The 점심 - Dim Sum Connection

The Korean word for lunch (점심) comes from the same Chinese characters as Dim Sum (點心 or 点心). In Cantonese it is pronounced dim sam, and in Mandarin it is pronounced dian xin. In Japanese they pronounce it as tenshin and it means "snack" . In Vietnamese it is diem tam and means "breakfast". Apparently the lunch meaning came through Eastern Chinese dialects, as in the Shanghai dialect ti xin, is often used for "lunch". In most dialects of Chinese it means "snack", "light refreshment" or "pastry". The word dates back to the Tang Dynasty (618 - 906 A.D.).

You Think You Have Translation Problems?

In his book, Undaunted Courage, Stephen Ambrose notes the following translation sequence occurred when Lewis and Clark met the Wallawalla Indians in April 1806. Lewis speaks in English George Drouillard or Francis Labiche, French Canadian soldiers in the expedition, translate this into French. Toussaint Charbonneau, a 45-year-old French Canadian trapper who speaks no English, translates this into Hidatsa, a language he has picked up in the course of trading with the Indians. Sacagawea, Charbonneau’s fifteen-year-old Shoshone wife who had been captured by the Hidatsa four years earlier, translates this into Shoshone. A Shoshone woman held captive by the Wallawallas translates this into Wallawalla, a language related to Nez Perce. This was considered an improvement over the sign-language they had been using with the Indians further west.

There's something about ...rungus!

 

Not long ago a comedian named Guy Kelly typed in the nonsense name, Crungus, into DALL-E mini and got the horrifying result above.  DALL-E mini is a app that converts text into images.  It's based on a larger neural net called (not surprisingly) DALL-E.

What is a Mergopus?

 

Is this a mergopus?

What exactly is a mergopus?  Try searching on your favorite internet search engine and you will find no information on the word.  This is because it is a nonsense word I made up a few days ago.

Luke Chapter Two

Latin

Factum est autem in diebus illis, exiit edictum a Cæsare Augusto ut describeretur universus orbis.

Hæc descriptio prima facta est a præside Syriæ Cyrino:

et ibant omnes ut profiterentur singuli in suam civitatem.

Ascendit autem et Joseph a Galilæa de civitate Nazareth in Judæam, in civitatem David, quæ vocatur Bethlehem: eo quod esset de domo et familia David, ut profiteretur cum Maria desponsata sibi uxore prægnante.

Factum est autem, cum essent ibi, impleti sunt dies ut pareret.

Et peperit filium suum primogenitum, et pannis eum involvit, et reclinavit eum in præsepio: quia non erat eis locus in diversorio.

Et pastores erant in regione eadem vigilantes, et custodientes vigilias noctis super gregem suum.

Et ecce angelus Domini stetit juxta illos, et claritas Dei circumfulsit illos, et timuerunt timore magno.

Et dixit illis angelus:

Nolite timere: ecce enim evangelizo vobis gaudium magnum, quod erit omni populo:
quia natus est vobis hodie Salvator, qui est Christus Dominus, in civitate
David. Et hoc vobis signum: invenietis infantem pannis involutum, et positum
in
præsepio.

Et subito facta est cum angelo multitudo militiæ cælestis laudantium Deum, et dicentium:

Gloria in altissimis Deo,et in terra pax hominibus bonæ voluntatis.

Et factum est, ut discesserunt ab eis angeli in cælum: pastores loquebantur ad invicem:

Transeamus usque Bethlehem, et videamus hoc verbum, quod factum est, quod
Dominus ostendit nobis. Et venerunt festinantes: et invenerunt Mariam, et
Joseph, et infantem positum in præsepio.

Videntes autem cognoverunt de verbo, quod dictum erat illis de puero hoc.

Et omnes qui audierunt, mirati sunt: et de his quæ dicta erant a pastoribus ad ipsos.

Maria autem conservabat omnia verba hæc, conferens in corde suo.

English

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

(And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

Korean and Chinese Names

My wife, Yeongmi, is from Korea, so she has a Korean name, of course. I served an LDS mission there in 1980-81 and it was common for the missionaries then to take a Korean name. I got mine in the missionary training center in Provo from Sister Kim, one of the the Korean language teachers there. She liked to pick names that were similar to our English names, so I ended up as Go Pilip. Go Pilip is a pretty silly sounding Korean name, but we were foreigners and seemed pretty silly to most Koreans in a lot of other ways as well, so a silly name wasn't really a big deal

Korean names are almost always based on Chinese characters with a one-syllable family name coming first and a two-syllable given name coming second. For example, my wife's name is Jo Yeongmi, with Jo being her family name and Yeongmi being her given name. There are exceptions to this, of course. Some people have a single syllable given name. And there are a few rare a notable cases of two-syllable family names in Korea.

It is a common custom in Korea when naming children to pick one of the two charcters in the given name and use it in the names of all the children. My wife's siblings are Yeongae, Yeongsuk, Yeongheon & Yeongho, for example.

When we had our first child we decided to give him both an American and a Korean name. The Korean given name is what we used for each of our four children's middle names. We chose "Eun " (also Romanized as "Un") as the common character for each name. It means grace or gracious. It is shown below.

When I taught at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center in 2000-01, we were required to register as permanent residents using a Chinese name. I pulled out my old Korean name, which had corresponding Chinese characters, my wife already had a name based on Chinese characters, and we used my "Korean" family name with each of the kid's middle names to get their Chinese names.

So here are our family's Korean/Chinese names in Chinese characters, Korean phonetic characters, and the pronunciations in Mandarin and Korean.

I have been told by native Mandarin speakers that my name in Chinese sounds OK, which makes it a much better name in China than it is in Korea.

Some Random Phrase Origins

Cleaning out old files from by backups on the hard drive this morning, I ran across the following. I have no recollection where it comes from, and I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but it's still interesting.

In Baltimore, in the mid 1800's there was a man who sold corpses to
the hospital for research. He stored the cadavers in cheap whiskey to
ferment them before turning them over to the researchers. He then
sold the whiskey to the medical students. Thus the term "rot gut."

It was the accepted practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a
month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his
son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer,
and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called
the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon."

Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or
finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast.
Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would
die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of
thumb."

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them
to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get
the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."

After consuming a bucket or two of vibrant brew they called aul, or
ale, the Vikings would head fearlessly into battle often without
armor or even shirts. In fact, the term "berserk" means "bare shirt"
in Norse, and eventually took on the meaning of their wild battles.

In 1740 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the
Navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and
called Admiral Vernon, Old Grog, after the stiff, wool grograin coats
he wore. The term "grog" soon began to mean the watered down drink
itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word
still in use today.

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into
the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill,
they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the
phrase inspired by this practice.

Translation of the Gettyburg Address

I couple of years ago, I used a free online translation service to translate part of the the Gettysburg Address into Mandarin and then ran this through the same service to translate it back into English. This was the result.

English
Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Chinese
八十和七年前我们的父亲带来了在这个大陆一个新国家, 被设想在自由, 和致力提议, 人生而平等。现在我们参与一次巨大内战, 测试是否那个国家, 或任一个国家因此设想和如此致力, 可能长期忍受。我们遇见在那场战争一个伟大的战场。我们来致力那个领域的部份, 作为一个最后的休息的地方为那些这里给了他们的生活那个国家也许居住。它是一共贴合和适当的, 我们应该做这.

English
80 and seven years ago our father has brought in this mainland one new country, conceives in is free, with devotes the proposition, the life but the equality. Now we participate in one huge civil war, tests whether that country, or any one country therefore conceives with so devotes, possibly for a long time endures. We meet in that war one great battlefield. We devote that domain the part, takes one final rest the place gave their life that country for these here perhaps to live. It is altogether the fitting and suitable, we should do this.

"Merry Christmas" in a Whole Lot of Languages

I dug this up on my hard drive. I can't remember where I got it and I can't vouch for the accuracy, but it's still kinda fun. (Some of these also say, "Happy New Year.")

Afrikaans - Geseende Kerfees en 'n gelukkige nuwe jaar
Albanian - Gëzuar Krishlindjet Vitin e Ri!
Arabic - I'D Miilad Said ous Sana Saida
Armenian - Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand
Basque - Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!
Bassa - Ngand Nwi Lam & Mwi Lam
Belorussian - Winshuyu sa Svyatkami i z Novym godam!
Bengali - Shuvo Baro Din - Shuvo Nabo Barsho
Bohemian/Czech - Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a Stastny novy rok
Bulgarian - Chestita Koleda i Shtastliva Nova Godina
Catalan - Bon nadal i feliç any nou!
Cantonese - Seng Dan Fai Lok, Sang Nian Fai Lok
Cornish - Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth
Croatian - Sretan Bozic
Danish - Glædelig Jul og godt nytår
Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!
Egyptian - Colo sana wintom tiebeen
English - Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Esperanto - Gajan Kristnaskon & Bonan Novjaron
Estonian - Rõõmsaid Jõulupühi ja Head uut aastat
Farsi - Sal-e no mubarak
Finnish - Hyvää Joulua or Hauskaa Joulua - 0nnellista uutta vuotta
Flemish - Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar
French - Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!
German - Froehliche Weihnachten und ein glückliches Neues Jahr!
Greek - Kala Christougenna Kieftihismenos O Kenourios Chronos
Gujarati - Natal ni shub kaamnao & Saal Mubarak
Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka & Hauoli Makahiki Hou
Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha. Shanah Tova
Hindi - Shubh Naya Baras
Hungarian - Kellemes karácsonyi ünnepeket és Boldog újévet!
Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal & Selamat Tahun Baru
Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit
Italian - Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo
Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Kurdish - Seva piroz sahibe u sersala te piroz be
Latin - Pax hominibus bonae voluntatis
Latvian - Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!+
Lithuanian - Linksmu Kaledu ir laimingu Nauju metu
Luxembourgeois - Schéi Krëschtdeeg an e Schéint Néi Joer
Malayan - Selamat Hari Natal
Mandarin - Kung Hsi Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Mongolian - Zul saryn bolon shine ony mend devshuulye
Norweigan/Nynorsk - Eg ynskjer hermed Dykk alle ein God Jul og Godt Nyttår
Notu/Ewage - Keremisi dave be
Nyanja - Kristu akhale ndi inu munyengo ino ya Christmas
Nyankore Mukhulukhe Omwaka
Occitan - Polit nadal e bona annada
Ojibwe (Chippewa) - Niibaa' anami'egiizhigad & Aabita Biboon
Oneida - Wanto'wan amp; Hoyan
Oriya - Sukhamaya christmass ebang khusibhara naba barsa
Orokaiva - Keremisi javotoho
Oromo - baga wagaa hara isinin gaye
Palauan - Ungil Kurismas
Pompangan - Malugud Pascu at saca Masayang Bayung Banua!
Pangasinan - Maabig ya pasko & Malikot ya balon taon
Papiamento - Bon Pasco i Feliz Aña Nobo
Pashto - De Christmas akhtar de bakhtawar au newai kal de mubarak sha.
Pennsylvania German - En frehlicher Grischtdaag unen hallich Nei Yaahr!
Pohnpeian - Peren en Krismas & Peren en Parakapw
Polish - Wesolych Swiat i Szczesliwego Nowego Roku.
Portuguese - Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo
Punjabi - Nave sal di mubaraka
Pashto - Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha
Q'anjob'al - chi woche swatx'ilal hak'ul yet yalji Komami'
Quechua - Sumaj kausay kachun Navidad ch'sisipi & Mosoi Watapi sumaj kausay kachun
Quiche' - Dioa kkje' awuk'
Rapa-Nui - Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi & Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua
Rarotongan - Kia akakakaia te Atua i runga i te rangi Teitei,
e ei au to to teianei ao, e kia aroaia mai te tangata nei.
Rengma - Anu keghi Christmas nu amapi kethighi wa salam pi nthu chupenle
Rheto-Romance - Bella Festas daz Nadal ed in Ventiravel Onn Nov
Romani - Bachtalo krecunu Thaj Bachtalo Nevo Bers
Romanian - Craciun fericit si un An Nou fericit!
Rongmei - Mei kathui nata neila mei Khrisrmas akhatni gai mei tingkum kathan tu-na arew we
Roviana - Mami tataru Kirisimasi koa gamu doduru meke qetu qetu vuaheni vaqura ia
Russian - Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva i s Novim Godom
Salar - YangI yilingiz gotlI bulsIn!
Sambal - Maligayang Pasko at Masayang Ba-yon Taon!
Sámi - Buorit Juovllat ja Buorre Oddajahki
Saamia - Muwule Omwaka Enjaya
Samoan - Ia manuia le Kilisimasi ma le tausaga fou
Sango -Gloire na Nzapa na ndouzou aho kouè, Na siriri na ndo sessé na popo ti ajo so amou nguia na Lo.
Santali - Raska nawa Serma
Saramaccan - Nuan wan suti jai o!
Sardinian - Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou
Scots Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ur!
Secoya -Sihuanu'u Ejaerepa aide'ose'ere & Sihuana'u huaje ametecahue
Semandang - Selemat gawai Natal
Seneca - a:o'-e:sad yos-ha:-se:'
Serbian - Sretan Bozic. Vesela Nova Godine
Sicilian - Bon Natali e Prosperu Annu Novu !
Sinhala - Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Soga - Mwisuka Sekukulu
Songe - Kutandika kua Yesu kuibuwa! & Kipua kipia kibuwa!
Sorani - Newroz le to Piroz be
Sorbian - Wjesole hody a strowe Nowe leto.
Somali - ciid wanaagsan iyo sanad cusub oo fiican.
Sotho/North - Mahlatsi a Matswalo a Morena le Ngwaga o Moswa
Sotho/South - Litakalerso Tse Monate Tsa Kere Semese Le Mahlohonolo a Selemo Se Secha
Slovakian - Vesele Vianoce a stastny novy rok
Slovene - Vesele bozicne praznike in srecno novo leto
Sorbian - Wjesole hody a strowe Nowe leto
Spanish - Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo
Sranan - Wan switi kresneti nanga wan bun nyun yari!
Subanen - Piak Pasko Pu Piag Bago Tawn
Sudanese - Wilujeng Natal Sareng Warsa Enggal
Suena - Kerisimasi kokopai
Surigaonon - Malipayon na pasko sanan bag-on tuig!
Swahili - ºKrismas Njema Na Heri Za Mwaka Mpyaº
Swedish - God Jul och Gott Nytt År
Tagalog - Maligayang Pasko at Manigong Bagong Taon
Tahitian - Ia ora i te Noere e ia ora na i te matahiti 'api
Tagakaulu - Madyaw Pagsalog sa Pagka-otaw ni Jesus & Aw mauntong na bago Umay!
Tala Andig - Maayad ha pasko daw bag-ong tuig
Tamazight - Asseggwas Ameggaz
Tarifit - Asuggas Asa'di
Tamil - Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal
Tanaina - Natukda Nuuphaa
Tayal - Pqaquasta ta. Pquasta hentang na Jesu
Thai - Suksan Wan Christmas lae Sawadee Pee Mai
Tlingit - Xristos Khuwdziti kax sh kaxtoolxetl
Tok Pisin - Meri Krismas & Hepi Nu Yia
Tokelau - Ke whakamanuia te Kirihimahi & Tauhaga Fou fiafia
Tonga - Kristo abe anduwe muciindo ca Christmas
Tongan - Kilisimasi Fiefia & Ta'u fo'ou monu ia
Toraja - Salama' Natal & Selama' taun baru
Trukese - Neekirissimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!
Tshiluba - Diledibua dilenga dia Mfumu - Tshidimu tshipia - tshipia th silenga
Tswana - Keresemose o monate le masego a ngwaga o montsha
Tubetube - Yayaliyaya Yesu sikabi kaiwena
Tumbuka - Kristu wabe namwe munyengo ya Christmas
Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Tutchone/Northern - Ut'ohudinch'i Hulin Dzenu & Eyum nan ek'an nenatth'at danji te yesohuthin ch'e hadaatle sh'o
Ukrainian - Veseloho Vam Rizdva i Shchastlyvoho Novoho Roku!
Umbundu - Natale, Natale, Oyo O Natale & Eteke Lio Bowano, Illimo Ciwa
Urdu - Naya Saal Mubarak Ho
Uvean - Italo fa ide tau fou nei eseke
Uyghur - YanghI yiling ahlqIs bolgey!
Vespi - Rastvoidenke i Udenke Vodenke
Vietnamese - Chuc Mung Giang Sinh - Chuc Mung Tan Nien
Votian - Yvaa rashtagoa! & Yvaa uutta vootta!
Waray-Waray - Maupay nga Pasko ngan Mainuswagon nga Bag-o nga Tuig!
Warlpiri - Miri Kirijimiji & Nyuntunpa Ngurrju nyayirni yapa
Welsh - Nadolig LLawen a Blwyddyn Newydd Dda
Yup'ik/Central - Alussistuaqegcikici
Yupik/Siberian - Quyanalghii Kuusma & Quyangalleq Nutaghamun Aymiqulleq
Xhosa - Siniqwenelela Ikrisimesi EmnandI Nonyaka Omtsha Ozele Iintsikelelo Namathamsanqa
Yiddish - Gute Vaynakhtn un a Gut Nay Yor
Yoruba - E ku odun, e hu iye' dun!
Zarma - Barka da Issa hay-yan hann & Barka da djiri barey-yan
Zaza - Newroz'a tu Piroz be
Zia - Kerisimasi wosewa
Zime - El ma ka bar vra aso vei Lu & El ma ka kim na mireu
Zulu - Sinifesela Ukhisimusi Omuhle Nonyaka Omusha Onempumelelo