"The old, mean man" vs. "The mean old man." Here's an aspect of English (and other languages) I've never thought of before. If you're using a string of adjectives, there's a natural order for them to appear in: "opinion :: size :: age :: shape :: color :: origin :: material :: purpose". (Although I find "old, mean," due to it's strange order, sort of striking.) [more info:
1,
2,
3]
posted by grumblebee
on May 19, 2007 -
91 comments
The New "Science" of Siblings An amusing article from Time magazine by Jeffrey Kluger which reports that your siblings have more influece on your personality than any other group-- parents, peers, spouses, children, etc. My ex-wife thinks I'm sarcastic, combative, insensitive, etc. Do I get to blame my brothers and sisters for this now?
Another article on this issue
"The Science of Siblings". Apparently, they could have made me more likely to be gay too.
posted by notmtwain
on Jul 9, 2006 -
28 comments
Greek Temple Architecture: They were houses--houses for cult statues, storehouses of treasures given to the gods--they were not churches. Worship consisted, by and large, of
sacrificial ritual--
animal sacrifice:
killing animals and eating them, for the most part--and, hence, it was done out of doors.
The Internet Ancient History Sourcebook's Accounts of Hellenic Religious Beliefs and
Accounts of Personal Religion give additional flavor and context. Greek religious architecture evolved from
wooden structures and was tradition bound--they built in stone as they had in wood according to variations on a traditional canon called the
orders, first and foremost, the
Doric Order , the
Ionic Order and the
Corinthian Order. Here are some
restorations. I love restorations, on paper or models rather than at the actual sites.
The first in a series.
posted by y2karl
on Jun 19, 2003 -
15 comments
Bush signed an executive order on Nov. 1 limiting the public's access to past presidents' papers. Many of Ronald Reagan's documents were set to go public, but the release was
delayed while the current White House reviewed the policy for nine months. Now, records don't go public until after 12 years, and once a request is made, the current president and the president in question have to approve access. The only place I saw this reported was in a NYT
editorial. Is there something to hide? Is the timing of this order improper?
posted by panopticon
on Nov 16, 2001 -
30 comments
From The Smoking Gun comes a couple of fabulously funny court orders courtesy of the Honorable Samuel B. Kent of Texas.
First, we have a order denying a motion to transfer (the good stuff starts on page 2, second paragraph). My favorite line:
Defendant will again be pleased to know that regular limousine service is available from Hobby Airport, even to the steps of the humble courthouse, which has got lights, indoor plummin', 'lectric doors, and all sorts of new stuff, almost like them big courthouses back East. The
second one is an equally funny Order or Transfer for the Republic of Bolivia vs. Phillip Morris.
posted by internal
on Jul 20, 2001 -
17 comments
