Languages
Don’t Call It Junk Mail
As George Orwell noted, political language often strives "to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind" — or pure junk, in this case.
Spartanburg Herald Journal - Apr 24, 1989
Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 27, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Government, Languages, 1980s
Kusköy, Turkey: The Whistling Village
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 25, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Languages, Regionalism, Asia, Europe
Incubus, the Esperanto Movie
According to wikipedia, there are only four full-length films shot entirely in Esperanto. One of these four is the 1966 black-and-white horror film Incubus, starring William Shatner.The film had an LA premiere, but then, partly because of the Esperanto dialogue, it never found a distributor except in France and fell into obscurity. For years it was believed that all copies of the film had disappeared, until the 1990s when a copy was found in France.
Here's the trailer:
And here's the full-length film:
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 16, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Horror, Languages, Movies, 1960s
How To Improve Immigrants’ English
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 20, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Languages, Foreign Customs, 1940s, Asia, Europe
Latin Valediction
Back in 1978, Lidia Mostovy was chosen to deliver the valedictory address at the 99th commencement of Frank H. Morrell High School, so she decided to give it in Latin. Her speech began: "Olim Alexander Magnus dixit: 'Meis parentibus vitam debeo, meis magistris, vitam bonam.'"She explained that she "wanted to add dignity to the graduation exercises and... draw attention to the high school's Latin program. 'A lot of people ask why take Latin — you're not going to use it. So now I will.'"
Source: The Ukrainian Weekly - June 25, 1978 (page 11).
Since I took Latin throughout high school, and even participated in our high school's Latin play, I'm sympathetic to what she did. And I guess it probably wasn't any more or less boring than any other high school valediction, just because no one could understand it.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 05, 2014 -
Comments (12)
Category: Education, Languages, 1970s
English for Dirty Houses
I'm never inviting this woman to my house again!
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 07, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Domestic, Education, Languages
Fox in Socks Audio
From a 1966 vinyl record, featuring the voice of Robby the Robot.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 06, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Languages, Pop Art, Surrealism, Books, 1960s
The Backwards Multilingual Singing Career of Jeanette
Because the USA market for music is so huge, singers from other countries are always trying to break in, abandoning their native languages for English.Maurice Chevalier. Charles Aznavour. Julio Iglesias. Shakira. The list goes on and on.
What's stranger is someone who abandons a career singing in native English to become a star abroad.
Such was the case of Jeanette.
Born in the UK and raised in America, she tried to be a folkie.
But failing that, she moved to Europe and became a great success, singing mostly in Spanish.
Of course, looking like a beautiful flower child didn't hurt!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 22, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Languages, Music, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1960s, 1970s, Europe, North America
Kou Kou
こうこう | koukou from takashi ohashi on Vimeo.
Here is something akin to fireworks for the 4th.
"KOU KOU is a visual work based on an abstract animation synchronized with a song comprising the unique syllabic sounds of the Japanese language, without actually using any full words."
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 04, 2013 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Languages, Video, Avant Garde, Asia
Prison Sign Language, 1941
Back in the 1940s, talking wasn't allowed in the dining room of the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison. So the convicts developed a primitive sign language to communicate what food they wanted:- Upheld hand: more bread, please
- Upraised fist: more potatoes
- Upheld knife, fork and spoon: more stew
- Washing motion with the hand: water
- Thumb up and index finger straight out: coffee or tea
- Open and close the hand as if milking a cow: milk, please!
- Hand flat and passed back and forth across the plate: gravy
- Fork held up: meat
- Thumb thrust through the fingers: vinegar
- Two fingers thrust out: salt and pepper
- If the person at the end of the table beats the table with his spoon: dessert is on the way
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 14, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Languages, Prisons, 1940s
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |