Category: Personal

Well, I’d read the children’s encyclopaedia Childcraft when I was 6. And I was pretty proud of my reading capabilities. Childcraft had an age-appropriate elucidation of the reproductive system. And I duly read that. Somehow, this came up on a visit with my uncle George (God rest him) and aunt Hariklia. (She goes by Iris […]

In fact. And other such parenthetical elaborates. I like to construct arguments in my prose, and in fact is my wood glue… Answered 2017-01-22 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-words-do-you-overuse/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]

As a lecturer, 120: first year linguistics. As a conference presenter: maybe 300, on a plenary panel. After the first 20, it’s just numbers. 🙂 Answered 2017-01-22 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-is-the-most-people-that-you-have-spoken-to/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]

https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/14d7mr/here_is_a_map_of_every_us_county_ive_ever_been_to/ Magenta = lived, blue = visited, green = been through. Greece: Lived in Lasithi prefecture (down south) for four years; lived in Attica and Thessalonica prefectures for a couple of months apiece. Did a tour of Crete, a few days each in Iraklion, Rethymon, Hania. Went to Greek dialectology conferences (natch) in Patras and […]

I have already posted Nick Nicholas’ answer to What does your Greek handwriting look like? There was a time long ago when I could write legibly. No longer. In tribute to Ollie Bendon, via A spelling reform proposal I was rather fond of by Zeibura S. Kathau on Csak lét, I wrote a quick and […]

You know, I did the 16personalities test online the other day, to see what all the fuss is about. I still don’t get what all the fuss is about. I feel like I’d like someone to read my coffee cup and look over my palm, and tell me what it’s supposed to mean. FWIW: ISTP: […]

Me? Scottish. Och. I dinna ken why. Why no, actually, I have not told my Personal Trainer from Edinburgh this. Nor her equally Scottish wife, for that matter. Answered 2017-01-13 [Originally posted on http://quora.com/What-accents-do-you-find-the-sexiest/answer/Nick-Nicholas-5]

You know, I don’t have one. But I do have several Ancient Greek ones, and those tended to end up in Latin in the West. Πάταξον μέν, ἄκουσον δέ will do. Verbera sed audi. “Verbera sed audi.” CloudyQuotes.com Themistocles, when Eurybiades, commander of the Spartan fleet, raised his staff to strike him. In Plutarch’s Life […]

For Philip Newton. I have had maybe twenty years of engagement with artificial languages, from 13 through to 34. I’m no longer active in the respective language communities; but they have been a big part of how I have been formed, a big part of such fame as I have, and remain a big part […]

Mez, I am one who strives not to be judgemental, including on myself. (I fail a lot on the latter.) I associate that with not ruling things out; you don’t know what might happen, and what you might find yourself driven to. For Man is a Giddy Creature, as Shakespeare said somewhere. But I’ve got […]