Ask MetaFilter questions in the writing & language category

Spanish translation

nextian_geometry — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:33:49 -0800

Asking for a friend who bought a shirt in Spain which reads "Por crisis alquilo 50% de mi cama". Can anyone translate? Already tried babelfish etc without any success..

Poem about/by/to a namesake

aeschenkarnos — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:55:05 -0800

Seeking a poem that relies on the concept of namesaking (ie being named after another person). Maybe in its subject matter, or is by the poet to his/her namesake. It's for my sister, whose daughter is named after our grandmother, to use in a present for our grandmother, so Willa Cather's "The Namesake" is entirely inappropriate (being about a boy soldier!). Could also be a song, or short prose. Ideally a classic poem, ie out of copyright or if not, by someone relatively famous for their poetry. Any ideas?

Help me find a word

arcticwoman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:01:28 -0800

Is there a term which people use to explain why people behave badly/differently in unfamiliar surroundings? For example, tourists behaving badly on vacations.

Baby, your words hurt me. Severely.

opossumnus — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:18:47 -0800

GrammarFilter: "I want to punch you severely." Sometimes my partner says silly things. I forgive him because, after all, we do all have our faults--and mine is leniency. However, sometimes he makes statements like,

"I'm glad I didn't go; if I had gone, and seen hipsters running amok, I would have cried severely."

He uses 'severely' in that fashion ALL THE TIME. I finally took issue with his grammar, & he said that it can mean "to a great degree, or requiring great effort," in which case I put up with him (severely), but that's hardly a good explanation.

I understand that 'severely' is an adverb modifying 'crying.' I still think he's ENTIRELY INCORRECT. MeFi, help a girl out? Perhaps if I am correct, I can exchange my knowledge for sexual favors! WIN-WIN!

(By the way, is the usage in the title correct? It seems so, but I've typed the word so many times it doesn't even sound like English anymo'.)

What's My Name Again?

ericc — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:55:33 -0800

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out this person's name. She says it, right there in plain language, but I just can't catch it. Does the name sound familiar? I kinda think the last name is Gomez, but even that I'm not so sure of.

Help me understand war criminals!

hasna — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:21:27 -0800

Which books help me get into the psyche of war criminals, suicide bombers, etc? I am currently looking for books that reveal the offender's inner motives, perspective, or mindset about their crimes, and the context in which they committed them. Not ones that simply justify the crimes, but explore the human side of the offenders.

I'm specifically interested in books about events in the past century: Rwanda, Palestine, Iraq, the Holocaust... although any outstanding books dating further back in history are welcome, too. And I'd prefer if they weren't overly heavy with advanced psych vocabulary - those meant for the layperson are preferred.

I currently have "The Road to Martyr's Square" and "Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak", so any along those lines, either biography, autobiography, or historical fiction.

Thanks!

What's a good word for "a good thing before I'm ready for it?"

ferociouskitty — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:20:58 -0800

I'm looking for a somewhat poetic word or phrase (in any language) that describes "a good thing that's happening too soon" or "a good thing that happened before I was ready for it" or something like that. I'm making a gift for my friends' baby. They conceived before they'd planned, the baby is early, and she prompted several other changes that are good for both of them, but happened before they thought they'd have to make them. (Home remodeling, health stuff, etc.) So "a good thing before we're ready" has generally been the theme of the pregnancy. Are there any lovely turns of phrase that express this concisely?

What's a better adjective for someone who is not wearing a suit coat?

niles — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:54:16 -0800

Adjective-Filter! What's a good adjective to describe someone who is not wearing a suit coat? I'm writing a paper on group dynamics, and the president of my observed group is one of the few members to not wear a suit coat. I'm drawing parallels to President Obama's similar appearance, but the best adjective I can use to do so is the rather boring unencumbered. The reverse dictionaries I've tried are no help, and seem to think that I'm looking for synonyms for evening wear.

Is there anything better out there that means "jacket-less"?

One Day in the Life of Ivan Desnakeovich?

256 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:07:37 -0800

YAWTBF (Yet Another "What's That Book?" Filter): I'm trying to find a book that I loved as a child (early '80s). The book was written from the perspective of a garter snake as he slithered around a little chunk of wilderness bordered by a road. The story showed us one day in this snake's life. The snake encountered several other animals during the day including a skunk and a bunch of other snakes. The book was somewhat remarkable for how little it anthropomorphized the animals. The snake did have a human-like internal monologue, but all of the behaviours and interactions of the animals were strictly animal-like; no Beatrix Potteresque waistcoats-and-tea business.

As I recall, the book was maybe 80 pages long in hardback and was intermittently illustrated with simple line drawings.

I know that's not much to go on, but I've been regularly surprised at the hive mind's book-ID powers in previous askmes.

What was this picture book involving animals in battle scenes?

EndsOfInvention — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:58:16 -0800

What was this children's book I had in the 1980s that contained large pictures of woodland animals engaged in battle scenes, using military equipment such as cannons that fired acorns? When I was a kid (in the 1980s, in the UK) I had a book, possible larger than A4/letter in size, that contained mainly double-page spread pictures of woodland animals (voles, otters, mice, etc) engaged in battle scenes. The used various technology made from natural materials, e.g. cannons that fired acorns, paratroopers that used sycamore seeds instead of parachutes. There were cut-away parts of the picture so that you could see inside structures, underground, etc. The battles were, I think, all part of one ongoing narrative.

At the bottom of each picture was a caption with a short description of the scene, and a numbered key that described various parts of the scene and the equipment in use.

There may have been text telling a story as well as the pictures, but I'm not sure. My main memories are of the pictures, the two I can remember the most clearly are:

- A battle taking place on/around a river. In the distance there's some kind of battleship approaching. In the foreground, paratroopers are jumping out of something (an airship? from the top of a tree?) and using sycamore seeds instead of parachutes. The picture extends to showing under the water.

- The view is down a grassy hill at night. There is a winding path down the hill, and in the distance you could see a line of lights, implying an army on the march.

The images were drawn in a fairly 'realistic' style, i.e. not cartoony or very anthropomorphized.

So much for the light at the end of the tunnel

yawper — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:47:02 -0800

Help me find this short story that I read in 8th grade 20 years ago. It's about a prisoner who finds the entrance to a tunnel in his jail cell and crawls all the way down... When the prisoner discovers the entrance after moving some loose bricks, he finds a note from his predecessor congratulating him and wishing him well on his escape. The prisoner anxiously crawls down the steep, dark tunnel and finally starts to see the light...but as he gets to the end, he sees that the exit is blocked by steel bars. He also finds the skeleton of his predecessor.

I'm pretty sure this story was titled "The Escape" but when I google, there are too many results for short stories with that name.

Innovative Book Designs

0bvious — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:37:46 -0800

Innovative Books: I am looking to compile a list of the most innovative uses of the book format. Books that break the mould in their layout and design, perhaps books that use online systems to extend their content value or push their form into new places. I am most interested in narrative and theory, but any book that is interesting (artist books etc.) would be really appreciated. I have a few examples, in order of publication, to set the ball rolling:

Compendium for literates : a system of writing by Karl Gerstner - A book about book form in an innovative form. Beautiful and still fresh

Dictionary of the Khazars: a lexicon novel in 100,000 words by Pavic - a 'dictionary novel' "written in two versions, male and female, which are identical save for seventeen crucial lines"

A Humument: A Treated Victorian Novel by Tom Philips - an artist who has used one particular edition of one particular book as a space for his work for many years

The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larson - extended use of footnote, side-note and illustration to give the narrative dimension

I would love any ideas you have!

Help me identify a poem in a specific introduction to a specific copy of Kate Chopin's The Awakening.

DeltaForce — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 10:46:12 -0800

Help me identify a poem in a specific introduction to a specific copy of Kate Chopin's The Awakening. A couple of years ago I read The Awakening and remember being particularly struck by a poem in the introduction. I do not remember who wrote the poem, nor the introduction (two different people), but I do remember that the poem had to do with the sentiment of no matter how close we can get to another human being, we are fundamentally alone and separate. The person who wrote the introduction, I remember, was discussing another author, I can't remember the gender, who had influenced Chopin, or perhaps not Chopin, but the movement of women in writing at that time.

I realize that this is all very vague, but I know someone must have read the same copy that I did. It was a fairly recent copy as well, perhaps just a few years old.

Thank you!

Chappelle's sexual reference

i'm being pummeled very heavily — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 12:55:52 -0800

A few years back, I was watching The Chappelle Show and Chappelle, during one of his monologues, made a reference to a sexual act, using a word that I was not familiar with. I assumed the word came from hip-hop subculture. He followed up by saying something to the effect of, "I love using nasty words that white people/FCC don't know yet. They have no idea how dirty I'm being when I say _______ ." Does anyone remember what that word was and what it means? Sorry I can't recall the season or the episode or more context.

Who can I pay to type up my notes?

zachlipton — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:27:28 -0800

TypeMyNotesPleaseFilter: I periodically find myself in need of this service, which obviously must exist, yet I cannot find. I have a bunch of handwritten notes, not written with any kind of fancy smartpen, but rather, just pencil on paper. I would like to be able to scan said notes myself and send them to some kind of service wherein I can pay someone to type them up and send me back a decently formatted copy with a turnaround time of 12-24 hours. Who do I ask to do this? There are a number of past posts on OCR-related methods for doing this, but I've never used one that actually works. Generally, the transcription would be happening during nighttime in the US. I'd far rather have a reasonable level of errors than pay top dollar for camera-ready copy. Of course, I need a usable level of quality as well.

For the most part, these are notes for personal use, without any specialized medical or legal terms. I've found tons of audio transcription services that will type up conversations, but I'm having a ton of trouble finding the 2009-era quick and dirty (i.e. fast and cheap) equivalent to Allison, Don Draper's secretary on Mad Men for a little word processing.

Bonus points if you've used one of these services before and can recommend them or give tips on their use. At this point, even a better idea of what I should be Googling for would be quite helpful.

Recommend a sequence of novels leading from action trash to literary treasure

hifimofo — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:21:50 -0800

I am looking for recommendations for a sequence of novels that might lead an adult fan of very trashy action to the real gold. The sequence needs to start at Matthew Reilly's Temple and I don't know where it would end. It doesn't have to make it to Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow^* but if you think you could plot such a path then go for it. If you want to specify what each step gains/loses I'd love to see that, too.

Take as many steps as you like. Given that people's tastes tend to change slowly more steps might be better.

You don't have to stick to the action genre, but please no horror. Sci-fi is okay, but the reader in question is not a big fan of it.

Thanks

(I'm secretly hoping we are going to witness the birth pangs of a giant flowchart of readerly goodness.)

^*Insert actual pinnacle of literature here.

Need a few lines of English translated to Hmong

4midori — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:49:55 -0800

I need a few lines of English translated to Hmong. Since there are no online English to Hmong translators, I thought to ask here. I know these lines are heavy vernacular, just do your best.

I'm taking it back to the old school
'Cause I'm an old fool who's so cool
If you want to get down
I'm-a show you the way
Whoomp there it is
Let me hear you say

Bonus points if you can somehow make it rhyme, or funny.

Thanks!

Definition: Experience you must experience?

mcarthey — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:20:09 -0800

What is the word for an experience that you have to live through in order to fully understand or appreciate, such as having a child or parenting? My Google-Fu is failing me. Thanks!

Archivists: where can I find samples of 19th-century script?

Monsters — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:11:53 -0800

As a part of my academic research, I'm digging into the Edison Papers, and finding (mostly handwritten) archival materials from the late 19th century. I'm embarrassed to admit I can barely read the cursive handwriting of Edison and his colleagues. Does anyone know where I might find samples of 19th-century script to help me learn how to read this archival material? I know that there are various 'hands' that were popular in the past, and it looks like the papers are written with dip pens (according to my fountain-pen-nerd boyfriend). The script I'm struggling with looks most like the third column on this page of Copperplate samples, but even more stretched out.

I also found this tutorial by googling around, but I thought i might see if any Mefites with archival experience have any sources they prefer/tips for the Edison Papers specifically.

I am looking for excellent, quick reads...

ieatwords — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:16:14 -0800

What are some of your favorite novels under (or around) 150 pages? I am breezing through Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Memories of My Melancholy Whores" and would love some suggestions on other quick reads. What have you read in a sitting or two?

Back when it was OK to read fantasy novels in English class....

otolith — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:02:32 -0800

Okay, fantasy novel ID two-fer. Book One: people live in villages that are suspended on the side of an enormous cliff and a girl is born who has wings. Book Two: set in a world made up of bits of earth suspended in a void, cape-fighters, a spider-god.... I read both of these books sometime around 1992-93.

More on book one: specifically, the villages are attached to the cliff by the roots of enormous plants or trees. The axiom "measure twice, cut once" is used when setting up the plot, to underscore the precision it takes to engineer the support system for the villages out of these roots. The title of the book may have been something like "_____ Descends" or "_____ Falls", where the blank is the name of the winged, female protagonist. I seem to recall that the book had sort of a "Ursula LeGuin" feel, rather than a more standard fantasy novel.

More on book two: the bits of earth suspended in the void are of varying sizes, some are big enough to hold whole cities. The plot involves a thief stealing something of great value from a castle or mansion, then trying to escape with it. In the void surrounding the floating earth are "vampires", which, in this book, are small parasitic creatures. There is a character who is a "cape-fighter", who fights using a weighted cape that maybe has some blades on it. There is also some kind of spider-god who lives on one level of the void and I seem to remember the book ending on his "world". This book definitely had the feel of being a book in a larger series and I recall that it maybe wasn't very well written.

I was reminded of the first book over a year ago while reading about the hanging coffins in China and then the second book popped to mind as something I read at about the same time. It's been killing me that I can't track these down.

Swiss Army Knife of Language

Knigel — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 22:19:14 -0800

What are the pros and cons of learning more than one language? How can one adapt to a multi-language world? I'm in Korea now, have been in Cuba, and have been surrounded by many languages and cultures. I have learned bits and pieces of a few languages; however, I'm not a master of any--even English. Here in Korea, most people are focused on learning English; however, so many seem to be struggling. When I was in Cuba, so many people spoke four or more languages, and many were quite good--even children.

I know there are obvious benefits to learning many languages; however, what are some disadvantages? From my understanding, people's vocabularies in both languages might be limited if they become bilingual or more. How much of a deficit would there be? Is it major or minor?

Are there ways that learning a third or fourth language will benefit the second learning processes, or is it usually a distraction? For example, when I try to speak Spanish, my Korean takes over and I get entirely confused. Is it really best to focus on one language and then move onto the next? Are there any shortcuts? Can limitations be overcome?

My ideal is to learn bits of as many languages as possible. I'd like to be mostly fluent in 2-3, but be able to at least say some things in many languages. What is the best way of doing this?

I also want to offer advice to my friends and students about how they can study various languages more effectively.

It seems that we are living in an international world where knowing some basics of many languages is very beneficial; however, I haven't found any good websites that focus on learning many languages at once.

How can I build a swiss army knife of language?

"Sop you up with a biscuit."

bardic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:47:05 -0800

What words for food are also words for affection? In English we say sweet nothings to our honey, sugar, pumpkin, sweetie, sweetie-pie, dumpling, and cupcake.

What food-words that double as affectionate names am I forgetting, and what are examples from other languages?

Smelly

bunny hugger — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:57:23 -0800

I'm looking for the name of a writer who writes about perfumes in a really beautiful way. I guess she is a perfume critic. All I can really remember about her is that writes about them in an unconventional way (describing memories, comparing them to things really unrelated to scents, etc.) and maybe for a newspaper or magazine. Anyone got an idea?

Good chicklit?

mikoroshi — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:09:34 -0800

Need recommendations of quality chick lit books. I'm an unapologetic fan of the "chick flick" and had an idea for a script that I think might work better as a novel, but I want to understand the structure of these books better before I begin. I'd like some recommendations for good chick lit books from those who don't think that's an oxymoron. What I mean by good is something with a plot that has a little more depth than just shopping and sex while still following the basic tropes of the genre. Something along the lines of "27 Dresses" or "Because I Said So" but in book form.