Here are a few articles that piqued my interest this morning, and I hope you will find them interesting too:
1. How to Count Every Language in India
2. The True Story of the Short-Lived State of Franllin
One of my daughters-in-law is from the very area that would have been Franklin but is now known as northeast Tennessee.
I'm getting old (I do not say crotchety) and forget easily (of all the things I've lost, I miss my mind the most) so I may have shared this semi-interesting article with you before. If I have, well, I'm going to do it again.
3. The Sixth Sense Turns 20: M. Night Shyamalan And Haley Joel Osment Tell All
It just occurred to me that if M. Night Shyamalan's first name were Midsummer, then The Sixth Sense could also be called A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Speaking of unusual names, the young, tall, lanky, black (how many adjectives are too many?) technician who assisted my doctor during my recent visit to receive two more intra-vitreal injections (I get shots in both eyes every few weeks because I have macular degeneration) introduced himself as Mel. Mel spoke English with an accent I couldn't identify so I asked him where he had come to the U.S. from. "London," he said, and I said, "That is not an English accent I'm hearing. What I meant was where are you from origially?" and he said "Ghana."
I mentioned that I had friends who had lived in northern Ghana for many years as Christian missionaries in the town of Tamale, and I pronounced it TOMMA-lee as Ghanaians do, not as Mexicans would when referring to what they want for dinner. Since we were becoming chummy and he realized I knew a little about his country, he suddenly told me that Mel was short for Melchizedek but that most people had never heard the name before. I told him that I knew the name, that it was in the Bible, and it is. It's in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament and the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.
The Bible is full of people with unusual names from our perspective, like Sennacherib (whom I once blogged about right here) and Tiglath-pileser (I haven't blogged about him) and Maher-shalal-hashbaz (or him). I have never met anyone named Tiglath-Pileser, but there is an American actor/rapper named Mahershala Ali -- he has won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and two Academy Awards -- who was born Mahershalalhashbaz Gilmore in Oakland, California, in 1974. In school he was known as Hershal Gilmore.
Some people claim that Maher-shalal-hashbaz is the longest personal name in the Bible, but there is a longer one that you may not recognize until I tell you how translators translated it. That name is Pele-yowes-el-gibbowr-abdiad-sar-shalowm.
You know it. It has been sung every Christmas season since 1742 in Handel's Messiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called "Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Of course! Pele-yowes-el-gibbowr-abdiad-sar-shalowm!
Here is one last article for your weekend reading:
4. How To Make Crispy, Juicy, Fried Chicken
Since it calls for either bourbon or vodka, you may want to give it a closer look. The strangest part of the recipe to me, though, is that it says to refrigerate the chicken immediately after cooking it. So it's a recipe for cold fried chicken, which is not the way we eat it here in the South. Very few people around here want to eat reheated chicken.
We have covered a variety of subjects, but why should today be any different?
Whew. My brain is exhausted with all the new information. It's a good tired.
ReplyDeleteEmma, it’s always good to be tired with a good tired. I’m glad you persevered.
DeleteCoincidentally I was reading the Old Testament when I read your post not long after you published. I had been reading Genesis and particularly noticed the unusual names although that was not, of course, my reason for being there in the first place.
ReplyDeleteRachel, as my mother used to say, “What a cosinsaquance!”
DeleteI chose the easiest reading option. The short concise look at the short-lived Franklin plan. Another thread in the rich tapestry of the history of the USA.
ReplyDeleteAlphie
Alphie, I would prefer, of course, that you had read all of the articles, but I am grateful that you read any.
ReplyDeleteThrough all your articles I did go. Especially, I enjoyed the history in the Franklin story. I'm not much for horror movies, but reading of the making of a movie was interesting. I do like the movie, "The Mothman Prophecies", though, and "Signs".
ReplyDeleteJeannelle, I’m glad you enjoyed reading about Franklin. I am a history buff too. Also, I thought Signs was not as good a film as The Sixth Sense. I haven’t seen The Mothman Prophecies.
DeleteYour post reminds me of the reason I don't sleep well (busy head)! My daughter always chooses names for our goats & other animals born on the farm. Last year I put my foot down when she wanted to name one of two future milkers Maher-shalal-hashbaz. (Imagine hollering that out at the barn every morning!) She settled on Magda and Shinar.
ReplyDeletePam, It sounds like I would get along well with your daughter.
DeleteThat first article is fascinating; 780 languages, and some becoming extinct. I think it is sad when a language becomes extinct. I recently bought two books, dictionaries of every name in the Bible, to help me with my Bible study. Some of those long names you mention sound rather poetic when said out loud.
ReplyDeleteTerra, I'm glad you enjoyed the article. It is mind-boggling that India has so many languages. Latin is a "dead language" in that no one speaks it any more, but it is not extinct because people can still understand it and communicate in writing in Latin. It is when a language was never put into a written form that it becomes truly extinct when the last speakers die, and that is what is truly sad.
ReplyDelete