in a summer rainthe leg of the cranebecomes shortersamidare nitsuru no ashimijikaku nareri~BashoTranslated by Jane Reichhold
Month: July 2018
A Pale Imitation
It's been a while since I had an obscure female variation on a common word. This is one I never even thought about being possible or necessary. It seems more obscure than most of the others I've come across so far.albiness, n.Now hist. and rare.A female albino.
All Together Now
A nice useful word; it's a shame it's obsolete. Think about it for a second, you could use this in all kinds of situations. Fun bonus fact: it's a combination of two words, one of which is "all". So there's another obsolete word coming up when I eventually get to the next letter of the … Continue reading All Together Now
Weekly Basho Haiku #30
still summerthe harvest moon too hotto enjoy the coolnessnatsu kaketemeigetsu atsukesuzumi kana~BashoTranslated by Jane Reichhold
Weekly Basho Haiku #29
by a windowa nap on the bedof a bamboo matmadonari nihirume no dai yatake mushiro~BashoTranslated by Jane Reichhold
Sounds Catholic, but it’s not
Though the word (phrase, really) and the definition would lead one to think of it as a result of the traditional Catholic prohibition against eating meat on Fridays, it's more prosaic. Just a surfeit of the item in question in a particular place. Though I do like the idea that beef is far preferable to … Continue reading Sounds Catholic, but it’s not
Weekly Basho Haiku #28
even a long dayis not enough for the singingof a skylarknagaki hi mosaezuri taranuhibari kana~BashoTranslated by Jane Reichhold
Vengeance pursues! They are heating the cauldrons!
This is a word that Gene Wolfe would use to describe some fantastical monster. You could tell someone that it was a minor part of the Book of the New Sun, and they'd believe you without hesitation. Alzabo, destrier,... alastor. Yep.alastor, n.Usually with capital initial. An avenging demon or god. More generally: any avenger of … Continue reading Vengeance pursues! They are heating the cauldrons!
Excuse me, do you have four quarters for a dollar?
This wasn't entirely an excuse to link to something humorous from my youth. Turns out that "Alaskan" to describe something or someone from Alaska was not the original word. Thankfully, however, it was the one that caught on and this malformation was, by and large, forgotten.Alaskian, adj.= ALASKAN adj. Some later examples may represent a typographical … Continue reading Excuse me, do you have four quarters for a dollar?
Weekly Basho Haiku #27
already sadnow make me lonely toomountain cuckoouki ware osabishigara seyokankodori~BashoTranslated by Jane Reichhold
Neh 