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Month: September 2016
Which vice(s) do you most struggle with, e.g. one of the seven deadly sins?
Wrath: I enjoy it a little too much, though it really is more as a performance piece than a reality. The Magister Optimus Michael Masiello circulated the rage performance pieces of Eddie Pepitone recently (Michael Masiello’s answer to Who’s the best stand-up comedian whose act is awkward and funny?); they had me in stitches. Gratias […]
What is the etymology of Helios?
OP, get a hold of Frisk’s and Chantraine’s etymological dictionaries of Ancient Greek. Which may or may not currently be at archive.org—although they are both under copyright, so of course, you should be going to your local university library instead. Hēlios is simply a reflex of the Indo-European word for Sun, via proto-Greek *sāwélios. See […]
What are the myths about Australians?
Myth: That Australia is a classless society. Fact: Only when compared to the British. Myth: That Australians are an informal, relaxed people. Fact: Only when compared to the British. Myth: That Australians are an open, friendly society. Fact: Only when compared to the British. Myth: That Australians are rugged frontiersmen. Fact: Only 5% of them […]
What are the best names in history?
Ordelafo Faliero de Doni, 34th Doge of Venice, ruled 1102–1117. Like the Latin says: Orfaletrus D(e)i Gra(tia) Veneciȩ Dux. Ordelafo, By God’s Grace, Doge of Venice. Ordelafo is a one-off name, and is presumed to be the Venetian name Faledro, spelled backwards. Spelling names backwards as far back as the 12th century. And coming up […]
What are some common mistakes PhD students make in graduate school? Are there any common pitfalls or bad habits that separate unsuccessful students from successful ones?
To narrow down Cheri Thomas’ answer: failing to scope down your thesis as you go. You are always more ambitious at the start of the thesis than you need to be, and you will need to say less than you thought you would. Cheri says: Another is that they set too high a standard for […]
Why, one-and-a-half decades into the twenty-first century, do Australians (and many others) still have to physically go to polling booths and fill out voting papers in general and state elections?
People of Australia! … Yairs? People of Australia! Oyez, oyez, oyez! [from: Christine Leigh Langtree’s answer to What city in your country do you feel would give a foreigner the best idea of said country’s culture?] … Oy! oy! oy! Whaddaya want, Nicko? I’ve got some shrimps goin’ on the barbie! There’s this guy on […]
Which country among USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand feel most attached to the UK (or England more specifically) as former colonies?
I’d guess New Zealand or Canada. The US has affection from a safe distance, but not attachment. Australia has had a majority narrative of Britishness until the 60s, but it had an undercurrent of resentment of Britain and Republicanism for the better part of the preceding century, fed in part by its large Irish population, […]
What is the Gospel of Thomas about and what caused it to be excluded from the Bible?
For all the possibility that it is an authentic independent source on the Historical Jesus (and I believe that it is), the Gospel of Thomas is clearly gnostic, and gnosticism was not the theology that the Christian biblical canon was going for. The surprise is in fact that John made it in the canon; there […]
Why is Atatürk not widely seen as equivalent to Hitler or Mussolini? Why is Atatürk not condemned in the West like other dictators?
http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674368378 As I said about another question to Snežana Đorić (Снежана Ђорић): thanks for the A2A, Hinrich, as if I don’t have enough of a bullseye on my back already. It’s an interesting question, and it’s also one that’s not going to get many dispassionate answers. I’ll expand on the answers given by Gustavo Pedroso […]
Why are Cretan murals done so well compared to Roman ones?
What you’re seeing as Cretan murals, dug up from Knossos, look shinier and more vivid than anything dug up from Pompeii, don’t they. It’s almost as if… their painting is modern. And indeed, they are. When you see Cretan murals in situ, they are mostly modern reconstructions; the original bits are the dull looking, barely […]