winkingstar, posts by tag: words - LiveJournal

Gah, I am just tangled up in words that won't come out right, written or spoken. (Fannishly-speaking. Am mostly doing okay in the Real World. And I just had a lovely weekend with propinquitine, in which we took in some history at Independence Park and had many chats accompanied by food and tea, all of which made me miss having local friends so much. *fails at making friends*)

In other news, January is apparently [Hot Tea Month], which I think is a splendid thing. And in honour of this, I have decided to host a Virtual Tea Party*! Virtual Tea Parties are fun and I keep meaning to do them and then forgetting or being busy. Also, importantly, it will make me spend some quality time on LJ/DW, and I miss you guys so! ♥

So: TEA PARTY on JANUARY 29 & 30
Please try to save a bit of time that weekend!
(Any suggestions for a theme? Besides just tea, of course. *g*)

*nothing political! I am annoyed that this needs specifying these days.

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/….

I was a reading a book today, in Spanish (I'm reading Spanish again! yay!), and I came across the phrase "sangre azul" (literally "blue blood"). So then I wondered about the English phrase and how it came to mean people of the aristocracy. Technically everyone's blood is blue when it's inside them; it only turns red when exposed to the air, hence why your veins are blue not red. So of course I pulled up the good old Oxford English Dictionary as soon as I was back at a computer:

blue blood: that which flows in the veins of old and aristocratic families, a transl. of the Spanish sangre azul attributed to some of the oldest and proudest families of Castile, who claimed never to have been contaminated by Moorish, Jewish, or other foreign admixture; the expression probably originated in the blueness of the veins of people of fair complexion as compared with those of dark skin; also, a person with blue blood; an aristocrat. [cite]

I never thought it was actually from Spanish originally, let alone that it had a racial meaning. Of course it does make sense, since the blue veins aren't as visible in darker skin.

Oh! I bet this also explains the Spanish term for Prince Charming, Príncipe Azul (literally "blue prince"). Since "blue blood" is originally from Spanish, that must be why a "blue prince" is the ideal. I always wondered about that.

Another fascinating lesson from the OED!

This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/….

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This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/….

Not my first computer program ever, 'cause I took an intro computer science class before I started my master's, but for that course we just used some Microsoft language I can't even remember the name of, rather than a language that anyone actually uses. So now I've written my first program in a language that is used more widely. It's just a dumb little program that just asks for your first and last names and then displays them, but I still feel quite accomplished. :)

See, as part of my real-world education, I am taking an online computer science course to learn the basics of programming. It's super-cool because 1) it's an MIT course for free via their OpenCourseWare program and 2) there's a group doing it together on a DW comm (intro_to_cs) so there are classmates and deadlines to keep you motivated. I ♥ the internet!

(I am already behind on the course, though, because I had to wait for my new laptop before I could start. But hopefully I will get caught up soon!)

I am already a baby!programmer! eee!! :)

.edit: Also, one of the readings mentioned that programming errors are called bugs for "whimsical reasons", so naturally I scampered over to the Oxford English Dictionary to check out the first usage!

bug, n.²
definition b. A defect or fault in a machine, plan, or the like. orig. U.S.
first recorded usage:
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Mar. 1/1 Mr. Edison, I was informed, had been up the two previous nights discovering 'a bug' in his phonograph—an expression for solving a difficulty, and implying that some imaginary insect has secreted itself inside and is causing all the trouble.

♥ the OED. :D



This entry was originally posted at http://winkingstar.dreamwidth.org/….

Welcome, welcome! With a tip o' the hat to elspethsheir, the queen of virtual tea parties, it is my pleasure to welcome you to this tea party in celebration of happy things! Grab a cup of tea (or whatever your preferred beverage is) and settle in for some end-of-year cheer.

First, a poll to get us started!

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"Another novelty is the tea-party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment."
~Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, The Physiology of Taste

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2009 has been a year of ups and downs (as most years are), so let's end on a good note. This tea party is in celebration of happy things! If you would like to contribute happy things, please leave them in comments. Happy things can be in any form: happy photos; recs of happy books, fics, music, recipes, etc.; links to happy websites; a few lines describing something that makes you happy — anything really, so long as it's happy! :D You may elaborate on why these things make you happy or just post them, whatever suits you.

Feel free to browse through everyone's comments and mingle with each other, but I'll also post an Index of Happy Things as I get the chance. Make sure to keep checking back for more happy things! This tea party is open from now until the end of Monday (whenever that is for you).

This tea party is open to everyone, so if you would like to spread the word, that would be awesome. The more the merrier! You can copy the code below to put on your own journal.

Banner:

Text link:

Spread the happy! :D

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In other news, I conquered Neuschwanstein



and double entendres will be the death of me. There was a lot of hysterical laughter tonight. :D

I was working on my Fanlore paper, and I made a definitions section because 1) it is meant for a general audience, and 2) it takes up room! So naturally I had fun with that most hallowed tome, the Oxford English Dictionary and especially the usage history (which is probably my favourite part).

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So thank you to everyone who reads my fics and/or listens to my podfics, whether you comment or no. ♥ I appreciate having an audience because without that I'm just talking to the void.


And, to continue today's theme, a fannish poem:

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Today's poem is for retroflex, who likes canoes and dislikes math. Also, the word "spelunking" is used, which automatically makes it an awesome poem.

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Besides taking a million photos of the [gardens] on Tuesday, it also occurred to me that, hey, I have my camera and I'm at work. So, here is a bit of my work-life, including the Giant Labeling Project of Doooooooom.

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And with that, we'll conclude with a thematically-appropriate poem:

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What is censorship?

I've got all my proper dictionary definitions (OED! ♥) and such, but I'm curious what it means to people in general.

What does "censorship" (and/or the verb "to censor") mean to you?