Month: August 2007

Word of the day – oology

By Simon

Today’s word, oology, refers to the study of eggs, especially bird’s eggs. It also covers the collecting of bird’s eggs and the study of their breeding habits, and their nests, a practice sometimes known as caliology.

Oology is sometimes written oölogy, comes from the Greek ōion, egg, plus ology, a back formation from words like biology.

I came across this word in Jasper Fforde’s wonderfully silly book The Big Over Easy, which centres around the mysterious death of Humpty Dumpty – did he fall or was he pushed?. Oologists are consulted during the investigation.

Spandrels and squinches

By Simon

While reading an interesting post on Babel’s Dawn today, I came across the word spandrel. I have heard it before but wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.

According to Wikipedia, a spandrel is “the space between two arches or between an arch and a rectangular enclosure”. The word spandrel is also used in the theory of evolution to describe a non-adaptive trait formed as a side effect to an adaptive one, which the context in which it was used on Babel’s Dawn.

The information about spandrels also mentions a related architectural term: squinch, which is a “piece of construction used for filling in the upper angles of a square room so as to form a proper base to receive an octagonal or spherical dome”.

Another definition tells us that a squinch is an arch, or a system of concentrically wider and gradually projecting arches, placed at the corners of a square base to act as the transition to a circular dome placed on the base.

The etymology of spandrel is somewhat uncertain, but it’s thought to come from the Latin word expandre, to expand, via the French espandre, to expand, extend.

Squinch is an alternative form of scuncheon, from the Middle English sconchon, from the Old French escoinson, from the Latin ex, out, plus cuneus, wedge.

Here’s an illustration to help you tell the difference between spandrels and squinches.

an illustration of spandrels and a squinch

Gwerthusiad

By Simon

Cefais i werthusiad ffurfiol yn y swyddfa heddiw, am y tro cynta erioed. Cyn hynny, na pheidiodd fy rheolwr gyda stwff fel ‘ny, ond mae rheolwr newydd bellach, ac mae e eisiau derbyn steil rheolaeth mwy ymarferol, fel gwneud gwerthusiadau yn eitha aml. Mae’r cwmni’n mynd yn fwy gorfforedig, dw i’n meddwl, a dyna un o’r rhesymau mod i’n meddwl am wneud rhywbeth gwahanol.

Meastóireacht

Fuair mé meastóireacht foirmiúil san oifig inniu, don chéad uair riamh. Roimhe sin, ná bac leis mo bhainisteoir stuif mar sin, ach tá bainisteoir nua aníos, agus is fearr leis stíl bainistíocht níos chuige teagmhálach, mar meastóireacht a dhéanamh go minic. Tá an comhlacht ag éiri níos corparáideach, is dóigh liom, agus sin é réasún amháin atá má ag smaoinigh rud éigin eile a dhéanamh.

Books books books

By Simon

Whenever I pass a bookshop or library, I feel a strong urge to go in a have a browse. I often end up in the language section and find myself thinking that such and such a language course would really help me with my Spanish/Russian/Japanese/etc, or that I can’t live without a particular dictionary, grammar book or phrasebook. I usually manage to resist actually buying anything, at least I have done for the past few years.

I used to be almost incapable of going into a bookshop without buying something. These days I tend to borrow books from the library instead. It saves a lot of money, and I never know quite what I’ll find there, which is kind of exciting in some ways.

Sometimes I buy a language course, dictionary or other language learning book on an impulse, thinking that it might come in handy one day. I get round to reading most of them eventually, though some have been perched on my shelves for years without me taking more than a cursory glance through them, if that.

I often spend too much time looking for the perfect language course/book/website rather than actually studying.

Ollmhargadh

By Simon

Nuair a théim go dtí an t-ollmhargadh, mar níl ach aon rud amháin de dhíth orm, silim gur chóir dom níos mó rudaí a cheannaigh. De ghnáth ceannaím cúpla rud eile nach bhfuil uaim leis sin mar pasta, páipéar leithris nó sú torthaí. Níl fhois agam cén fáth go shilim mar seo, ach bím ag mothú míchompordach aon rud amháin ag ceannach san ollmhargadh. Aisteach, nach bhfuil? Níl an t-ollmhargadh suite i bhfad ó m’árasán – níl ach cúig bomaite siúil uaidh, déanta na fírinne, mar sin de níl uaim go leor rudaí a cheannach an turas a chosaint.

Archfarchnad

Pan dw i’n mynd i’r archfarchnad, os ’sdim ond un peth sy’n angen arna i, bydda i’n meddwl bod rhaid i mi prynu mwy o bethau. Fel arfer bydda i’n prynu pethau eraill dw i ddim angen bryd hynny fel pasta, papur toiled neu sudd ffrwythau. Dw i ddim yn gwybod pam ydw i’n meddwl fel ‘ny, ond dw i jyst yn teimlo yn anghysurus yn prynu ‘mond un peth yn yr archfarchnad. Rhyfedd, on’d ydy? Dydy’r archfarchnad pell o fy fflat – ‘mond pum munud o waith cerdded ohono yw hi, a dywed y gwir, felly ’sdim angen prynu llawer o bethau i gyfiawnhau’r daith.

nciku

By Simon

I found a new online Chinese dictionary called nciku today, via Sinosplice. The interface is in English and Chinese. It includes a handwriting recognition system which you can use to enter characters by hand, and which seems to work well, though was a bit slow for me. There’s a handy auto complete function which suggests words and expressions when you enter individual characters. The results include pinyin, sound files, words that feature the characters, and examples of usage, including idioms. There’s also some discussion of various Chinese-related topics. Unfortunately you have to sign up (for free) to use some of the functions.

Hwyrfrydigrwydd

By Simon

Mae cryn dipyn o bethau ydw i’n eisiau meistroli, yn gynnwys ieithoedd, yn enwedig Cymraeg, Gwyddeleg a Gaeleg yr Alban; y chwiban; canu a chaligraffeg. Hoffwn i dysgu y gitâr ac efallai y pibau, ac ysgrifennu nofelau hefyd. Beth sy’n fy stopio? Hwyrfrydigrwydd a diogi. Dw i’n jyst meddwl am bethau fel ‘ny, ond fel arfer gwnnaf ddim byd. Oes yr un problem ‘da ti?

Moilleadóireacht

Tá go leor rudaí atá mé ag iarraidh máistrigh, mar teangacha, go háirithe Breatnais, Gaeilge agus Gaeilge na hAlban; an fheadóg; amhránaíocht agus calligraphy. Ba mhaith liom an giotár agus b’fhéidir na píobaí a fhoghlaim, agus úrscéalta a scríobh chomh maith. Cad é atá ag cuir stad liom? Moilleadóireacht agus leisciúlacht. Bím ag smaoinigh faoin rudaí seo, ach de ghnáth, ní bhím ag déanamh faic. An bhfuil an fhadhb cheanna agatsa?

Procrastination

There are many things I’d like to master, such as languages, especially Welsh, Irish and Scottish Gaelic; the tin whistle; singing and calligraphy. I’d like to learn the guitar and maybe the bagpipes as well, and to write novels. What’s stopping me? Procrastination and laziness. I often think about these things but don’t usually do anything about them. Do you have similar difficulties getting things done?

Word of the day – cwtsh

By Simon

cwtsh [ku:tS] = to hug; to cuddle; to kiss; to lie down; a safe place; a cupboard/space under stairs; a scuttle (for coal); snug; cosy; nice and warm; a kiss.

It comes from the Welsh word cwtch, which originally meant a cupboard or cubbyhole, but later acquired the extra meanings to lie down; a cuddle or hug. It was adopted into Welsh from the Middle English couche, a resting or hiding place, which comes from the French coucher, to lie down; to sleep.

Examples of usage:

I just want to go and cwtch him = I just want to go and hug him.
– a comment apparently made by Elizabeth Taylor about Richard Burton

Give me a cwtsh = Give me a hug

This word is an example of Wenglish, a mixture of Welsh and English spoken by many people in Wales, especially in south Wales. It’s first recorded use in English was in the 1920s according to this page. It also the most popular word in Wales, according to this report. I heard being used in a song on Radio Cymru today. It’s a song I’ve heard quite a few times before, and now I finally know what it’s about.