Month: December 2013
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christmas
Fast Mash Christmas blends and clips Christ’s mass; earlier forms include Old English’s Cristes mæsse Christ, the title of “anointed” given to Jesus of Nazareth, comes from a Greek translation (khristos) of the Semitic messiah; ultimately, the epithet is from a Greek verb, khriein, meaning to “rub” or “smear” oil, a custom reserved to consecrate prophets, priests, and kings This Greek…
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the four seasons, part iv (winter)
Fast Mash Winter, attested in the same form in Old English around 888, comes through Proto-Germanic’s *wentruz, perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European’s *wed-, *wod, or *ud-, meaning “wet,” or *wind-, meaning “white” The early sense of winter, as one of the two major divisions of the year alongside summer, may have been the “rainy or wet season” or “the white season,”…
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aardvark
With the passing of Nelson Mandela, the world has been pouring out beautiful remembrances of a life yet more beautifully lived. As I listen to and read them, I can’t help but attend to the language we are using. Forbearance. Courage. Of the ages. We complain so often of the abuse of language. Of exaggeration.…
Mashed Radish 