tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61470278279590132202024-02-25T07:44:41.014+11:00Derek's ALIA BlogDerek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.comBlogger255125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-29387934385208833802020-05-27T10:11:00.000+10:002020-05-27T10:11:01.244+10:00Compulsory votingThere is a natural tendency to think of compulsory voting as a straightforward contradiction of one of the fundamental principles of democracy.
But I have been reading several things which throw light on this apparent contradiction. One is Judith Brett's excellent if rather clumsily titled book on Australian democracy - From secret ballot to democracy sausage: how Australia got Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-34460154121328917842020-03-24T12:08:00.002+11:002020-03-24T12:08:32.148+11:00Paradise for neologismsThe current coronavirus is, to look on the cheerful side, a paradise for neologisms, just as staying at home is a paradise for the introvert, as you can see from this poster advertising the many advantages of staying at home, using the slogan "It has never been so easy to save lives."
A coronavirus is a large family of viruses of various kinds, which can cause illness in mammals and birds. Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-6118018997883097982020-03-13T17:56:00.000+11:002020-03-24T12:10:08.428+11:00Election in Paris
Well, decision day approaches. On Sunday March
15 the people of Paris will vote in the first round of an election for Mayor of
Paris - along with many other local government elections across the
country.
In France, although the voter cannot allocate
preferences in the Australian style, the election is held in two rounds. In the
second round, the following week, most candidates are Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-39738004305951707582020-02-17T12:03:00.000+11:002020-02-17T21:41:14.396+11:00Year of the Rat
The Year of the Rat, in the Chinese Zodiac, began on 25/26 January 2020, and runs to 11/12 February 2021. In Chinese it is 鼠年and in pinyin transliterated as shǔnián.
So it is time to say something about the rat, which is to be expected in a blog about language.
The Down Under Rat
Rats don't have much of a fan base, although there are rat fanciers in Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-62919730488081517042019-12-09T12:24:00.000+11:002019-12-09T12:24:35.333+11:00Kurt Vonnegut Museum and LibraryThe Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library, now almost ten years old, moved into new premises in Indianapolis (Vonnegut's birthplace) this November. In one of those ostensible coincidences which Vonnegut appreciated, I was reading an article in The Economist which celebrated this event. It referred to the founder and CEO of the KVML, Julia Whitehead. While it is very unlikely that she is a relative of Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-76251226741947573052019-08-18T10:11:00.000+10:002019-08-18T12:32:34.548+10:00Ron Goulart, inventive and funny, on the progress of civilizationRon Goulart's novel, When the waker sleeps (1975), starts with a quote from Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947, no relation, as far as I know) "The progress of civilization is not wholly a uniform drift towards better things." In the novel Goulart demonstrates the truth of this in his anarchic way, through the experiences of a group of people who wake up every fifty years, to experience, Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-20875198557516512252019-08-06T15:52:00.000+10:002019-08-06T15:52:32.951+10:00The elephant in the room"The elephant in the room" is a wonderful English expression, partly because it relies for its usefulness not only on the visible presence of an elephant in the room, but also the fact that no-one mentions this.
The Wikipedia defines the expression as "a metaphorical idiom in English for an obvious problem or risk that no one wants to discuss." It is Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-57991407238167781752017-04-18T17:04:00.000+10:002017-04-18T17:04:04.340+10:00Idiom of the day - A Cat May Look at a King
The Oxford
dictionary defines the term a cat may look at a
king as meaning that even a person of low status has rights. Wiktionary defines the expression as meaning ”A
purported inferior has certain abilities, even in the presence of a purported
superior.”
The
interesting www.idioms.in
website has a longer treatment. This is an Indian website about idioms, and
carries advertising. It alsoDerek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-45474791382928894802017-04-17T11:03:00.001+10:002017-04-17T11:03:49.950+10:00Translation through the ages
Most of us are engaged with translation in many ways - think about your own use of translation in all of its variety, such as the last translated work that you read.
My friend Marie Lebert, a linguist, is researching the history of translation and has
written a short, accessible, and interesting article on this
history. The article includes a plea for translators to receive better Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-34810077215354952292017-04-13T16:22:00.000+10:002017-04-13T16:22:51.748+10:00Motto of the day: Nullius in verba
Surely
the organisation with absolutely the best motto is the Royal Society? Nullius in verba, according to the Wikipedia, means “Take
nobody’s word for it”; it is Latin for “on the word of no-one”. John Evelyn and
other Fellows of the Royal Society choose the motto soon after the Society was
founded, 350 years ago. The Royal Society explains the motto this way:
It
is an expression of the Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-42774370701599638362017-01-19T15:22:00.000+11:002017-01-23T19:39:23.723+11:00Word of the Day - Hundge
Our
currency has always attracted friendly nicknames, but this nickname for the $100 note is new to me. It was the heading in an article in Crikey, by Liam Apter. The article included an
interview with Swinburne’s Professor Steve Worthington. The idea is apparently
being floated that the $100 note be withdrawn because of its use in the black
economy, amongst criminals, and to transport Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-34706938321509322412017-01-18T18:02:00.002+11:002017-01-18T18:02:53.910+11:00Idiom of the day - Zip it
This is
taken from an
article in The New Daily, an online Australian newspaper, which appeared in
December last year. The occasion was the election of a new leader (Bill
English) and deputy leader of the National Party. The newly-elected (by her
party) deputy leader of the NZ National Party was Paula Bennett, referred to as
“former teen solo mum Paula Bennett”.
The
idiomatic expression (Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-5840154871471559172016-12-17T16:13:00.001+11:002016-12-17T16:13:18.025+11:00Word of the Day - InvisibilisedI was watching the television news last week, and was intrigued to hear Professor Rosalind Croucher, the head of the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC), use the word invisibilised. The ALRC is conducting an enquiry into elder abuse, and has just issued a discussion paper on the topic, according to the ABC News.
Professor Croucher was being interviewed in connection with a Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-29139296573303773822016-12-08T16:19:00.001+11:002016-12-08T16:19:52.668+11:00Word of the Day - VerbToday's word is verb, used as a verb. I quote a Facebook post from Christine Mackenzie, "Is there any word which can't be verbed?"
She gave this lovely example "The strategy, helmed by major shareholder James Packer." And in return Susan Bray quoted Shakespeare "they heroed me" from KJulius Caesar. And I said that I was too sydneyed out to think of an answer.
What is the answer? Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-60848258587377911692012-02-03T08:07:00.000+11:002012-02-03T14:52:03.744+11:00Word of the day - nicheToday's word is niche, used as a verb. In fact, used at a meeting that I recently attended, in the sentence "We have to niche up some of the messages." It is interesting that niche seems to take the preposition "up" although it could just as well have taken the opposite - "niche down".
Dictionary.com accepts niche as a verb and gives the brief definition "to place [something] in a niche."Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-29816836683547794272012-01-25T08:14:00.008+11:002012-01-25T10:03:56.943+11:00Word of the dayToday's word is caveat, used as a verb. Used in a meeting right here, yesterday. But I loved it at first sight. In fact, this usage goes back some time.
We all know what a caveat is in normal usage - it is used in the sense of a qualification or warning, a limitation to a statement's face value meaning. It is from Latin, and is used in Latin expressions such as caveat emptor (let the Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-6560499270033411892011-12-27T09:49:00.004+11:002012-01-04T16:38:49.940+11:00Word of the dayToday's word is goat rodeo. According to the notes on my CD of The Goat Rodeo Sessions, quoting the Urban Dictionary, a goat rodeo is "A chaotic situation, often one that involves several people, each with a different agenda/vision/perception of what's going on; a situation that is very difficult, despite energy and efforts, to instill any sense or order into", or "A situation that order cannot Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-42728649104089898622011-10-20T18:48:00.001+11:002011-10-20T18:48:00.246+11:00Word of the dayNames are always a source of interest, and one of my favourite categories of names is people with two surnames - like Gordon Thomas, or Jackson Jackson. Unlike most names in English, they are also reversible.
Today's word is Jay, a name and a letter. I have been reading about the tussle between Mike Rann, premier of South Australia, and Jay Weatherill (picture with family, and article about him Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-17053904229477990062011-10-20T08:42:00.000+11:002011-10-20T08:42:10.872+11:00Word of the dayToday's word is litotes, a word I cannot remember ever reading before. Off, because the meaning of the term is something we do every day. Well, I do. It means, according to the Wikipedia, "a figure of speech in which understatement is employed for rhetorical effect when an idea is expressed by a denial of its opposite . . ." For example, "not as young as he was", meaning "old". It is common in Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-8339788399695295872011-10-04T18:31:00.000+11:002011-10-04T18:31:28.248+11:00Word of the dayIf you are a fan of Roddy Doyle - and who isn't? - then you will enjoy his column on Dublin in The Daily Beast, or Newsweek as it is also called. "Dublin city is the sound of people who love words, who love taking words and playing with them, twisting and bending them, making short ones longer and the long ones shorter, people who love inventing words and giving fresh meaning to old ones." Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-50455221732871576142011-10-04T15:47:00.017+11:002011-10-04T18:09:20.018+11:00Word of the dayToday's word is mass personalisation - a clever formulation because it is apparently an oxymoron, but in fact not. It means that much in contemporary education, especially higher education, should be optional at the student's option. Such things as attendance, learning styles, scheduling, on/off campus learning, and so on. Along with this concept is the idea that content is ubiquitous, and Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-85448158518064807652011-09-01T08:07:00.004+10:002011-09-01T08:12:11.959+10:00Word of the dayToday's word is tickety boo. Going smoothly, doing alright, copacetic according to the Urban Dictionary. Copacetic?As an optimist, I like cheerful, upbeat expressions, and this is one of them, albeit one which has largely passed out of use. I had thought that this might be one of those expressions from my parents' times which had become quaintly archaic.
In fact, if you use Google's Books Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-55534541362761748752011-08-25T08:14:00.002+10:002011-08-25T17:21:07.783+10:00Best football team in the worldWhy is Barcelona (Barça) the best football team in the world? asks The Economist's management columnist Schumpeter. Part of the answer lies in an article written by my colleague Peter Gerrand and published in firstmonday five years ago - "Cultural diversity in cyberspace: the Catalan campaign to win the new .cat top level domain". It details the struggle to achieve a unique top level domain name Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-50753531015997305302011-08-19T13:15:00.003+10:002011-08-19T14:49:45.636+10:00Thinking About NamesLorcan Dempsey has a wonderful post about names, concluding with some reflections on contemporary library cataloguing, and how we might handle things better in the future. He precedes his suggestions with the words "Authorities work - and think NACO here - is a professional activity, hedged around by rules and procedures; it is after all 'authorities' work." I did have to look up NACO - is is Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6147027827959013220.post-36160873510815805472011-08-18T17:06:00.000+10:002011-08-18T17:06:44.737+10:00Word of the dayWhat is the opposite to "dumb down"? It needs an opposite. Dumbing down isn't a great concept, and we should be pushing the opposite, avoiding dumbing down where we can. The term is widely used, and even has a Wikipedia definition. Searching for antonyms doesn't work very well, since all of the sources of antonyms limit themselves to current English words or expressions, and I am mostly happy to Derek Whiteheadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13998830708231021495noreply@blogger.com0