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Category Archives: Uncategorized
Still better than a superspreader event
酒池肉林 shu.chi.niku.rin Literally: pond – alcohol – meat – forest Alternately: A great and sumptuous meal. A dinner party with staggering amounts of food and drink. Enough drink to fill a pool and enough meat to decorate a forest. This … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged ancient China, bad kings and rulers, conspicuous consumption, 紂王, excess, 肉林, 酒池, food and drink, Zhou of Shang, 宴会, 帝辛
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But supposing you brought the light inside
Just shine full-strength sunlight into every single cell of your body and you’ll never need to worry about viruses again. 馬鹿と暗闇おっかない (Baka to kurayami okkanai; “Both idiots and darkness are scary”) Definition: The darkness is frightening because you don’t know … Continue reading
At the DMV, but only on Saturdays and New Year’s Day
All the rest of the time: drag-racing 怠け者の節句働き (Namakemono no sekkubataraki; “A sloth’s holiday labor”) Definition: On a day when most people are resting, someone who is usually lazy becomes a whirlwind of activity. (The concrete image is of a … Continue reading
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Tagged 節句働き, fake, holidays, hypocrisy, laziness, surface versus substance, 怠け者, 五節句
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The one before the Metal Friend
元の木阿弥 (Moto no mokuami; “The former Mokuami”) Definition: Back to square one; ending up where you started. For something, or a situation, to revert to a previous (worse) state after temporarily improving. The ur-example is of a poor person who … Continue reading
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Tagged back to the, futility, learning experience, reset, wasted effort, 元の, 戦国時代, 旧の, 木阿弥, 木庵, 木椀
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Much travel makes the boatman hoarse
The American version: 車車車車 南船北馬 nan.sen.hoku.ba Literally: south – boat – north – horse Alternately: Going from one place to the next without stop or rest. Always on the go. Wandering restlessly, or traveling busily. Notes: This compound comes to … Continue reading
Posted in Japanese, Uncategorized, Yojijukugo
Tagged busy, Huainanzi, travel, whole country, 北馬, 南船, 新幹線, 淮南子
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Year in Review: The Kid in 2016
At the start of 2016 I was a full-time stay-at-home dad. When I had errands to run, I strapped the kid to my chest and walked or got on the bus. He was curious and observant, but couldn’t express himself … Continue reading
Posted in Nonfiction, Uncategorized
Tagged 2016, cognitive development, linguistic development, the kid
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A random generator for political comments
On one website that I visit once in a blue moon or two, there’s a silly little internet game you can play where you type a string of characters (it’s supposed to be a name, but what’s stopping you from … Continue reading
Ten Other Fighter Archetypes, Plus One
Another D&D-related post, and a brief one on account of how I’m now a grad student with classes to teach as well as attend and a hundred pages of reading each week. Over at The Dragon’s Flagon, Eric Treasure (if … Continue reading
Why call it “ten questions and a bonus” instead of “eleven questions”? Is our number of fingers really that important? Also, to be honest, I’d switch #s 10 and 11.
So I recently ran across a list of questions for DMs to answer about their RPG settings and/or house rules. By “ran across” I mean “read here;” please note also the link to his source. I kind of feel like … Continue reading
landofnudotcom 
Does this ring any bells?
Not for those who refuse to hear! 耳を掩い*て鐘を盗む (Mimi wo ooite kane wo nusumu; “To cover one’s ears and steal a bell”) *See Notes for an important comment on pronunciation! Definition: When you think you’ve hidden something – usually something … Continue reading →