I try not to complain, but I was complaining a little bit to my boss today about how this infection I have seems interminable and it’s making my life unenjoyable.
His answer: “But you’re not dead so everything’s fine, right?”
That puts things in perspective.
I have become a compulsive reader of a blogsite called Language Log. Recently a linguist there named Geoffrey Pullum was lamenting his failure to realize the transparent etymology of the name of the Italian dessert tiramisu (tira-mi-su = pull-me-up). Who knew? I didn’t, either – I didn’t even realize the accent was supposed to fall on the last syllable.
Then he talked about other things that linguists (and/or regular people) notice (or don’t notice) about the language(s) they use, and then he shared a list. Although only mildly interested in the case of the tiramisu, I found the list utterly fascinating. It’s a list of “missing terms” among derivationally related words.
| candor | candify | candific | candid |
| fervor | fervify | fervific | fervid |
| horror | horrify | horrific | horrid |
| liquor | liquefy | liquific | liquid |
| livor | livify | livific | livid |
| lucor | lucify | lucific | lucid |
| pallor | pallify | pallific | pallid |
| rigor | rigify | rigific | rigid |
| stupor | stupefy | stupific | stupid |
| terror | terrify | terrific | terrid |
| torpor | torpify | torpific | torpid |
| vigor | vigify | vigific | vigid |
| tepor | tepify | tepific | tepid |
My immediate thought was, “oh, but we could use those missing words.” So I’m going to keep this list handy, and try to use each of the struck-out terms at some point in this here handy blog thingy. So watch out!
Lucify your life.
You know you're discouraged in your efforts to learn Korean, when you spend part of your weekend studying other languages instead.
I surfed some French websites, and then killed a few hours at a teach-yourself-Turkish website.
What's going on in my mind, lately?
Being sick, work in a rut, my language-learning efforts in stasis. I'm not feeling very pleased with where I'm at.
OK. Just sharing.
“Buddha. I bow and pray to grow in wisdom.”
This is #104 out of a series of 108 daily Buddhist affirmations that I am attempting to translate with my hands tied behind my back (well not really that, but I’m deliberately not seeking out translations on the internet, using only dictionary and grammar).
…
100. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 전쟁이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray not to be at war with the world.”
101. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 가난이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray not to be destitute in the world.”
102. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 질병이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray not to suffer sickness in the world.”
103. 부처님. 저는 보살행을 실천하며 살아가기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray to live and practice toward becoming a bodhisattva.”
104. 부처님. 저는 반야 지혜가 자라기를 발원하며 절합니다.
I would read this one hundred fourth affirmation as: “Buddha. I bow and pray to grow in wisdom.”
I have no idea what “반야” is – is it a verb with a “-야” ending, or a noun that I can’t find in the dictionary? The only dictionary meaning found was “midnight” which makes no sense. I basically ignored it in the above effort at translation.
Depth of fall. But the weather was hot today. “Indian summer,” that used to be called, in USland. Still called that? I don’t know… I’m feeling out of touch with my own culture.
Easy day of teaching: two classes with the TP2 kids – easy group to get along with. Smart. Interested. Sometimes tired.
I’m just sleeping a lot. Sick. Fever.
What I’m listening to right now.
New track from Jane’s Addiction (recently re-formed), “Irresistible Force.”
I've been kind of sick, still. Ear infection. Because I was running a fever, I broke down and went to a doctor yesterday.
That was worthless – the doctor examined me in a rather perfunctory fashion, poked around down my throat and in my ear. He pontificated a while on that I was chewing too much on one side of my mouth. What's that supposed to mean? I don't do that, although I do suspect I grind my teeth some when I sleep. But my symptoms don't feel like that kind of problem – it's a burning thing in the back of my throat, and in the eustachian tube area (well, it feels like that). And fever. And then he proclaimed I had no infection
But then he wrote a prescription for antibiotics. What's with that?
I'm taking them. Hopefully they will make me better. I'm not enjoying this.
Here are a few more pictures from my camera from the two days of halloween celebration at Karma Academy.
Jinyong and Jaehyeon at the wall o’ pumpkins.
The three boys in EP3, who had the best understanding of the concept of halloween. We had a bag of costume pieces that they availed themselves of.
A picture of me taken Sunday, walking home from Kintex with my friend Peter. I liked the fall-colored trees.
Unrelatedly, yesterday in RN1 class (7th and 8th graders), I was having the kids read dialogues that they had written dictation from the listening textbook. There were two people talking in the this one dialogue, labelled only “Man” and “Woman.” I asked this one boy, Jemin, “So, are you the man or the woman?” – I was asking him to choose which he wanted to read. Instead, he decided to interpret this as a question about his gender. And his answer was good-humored: “Middle.” Eveyone laughed.
“Buddha. I bow and pray to live and practice toward becoming a bodhisattva.”
This is #103 out of a series of 108 daily Buddhist affirmations that I am attempting to translate with my hands tied behind my back (well not really that, but I’m deliberately not seeking out translations on the internet, using only dictionary and grammar).
…
100. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 전쟁이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray not to be at war with the world.”
101. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 가난이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray not to be destitute in the world.”
102. 부처님. 저는이 세상에 질병이 없기를 발원하며 절합니다.
“Buddha. I bow and pray not to suffer sickness in the world.”
103. 부처님. 저는 보살행을 실천하며 살아가기를 발원하며 절합니다.
I would read this one hundred third affirmation as: “Buddha. I bow and pray to live and practice toward becoming a bodhisattva.”
I was completely stumped by the -행 ending in 보살행. It’s not in online Korean-English dictionaries, but it’s in the Korean only ones, where the definition is: “보살이 부처가 되려고 수행하는, 자기와 남을 이롭게 하는 원만한 행동.” I decided to take 보살행 as meaning something like “bodhisattvaism,” but then basically to disregard it in my effort to translate, and use a phrase like “becoming a bodhisattva” instead. I have no idea if this the right meaning.
