Category: Splog

Madrassa murders

An investigation is underway in Mehmood Booti, Lahore into the bizarre murder of three young men at a failing prayer school: There was blood splattered on the wall. A boardgame was found near the bodies. Police believe at least two assailants murdered the three brothers because they found two different footprints in blood at several…

Spread of speech

There’s a very interesting Beeb article that suggests that the introduction of sign language increased deafness rates by enabling carriers of hearing impairment genes to get it together more easily. In particular, this comment by research leader Walter Nance opened a new window: When you think about how the onset of selective marriages among deaf…

Hetro as the metro

Metrosexual. The Americans blame French cissies and Brit hacks, but the honours go to Galician AZ Alkmaar footballer, José Fortes Rodriguez: Some women just don’t get it. They’re not used to being turned down. They say: Go on, you want me don’t you! I say: Am I talking Chinese? I don’t find you attractive. And…

Yo… & …yo

I don’t think that John McWhorter’s “YO!” has really “floated to the ends of sentences and lost its shouting intonation, and … become what linguists would call a pragmatic marker.” It’s just like football: there are always a few pragmatic markers hanging around on the margins of matches, and then there are Dutch defenders who…

Triskaidekaphobia

Ah, how we all laughed at mad old Arnie! Mr Schoenberg, who was born on the 13th and feared the number all his life (Twelve tones? That’ll do nicely…), of course died on the 13th, just when he thought his illness had passed. And now the epidemiologists (c/o Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd) seem to be…

One born a minute

As the barking of the mad dogs of Mechelen recedes, Hispanic PR Newswire mutters in our ear that its market is suffering from a severe case of the proverbs: Often, excuses come disguised as popular wisdom… Unfortunately, the sayings nearest and dearest to us, those passed on through generations, have also culturally conditioned us to…

Rivaldo

Condescending southerner David Green (he’s Manchester-based) has a piece on the Beeb listing the delights that await Rivaldo when he finally signs for Bolton Wanderers. What many people this morning find difficult to understand is why Rivaldo can’t be arsed to travel those extra 10 miles up the A666 to the Anchor Ground, home of…

Apposite names

Maartje Draak (1907-1995) was a brilliant Celtologist who is remembered principally for having laid bare the debt of the courtly romance to folklore. Draak is Dutch for “dragon”, and she is said on occasion to have begun lectures with the words: “My name is Draak and I deal with fairytales.”

Montezuma’s revenge, commercialised?

The Mexicain, advertised in La Vanguardia on April 24th 1904, is the kind of miracle cure for obesity about which one would like to know more. Was it a modern-type fat-buster, or did it simply cause chronic diarrhea? So, if you’re a descendant of Dr Jawás (but not if you’re a Star Wars nerd) or…