Tuesday: Hili dialogue

July 23, 2019 • 7:00 am

It’s Tuesday—the Cruelest Day (see next paragraph)—July 23, 2019, and National Vanilla Ice Cream Day. I know there are purists who will eat a cone or dish of that, but I must always add toppings, preferably fresh fruit or maple syrup (grade B). It’s also Yada Yada Day, which of course comes from Seinfeld.

The big news, which I just heard from CNN, is that Boris Johnson has won the Conservative Party leadership and will be the UK’s next Prime Minister. Good luck to my friends across the pond—you’ll need it! Can you imagine a summit between Johnson and Trump? Oy, my kishkas! It looks as if Brexit is a done deal.

The new PM. Oy.

Things that happened on this day include:

  • 1829 – In the United States, William Austin Burt patents the typographer, a precursor to the typewriter.
  • 1840 – The Province of Canada is created by the Act of Union.
  • 1885 – President Ulysses S. Grant dies of throat cancer
  • 1903 – The Ford Motor Company sells its first car.

And here is the first model, a 1903 Ford Model A:

  • 1921 – The Communist Party of China (CPC) is established at the founding National Congress.
  • 1943 – The Rayleigh bath chair murder occurred in Rayleigh, Essex, England.

How many Brits know about this murder? (I didn’t.) The man was killed by an anti-tank mine put under the cushion of his wheelchair; the murderer was his son.

  • 1962 – Telstar relays the first publicly transmitted, live trans-Atlantic television program, featuring Walter Cronkite.
  • 1962 – Jackie Robinson becomes the first African American to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.[1]
  • 1967 – Detroit Riots: In Detroit, one of the worst riots in United States history begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city. It ultimately kills 43 people, injures 342 and burns about 1,400 buildings.
  • 1992 – A Vatican commission, led by Joseph Ratzinger, establishes that limiting certain rights of homosexual people and non-married couples is not equivalent to discrimination on grounds of race or gender.

Notables born on this day include:

  • 1888 – Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (d. 1959)
  • 1891 – Louis T. Wright, American surgeon and civil rights activist (d. 1952)
  • 1892 – Haile Selassie, Ethiopian emperor (d. 1975)
  • 1918 – Pee Wee Reese, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1999)
  • 1936 – Anthony Kennedy, American lawyer and jurist
  • 1961 – Woody Harrelson, American actor and activist
  • 1971 – Alison Krauss, American singer-songwriter and fiddler

Krauss is a favorite of many readers, as I recall, and here she is performing live with her band, Union Station:

Those who “fell asleep” on July 23 include:

  • 1757 – Domenico Scarlatti, Italian harpsichord player and composer (b. 1685)
  • 1885 – Ulysses S. Grant, American general and politician, 18th President of the United States (b. 1822)
  • 1948 – D. W. Griffith, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1875)
  • 1955 – Cordell Hull, American captain, lawyer, and politician, 47th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1871)
  • 2001 – Eudora Welty, American novelist and short story writer (b. 1909)
  • 2002 – Chaim Potok, American novelist and rabbi (b. 1929)
  • 2010 – Daniel Schorr, American journalist and author (b. 1916)
  • 2011 – Amy Winehouse, English singer-songwriter (b. 1983)
  • 2012 – Sally Ride, American physicist and astronaut (b. 1951)

Meanwhile in Dobrzyn, Hili is busy editing Listy:

Hili: Are you coming back to the computer?
Andrzej: I must—your readers are waiting.

In Polish:

Hili: Już wracasz do komputera?
Ja: Muszę, twoi czytelnicy czekają.

Have you ever looked at the Polish Listy site? Hili is all over it, including a listing as editor at the bottom. Here’s the header (click to go to site); the translation is “Letters from Our Orchard”, and the header shows Hili and the cherry orchard in full bloom.

The team:

Reader Mutta Butta sent this photo he took in Oz, along with the notes:

I had occasion to be in the cafeteria of the Barwon-Health University Hospital in Geelong, Victoria, Australia  today when I saw this sign (see attachment). Geelong is the second largest city in the state.

“So you don’t actually sell gluten-free meals”, I said, and one staff member asked “What do you mean?”

Maybe the doctors at the hospital eat elsewhere (for good reason), or surely the sign would raise red flags.

From reader Merilee:

A tweet sent by Grania on October 28 of last year:

A tweet from reader j.j., showing a badly mistranslated menu. Lots of concrete in there! I’ve seen similarly translated menus in India. (Language Log explains a bit about this one here.)

 

From reader Barry: O Canada!

From Heather Hastie: a squirrel eats guacamole. (Is this cultural appropriation?)

From Matthew: The earthquake in L.A.:

https://twitter.com/Diane_7A/status/1147360001977139200

I presume this is true, but readers can check:

Do read about this aged but stalwart sanderling!

Adding to our collection of animal noises, here’s a squeaking pika (sound up):

This person was so excited that their grammar went all wonky!

https://twitter.com/i_iove_nature/status/1152059388527407105

 

 

47 thoughts on “Tuesday: Hili dialogue”

  1. British exit from the EU is faaar from a done deal – he has a tiny majority (ha ha) although he’s done is best to increase that by fathering more bloody offspring…

    You may like Penn Jillette on his atheism –

  2. It looks as if Brexit is a done deal.

    It’s not that simple, since enough Tory MPs are likely to rebel to block a no-deal Brexit. And no other option commands a majority in the house either.

    In essence, May resigned because she’d hit an impasse, and was unable to push through any of the options. If it’s the same with Boris then maybe only an election or 2nd referendum would break the impasse.

    (Out of interest, whence your dislike of Johnson as PM?)

    1. He is a lying shifty schmuck ,in other news the ravens from the tower of London have flown away .
      Is it Hammond that has just quit ?

      1. This is why the ravens have clipped wings, they would have departed long ago otherwise.

    2. The MP’s can’t agree on a deal, it isn’t as though we will remain in thye EU if they continue to disagree.

      I have aways thought of Boris as a shrewd operator and he now has his heart’s desire – especially since failure can be blamed on accepting a poisoned chalice at the very last minute. Nicely done, Boris.

      1. Well MPs could vote to withdraw Article 50, couldn’t they? If Parliament wants to block no-deal then it can.

        1. Assuming they can get a vote on it, why yes they could. We shall see.

          I would say that withdrawing article 50 would destroy what credibility they have left, but they don’t have any so it is moot.

      2. Shrewd operator !! ,he was a crap mayor of London ,wasted so much money on bendy buses ,water cannons ,and the garden bridge .
        Not to mention his great plan to build an airport in the Thames estuary near to a WW2 ship with a great amount of ammo which is going to blow up sooner or later .

        As for his stint at the foreign office ,he made things worse for that poor woman being held by the Iranians .

        I will be quiet now ,before the doc warns me of the roolz .

        1. Just to be fair to The Johnson, David, though it pains me to type that, the bendy buses were down to ken Livingstone. One of Bojpo’s promises in his first mayoral campaign was to replace them with his vanity project, the new, improved Routemaster which became known, after the first summer of operation, as Saunas on Wheels because the windows couldn’t be opened.

          1. Thanks for correcting me re bendy buses ,all my other points still stand .

    3. I can’t speak for PCC(E), but my personal loathing of the Right Honourable Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, MP, is based on the fact that he is a serial liar about the EU.

      He began lying about the EC/EU thirty years ago as Brussels correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, when he wrote utter bollocks about non-existent EC rules on things like the curvature of bananas. During the 2016 referendum campaign, he continued to lie, as the public face of the Leave campaign.

      The only consolation that I, as a committed pro-European, can get from his elevation to Prime Minister is that he now owns the Brexit mess that he was largely responsible for creating. He cannot bluster his way out of it. The buck now stops on his desk. And with any luck, it will destroy him, as it destroyed his predecessor.

      1. I never minded the EEC, which I did vote to stay in after they joined us up and called a referendum (I can’t recall anyone arguing about the result of that one). The EU is a different matter, that was John Major’s doing and we certainly had no say at all in that one.

        As to Boris, I can’t say I like him and agree that he will say whatever it takes to get what he wants. His bumbling manner and sudden eruptions of classical references in latin have always struck me as a precisely crafted persona. I can’t imagine he will have a good time in office, a good percentage of the parliamentary party regards him in the same llight as PCC(e).

      2. Completely agree with your comment. How anyone can trust a word out of his mouth I will never understand!

        His lying about the EU continues to this day. Only 5 days ago claiming the EU force an ice pillow on packages of kippers from the Isle of Man and how ridiculous that is. Turns out it’s a UK law (facepalm)

        I am still steadfast in my belief that Brexit will never happen. It’s just too stupid to do

      3. I have to say I think it’s even worse than that.

        A serial liar knows he’s lying, which implies that he might know what the truth really is. Boris is indifferent to the truth, and is possibly incapable of recognising it. He will say whatever comes into his head in order to get himself out of a difficulty, and then move on without caring about the consequences. In addition, he is basically lazy, bored by detail, and incapable of (and uninterested in) solving problems.

        But I agree that he is not remotely up to delivering Brexit. He doesn’t understand any of the detailed issues, or the damage that a no-deal exit would do to this country. I think there are enough anti-no-dealers in the Tory party to bring him down, even if that results in a general election.

    4. Probably somebody told him that BoJo is a backstabbing liar, or he came to that conclusion for himself by reading the news from the UK. It’s pretty obvious. .

    5. Indeed.
      Most likely scenario might be that Boris fails to get enough (or any) changes to the withdrawal agreement to appease the ERG and therefore has to manoeuvre to try to get the UK out with no deal. Parliament refuses to allow this, Boris loses a vote of no confidence, and a general election is held. A Lab/Lib/SNP alliance is formed and holds a second referendum which results in no Brexit. Maybe. In late 2020 or so.
      May inherited a fractured party with a majority of 17. Johnson inherits a further fractured party with a majority of maybe 2. Tough gig for anyone.

      1. In late 2020 or so.

        How is that going to work with 31st October deadline? I can’t see the EU waiting around until our political system sorts itself out. I was under the impression that the October data was the EU’s final extension.

        1. The EU is nothing if not pragmatic. If a general election were triggered shortly before 31 October, the EU might very well offer a further extension to allow the democratic process to play out in the UK.

          1. I’ll avoid holding my breath…

            First things first, let’s see how many pledges that Boris made to get to PM are quietly forgotten as he discovers the true magnitude of the task ahead.

          2. I’ve not mentioned it here before but my sister has been working in Whitehall on Brexit for the last two years.

            She has just decided to move into a different part of the government altogether after being frustrated beyond endurance by having to repeatedly deliver microscopically detailed dossiers and documents on a Brexit that changed shape every few hours. The staff turnaround was absurd and she lasted longer than most.

            The general mood while she was there was total frustration and enervation.

        2. You are right that the EU may or may not grant the necessary extension. If they were not to then parliament would have to choose between no deal and revoking A50 (presumably with the promise of a second referendum). That vote would be close and both outcomes are possible, but my money would be on no deal. The reason I think my first prediction is the most likely overall is that I think the EU would in the end grant a long extension for the purpose of a general election. They no longer have the headache of the EU elections to navigate, they want to keep the UK in, and there is a democratic drift towards no Brexit in the UK which would presumably increase if enough time elapses.

  3. When viewing the Polish Listy site, Google Chrome asked if I wanted the page translated. It seemed to do a terrific job.

    1. I remember it well! There was a bit of a rash of instrumentals at one time, I am deperately trying to bring another from the 60’s to mind but I definitely remember at least one other; there were also later ones like “Mouldy Old Dough” (I wouldn’t recommend looking for this one, I can remember it having earworm qualities and it has just started up in my head 😀 ).

      1. It’s not so much the absolute value of the numerator that is consistent with the term “rare”, but the denominator.

        But yes, there are many instrumental pop songs which stand out as memorable and also played on the radio a lot – Herb Alpert, for instance. What led me to Telstar, in fact, was the origins of the Boston hit “Foreplay/Long Time” – the first part being an instrumental that was played a lot on the radio.

    4. One of the first singles I bought was the instrumental ‘Diamonds’, by ex-Shadows Jet Harris and Tony Meehan. Jan ’63. Followed by ‘Scarlett O’Hara’ and ‘Applejack’. Not as good.

      1. Also unusual in that Harris was a bassist. I can’t offhand think of any other hits where the main instrument was a bass guitar.

        1. Here’s another bass guitar hit for you Steve – Duane Eddy, Because They’re Young

          https://youtu.be/Cklf5k10yLU

          Duane bumped into the Danelectro 6-string bass in ’58 – strictly I would call it a baritone guitar because it falls between regular & bass guitar. His 3rd album featured the Danelectro except two tracks.

  7. I noticed that one of Grania’s sources for tweets was the wonderful British nature writer and linguist Robert Macfarlane, and the other day while perusing his twitter feed, I came across this https://twitter.com/RobGMacfarlane/status/1149235337480351744 tweet re an old phrase, “boris-noris” from the Dorset dialect that he’d discovered via Private Eye News. It couldn’t be better for describing the way the with the thatched haired Mr. de Piffel behaves.

  8. The reason the gluten sign is not merely pathetic is that for celiac disease, the body produces antibodies to gluten and likely it’s products. This can be hospital-level bad, damaging the body in an immediate sense. Yet, much of gluten free dieting is for any reason other than the serious health threat of celiac disease.

    That means someone with celiac disease could be genuinely injured by food labeled gluten free while fragments of gluten can still produce an immune reaction – however, I’m not a gluten medical expert, so they might be ok.

  10. The language Lab site says bê = English “calf” [young cow] & it is also half the word for “concrete” [bê tông from French béton]

    I’ve had a go at making sense of the menu.
    The bolded bits are as per the menu photo

    The non-bolded are…
    – My Google Translate
    – An alternative online translator
    – my interpretation using my common sense & looking at Vietnamese recipes

    bê thui ngon
    Delicious calves burned
    Delicious
    Thui delicious veal
    Thinly sliced chargrilled [Yanks say “broiled” which is confusing for a Brit – it reads like it’s something boiled] veal

    bê tỏi chanh
    Concrete lemon garlic
    – Calves with lemon garlic
    – Garlic lemon veal
    – Rare veal in lemon juice salad

    bê bóp thấu
    Calf squeeze contractors
    – Calf
    – Calf squeeze through
    – Seems to be finely sliced veal with lots of other stuff

    bê nưrớng nưrớc mằm
    Concrete barbecue sauce
    – Water mat
    – nurong nuroc calf they occur
    – From the online recipe pics looks like grilled veal ribs with BBQ sauce

    bê hấp giả cầy
    Be interesting candles
    – vermicelli
    – steamed calf fake civet
    – I think “cầy” can mean civet or it can mean piquant or hot. Therefore I assume “candles” should really be “hot” as in spicy. My guess is curried veal.

    đuôi móng hầm măng
    Ass tunnel tail cement
    – Tail tail of bamboo shoots
    – This is veal tail in a very clear stew with interesting veg floating about & bamboo shoots, but nothing like ox tail soup!

    đuôi móng hầm tiêu xanh
    Butt tail stew with green pepper
    – The tail of the tunnel with green pepper
    – Cement nail tail stew
    – As above with green peppers I think

    sườn bê nurớng ớt
    Concrete rib roast with salt & chilli
    – Chilli Ribs
    – veal chops peppers nurong
    – Lemongrass & salted chilli pork ribs

    It is an interesting language I’ve realised. Many, many short words of one syllable. A different ‘accent’ over a letter completely changes the meaning of the word.

    1. Yes, Vietnamese is mono-syllabic as well as tonal (musical language). A given syllable can have 5 or 6 meanings depending on the inflection of voice. Dialects vary considerably from North to South.

      1. Ta very much – good stuff to know. My ignorance of south east Asian food & culture knows no bounds.

    2. From what I remember, written (modern) Vietnamese was invented by the French in their time fooking with that country, so it is weird for that reason as well.

      2. The Vietnamese were under Chinese rule before 938 AD, and so wrote in Chinese characters called Chữ Hán. “Quoc Ngu is the currently-used script of Vietnam and is based on the Latin alphabet. It was first developed by Portuguese missionaries in the 17th century.”

        It’s intent was to facilitate teaching of the bible.

        “During French colonization the alphabet was further modified and then later forced upon the population in 1910.”

  11. The story of that little Sanderling is wonderful. I clicked through to the twitter feed to see him follow her around the world for 11 years, watching as she lost and reared clutches and made yearly epic journeys from the high Northern latitudes to the beaches of Namibia.

    Nice way to start the day. thnx for the link

  12. The Senate finally passed funding aid for 9/11 first responders 97-2. The two votes against came from walking piles of offal wearing human skin suits: Rand Paul and Mike Lee.

    1. But, but, but…’fiscal conservatism’ etc….

      Rand Paul really is a proper c u next Tuesday.

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