LANGUAGE GAMES:
* I was working on my prospectus yesterday, searching for a properly evocative adjective, and landed on 'maleficent.' At first I wasn't thrilled with the word choice (it's a little too evocative), but it then occurred to me that maleficio is the Latin word Grotius gives as an equivalent for 'delict' in the Jurisprudence of Holland,** so I actually chose the best possible word for what I meant.
* I went to the last of my responsible conduct of research seminars last evening, a particular form of torment the graduate school has seen fit. The seminar was on managing conflict between mentors and grad students; I kept myself amused by remembering a line from 30 Rock: "The manatee has become the mento"
**yes, delicto is a better Latin equivalent, but it's the word Grotius gives as the best match for the Dutch word for 'delict'
"Thou shalt not extinguish thine anger, but shall master it,
that thy conscience may not be blunted by adjustment
to wrong causes."
-The Dutch Ten Commandments to Foil the Nazis
No comments:
Post a Comment