Tag: language

Happy Left Handers’ Day

I was planning to launch a new regular feature for if all else fails… today, but then I heard over the radio this morning (yes, I sometimes get information from other locations than the interwebs) that today is International Left Handers’ Day. I couldn’t let the opportunity pass.

Lefties have always been discriminated against. In ancient Hebrew culture the left side of the body was considered unclean and during the Middle Ages many lefties were executed for witchcraft simply because they preferred to use a different hand when wielding a sword, swinging an axe, or brushing their teeth. (Hang on. Did people brush their teeth in the Middle Ages?)

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if all else fails…go multi-lingual

I don’t know about you, but I love the stats page, and the map in particular. It really does it for me to see the map fill up as more and more people around the world stumble across if all else fails…use a hammer. (Most of them run off again as fast as their legs can carry them, but that’s to be expected, what with hammers flying all over the place. They probably forgot their hard hats.)

After a year and a bit of consistent blogging I’ve had visitors from most of the world. Just look:

KokkieH Stats World Map

Africa and the Middle-East is under-represented (which is understandable) but on all the other continents this blog seems to have had pretty good exposure. Someone has even been able to reach this blog from beyond the Great Firewall of China. (If you know anyone in Mongolia, though, please share the blog with them. That big white blob in the middle of Asia bugs me.)

You will notice, however, that the map is significantly darker in English speaking territories. Again, understandable as I only write in English. So, in order to make the blog more accessible to non-English visitors I’ve decided I need to make it multi-lingual.

Are you as curious as I am? Click here

On Inappropriate Adjectives (or why you shouldn’t call babies “sexy”)

Warning: The following post contains potentially disturbing images. Sensitive readers beware!

sexy: 1 (of a person) sexually attractive; 2 sexually exciting; 3 (of a person) sexually excited; 4 exciting and interesting.

~ The Oxford English Dictionary

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On South Africa – land of many tongues

Goeiemôre, good morning, dumela, molo, sawubona, salibonani, ndi matseloni, avuxeni, ǃGãi tses, goedendag, bonjour, bom dia, guten Tag, hari yang baik, subaha acchā, subha-ba-khair, marHaban, shalom, Zǎo ān and nzuri asubuhi.

No, I’m not swearing at you. Today we celebrate Heritage Day in South Africa. Our country is incredibly diverse in terms of cultures, histories, religions, languages and natural heritage. The purpose of today is to remember and celebrate who we are and where we come from.

One of the most obvious signs of diversity in our country is in the languages we speak. To start with, we have eleven official languages protected by our constitution. Several of those eleven languages have various dialects and there are a couple of pidgin languages as well, combining several official languages into one. And I don’t even know how many other languages are spoken here, either by descendants of the original European settlers or more recent migrants.

So be greeted today in just a few of the many tongues spoken in South Africa. To learn a bit more of each of the languages used above, click here