOCRATES, HIMSELF, WAS PERMANENTLY PISSED…
John Stuart Mill, of his own free will,
On half a pint of shandy was particularly ill.
Plato, they say, could stick it away;
Half a crate of whiskey every day.
Aristotle, Aristotle was a bugger for the bottle,
Hobbes was fond of his dram,
And Rene Descartes was a drunken fart: “I drink, therefore I am”
Yes, Socrates, himself, is particularly missed;
A lovely little thinker but a bugger when he’s pissed!
please, don’t blaspheme.
HotForWords why won`t you upload anymore videos???
Ok thankyou!!! You are the #1 teacher on youtube!!!
Damn. That always suck when an artist is limited by technology. Let’s hope that Marina’s account troubles only appear bissectily so that we can start getting new lessons. In the meantime, there are still plenty of old lessons to learn in the word list, at least for me, that is. I’ll just use this as an opportunity to catch up after partying late night over the weekend. I’ve had my hands full, and have fallen a little behind on my own regime. I’ll try to make this negative into a positive by learning another older lesson today, as they are just as cool as the old lessons.
Best regards to your artistic outlet on youtube being plugged in and working in the near future, Marina. How dare they let their insipid technology interfere with your educational mission to spread philology to the masses!
I thought the whole point of youtube was to be a showcase for video artists like you… WTF? 
*****If I’m not mistaken, the origin of the word “cranky” is pretty interesting. “Why are YOU so Cranky this morning?!”
Check it out!
*************************
thanks marina, I spat my coffee everywhere b/c of that blooper
that was a zinger
arnold is cute, but i like monkeys.
and monks are neat too.
Marina, I like Arnold, and I’m sure the real Arnold won’t mind since he has a fantastic sense of humor. I hope as you narrow down the candidates of AT’s that you manage to pick one as cute and as “eye candy appealling” as yourself. I notice in quite a few of your videos that you like to have your hair in “pig tails”…..I’ve always wondered how hair styles get their rather unique names, so can you give us some history in how they came to be called that…..??? Thanks. PS…how does one make a living looking up the history of words and phrases, or do you have a different real job??
my first guess:
because a pigtail looks like a pig’s tail? like a ponytail look like a pony’s tail?
errr … “looks”.
For Christ’s sake, how much of Christianity is Pagan?
Well…how in the hell did this reply end up here? I’ve got to stop multitasking.
I don’t get it.
you weren’t supposed to get it, the easter bunny should have.
Hi Marina! Big fan of yours! I am a Language Arts teacher from El Paso, Texas. I teach 8th grade students in an “Alternative” setting. These are kids with discipline problems. I use your lessons in class and they love it. One word I would love for you to do a lesson with would be “gringo”. Where does it come from? Most of my students are of Mexican descent, El Paso being a border town. Thanks for making it fun and hope to hear from you soon!
Yours truly,
Limbel61
Thank you for being a teacher. Especially in the “Alternative” settings. I taught children for a while in Columbus, Oh. Frequently the Somali and Hispanic immigrant populations, some Ethiopian, Sudan and Cambodian. Many of the kids were adapted to very harsh often violent environments. The hardest part was dealing the social and emotional adaptations and helping them develop new ones. I really respect what you do.
So, “gringo” I also worked in Nicaragua during university and had a mango thrown at my head and called gringo. My first thought was, “What a great cultural experience, I being a symbol of American political oppression…” A sure sign of that I was becoming academically institutionalized. Anyway, gringo, someone told me it meant, “green go” as in a call to American military in Latin America to leave. This is not correct. “Gringo” is based on the Spanish word, “griego” meaning greek or somebody who speaks a foreign language. The meaning of the word changes depending on the country. In Mexico it usually refers to us in the U.S. In Nicaragua it is often used to describe someone blonde and light skinned not just someone from the U.S.
For you specifically I would really recommend reading Américo Paredes’ Folklore and Culture on the Texas-Mexican Border. . It is a great work and enjoyable read. Here’s a link, you should read everything by him.
http://www.lib.utexas.edu/benson/paredes/bibliogra phy.html#_folkloreandcultureonthetexasmexicanborde r
Regarding linguistics and bilingualism, I am familiar with Einar Haugen a U.S. linguist who did a lot of work with bilingualism in the U.S. I really liked his theories regarding bilingualism. He grew up as an Norwegian immigrant himself and his academic work benefits greatly from his personal experiences. Here is another link.
http://www.amazon.com/Blessings-Babel-Contribution s-Sociology-Language/dp/3110110806/ref=sr_1_11?ie= UTF8&s=books&qid=1204477094&sr=1-11
We should think of them as crossroads rather than border towns.
And here I thought I could write a long comment! LOL
Then again, maybe you are just buzzed off of words like I am, dude. At least you aren’t one of those boobs who requests the origin of the word ‘boobs’ because they happen to have a great pair in front of them. We have a few things in common, not just the size of our comments, tho I still think I got the biggest comments of all…
Hey Buzz! I checked Paredes’ website. Very intereseting stuff there. I might even use some of that stuff in the classroom. Thanks for bringing that up to me.
Buzzword, I complete your information:
In many countries of South America , “gringo” is the surname for italians or people whose parents are from there.Nowadays that surname became popular and is the surname for foreign people and their family who have black or brown hair.This surname isn’t an insult and many people like having it.In addition, I specified with black or brown hair because we can see that blondies with a skin white are called “russian” “polish” ” “Ukrainian” but the most popular is the first.
I hope this information help and solve your doubt
Hitman
sorry, gringo isn’t their surname, is their nick-name
Gremlins
Hot For Words, I have a question.
I am a pilot. Sometimes equipment on the plane does not function correctly one moment and the next it seems to be fine. This is the work of Gremlins. The movie “The Twilight Zone” took the Gremlins to a new level, but I don’t think they got it right. Hot For Words, can you please tell me who these Gremlins are and why they mess with airplanes?
ELLS
What’s up Doc?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1xqrdtJs8w
’sup, do?
> Sometimes equipment on the plane does
> not function correctly
uh … heard ya … sure did …
what a comforting information since I’m planning to go to miami on vacation …
If your paranoid don’t visit this miami link.
“[...] Biscayne. Which, in 1993, may have been a good way to score some crack and a blowjob
[...]
His wife survived and, in getting with the American Spirit, sued a lot of people and got a lot of money.”
I’ll take my chances. hehe.
And don’t watch this one either, alx
Lufthansa now stands for “Let Us Fly To Hamburg And Notify Safety Authority”
thank god we’re not gonna fly with lh. don’t look up any delta or iberia crashes. :/
btw, it was the co-pilot who was trying to land the plane.
Hi Marina, I just recently fell upon your show in the iTunes store when I was doing a search for German language lessons. Anyway, I really like it and since I started watching I’ve been thinking of words and phrases I’d like to know more about. There is one phrase that came to mind, “Salty Dog,” where does this phrase come from and what relation does it have to what it’s used for? Thanks and keep up the great work!
-Dave
Hi Marina! I thought it’d be fun if you tried this word. It’s not english but I’d love to see try and spell it right or explain what it means step by step.
The word is “megszentségteleníthetetlenségeskedéseitekért ” . I think if you google it you’ll find it but I’m not sure. If you do this one youll have a fan for life (even though I already am)
There seem to be quite a number of phrases that have animal references. The one I am curious about is “Dog Days”. Where did it come from and what is its connection to Summer?
Hi Marina,
I would like to know something about lineage a word ‘peninsula’. In my opinion It’s very weird word for english language.
Greetings from Poland,
Knagus
ps. Your lessons are very interesting, but IMHO too much your breasts! Yeah.. I understand, your apperance must be interesting also for ganders. They also should know something about english.
Hey Marina,
As you probably know, it’s curently Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday. Traditionally, (and for a reason unknown to me) we celebrate a giant rabbit that hides eggs and goodies for little children. I was wondering if you could find the origin of the Easter Bunny in honor of the upcoming holiday. Also, could you find the link that ties this massive egg hiding rabbit to the resurection of Jesus Christ? I’m really curious to find out where we go this odd tradition.
Your newly devoted fan,
Chrisby280
you should watch this video, your question has already been answered in another (not Marina) video: http://www.southparka.com/watch/158/Fantastic_East er_Special
i would much rather hear Marina give us a serious lesson on the topic. South Park only did so much with the topic. and peter was not a rabbit……..
Oh for Christ’s sake! How much of Christianity is Pagan?
Hey Marina!
I was wondering if you could help me figure out where the word skedaddle came from.
Please and thank you,
blondiebrains77
When I was in high school my English teacher told me that “house” and “mansion” used to mean the same thing but that because “house” was an English word and “mansion” was a French word, “mansion” came to have a more luxurious connotation whereas “house” became more plain. Is this true? If it is, why is this so and is it true with other English vs. French words?
hello, marina. i am 偶爱偶家.
i test your problem, [postname] work very well, here i leave a comment, do you reply me with a mail? i check it, thanks!
My first Linguistics class was taught by a visiting Chinese professor. The linguistic differences were significant. Which was really appropriate and ultimately improved our skills. It was his first time teaching in the U.S. and he did not anticipate our accents. Ohio has an appalachian population with a distinct accent and he was teaching at a appalachian branch campus. The problem always surfaced when grading our papers, especially phonetic transcription. the first test he gave we were asked to transcribe catch. The entire class (except me) transcribed it as kεč. The next day he asked people in the class to pronounce the word, and began to smile knowingly. The class he taught at the main campus transcribed it as kæč. So he always had to prepare for teaching the class to an english speaking population with two distinct accents. Which the linguistic geek really enjoyed. He told me it reminded him of the many linguistic variations in China.
But have you ever heard the phrase, “yellow house” which I assume means retarded, stupid, idiot? If you have where does the term, “yellow house” come from?
hitman, this comment was meant for you. I’m typing this while riding the short bus.
“It is probably not insignificant that both the mimosas and Margarita are only named in Book Two. Margarita’s flowers are a symbol of misery; yellow is the colour of the madhouse - state buildings were painted dark yellow - and “yellow house” means “madhouse”. But yellow is also the color of betrayal - one should never give yellow flowers to a lover in Russia.”
link.
So, 1:33 am on a Sunday and I’m reading Ham on Rye, looking up The Master and Margarita. Thanks
it obvious that you should never give yellow flowers, the color of Russia is RED….
yeah, well, but the national flag of russia is a Триколор — white, blue, and red. so, what about white and blue flowers?
however, the flag seems to have an interesting history
and, the flag of the ussr was red with yellow (symbols).
Actually I just looked and Russia is green and brown in places.
Link
By the way alx, how are creating your links so that they appear as words?
hm, okay. edit:
<a href="http://www.hotforwords.com">text that you want to appear as a link to hotforwords</a>
text that you want to appear as a link to hotforwords
so, just copy and paste and replace “http….” by the url of the website and “text….” by well … whatever …
Thanks, that’ll save some space.
marina,
please delete the posting that I screwed up (12:14 pm). probably kinda confusing. thanks.
Yes, our flag has three colors (white, blue and red in that order from the top to the bottom), But red was the predominant color of the U.S.S.R. flag and its refers to the blood of the working class in its struggle against capitalism, I am not saying that I am a Bolsheviks (Большеви́к) but capitalism bring more problems than solutions, and that why i said Russia was Red because a lot of time we fought against a system we couldn’t avoid.
I addition our Coat of arms is red and yellow and just a little of white and blue.Its is very old because it is based on the coat of arms of the Russian empire.
See here:
href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of _Russia”>coats of arms of Russia
By the way , for me its funny that the flag of U.S.S.R. and the logotype of MacDonals have the same colors, interesting, huh?
Ignore the link above, use it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms_of_Russi a
Capitalism and Socialism have weaknesses, and they will always be exploited. “It is said that power corrupts, but actually it’s more true that power attracts the corruptible” David Brin. Unfortunately we U.S. citizens often ignore our historical foundations, “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger public liberty.” John Adams 1735-1826 2nd president of the U.S. Most of our (u.s.) most influential historical figures would be considered threats now.
Bush
lets try that again, Bush
Historical figures are considered threats now because many of them were revolutionaries and they changed (drastically) the political/economic/social situation of those days.If they are taken as examples, they are a risk for actual “order” and any politician wants a revolution in which his power is “disturbed”.
Hi Marina.
Your videos are great.
But i’m not so sure i’m liking the all new raunchy Marina.
Where’s the adorable, sweet, girl-next-door Marina we all know and love.
IMHO, you’re sexier when you’re just being yourself.
Anyway i’ll always love you no matter what i suppose.
Could you please do the words “Laconic”, “Facetious” and “Spurious” sometime.
Kinda boring i suppose but i’ve always wondered about their etymology.
Thanks Sweetie.
There are two common words I’ve always wondered about. Marina, where did “upset” come from? It seems like an obvious combination, but that would make no sense.
Hey, you’ve told us about gossip, but how did “magazine” come about?
could you please tell me the meaning of the word “disability” and where it came from,. Pretty please with super on top, thanks
Shawn aka “wheelz”
One more…
I’m also curious about the term constellations.
Obviously the root of Stella refers to stars. That’s easy.
But in looking into the beginning of astronomy, even before the Greeks and Romans, the stars were not grouped together to form animals, gods, or any other zodiological sign that we now have from those ancient civilizations. Each star was it’s own entity.
At sme point they began grouping them together to form the characters and they took on the term constellations. But why not just ‘Stellations’ meaning of the stars? Doesn’t the prefix ‘Con’ mean against or not?
If so, wouldn’t Constellations mean ‘Not of the stars?’
What am I missing here? How did this term come to describe the fictional grouping of stars into figures?
Thanks again,
Shane
Marina,
With all the sporting events lately, and ‘March Madness’ coming up, I have been trying to find out how ‘Mascots’ gained their place in sports.
I have found that the word mascot is defined as a person, an animal, or an object believed to bring good luck, which explains why sports teams use them.
I also found that mascot is derived from a French word ‘mascotte’, which in turn comes from the word ‘masco’ which means witch.
But I cannot find the connection. How did a word meaning witch come to be defined as a good luck charm, and adopted by sports teams, and even some other types of organizations around the world? Weren’t witches considered bad luck?
Thanks for your insight and wisdom!!
Shane
5 stars all the way,keep it up your doing great
Congrats Marina , I like the idea of putting some phrase of proverb undr the recent comment….. you are making us smarter and smater
Thanks
Greetings from the northern and cold land
Hitman
Hi there,
To convert any particular date you can try
http://www.fourmilab.ch/documents/calendar/
Marina,
What about the word “discipline”?
Why does it means such different things, as “a discipline of science” or “to be disciplined by your teacher” or “to have discipline and finish your work”?
I’d love to see a video on this.
Jonanovi
Ooo, and something else I noticed. Was that calendar at the end of your video a hint to something coming soon? I hope so!
since some replies are not really that short, I’d go with two unless you broaden the comments column. (moving the “google ads” column below the “recent comments” one?)
also, can you include a “target=”_blank” ” in the tag so that linked sites appear in a new window / tab? would be nice too if you let people know which tags are allowed.
The ability to reply to a reply is a nice option.
Which Plugin are you using if I might ask?
The two comment plugins I’ve listed below seem pretty nifty, but I have no personal experience with them. One allows users to edit or delete their own posts, which comes in handy for those of us who tend to make typos or write silly posts after too much wine; and the other seems like it has a great deal of flexibility.
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-ajax-edit-c omments/
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ajaxd-wordpres s/
This one is great.. but it’s written by a Chinese guy.. so the instructions are a bit hard to follow
Link
Wo ah! “Bad