Little fact about French because I just learned that

The accent circonflexe (^) exists in French words to replace the “s” that no longer exists but used to be there in older French.

For example: fenêtre used to be fenestre

It is still possible to see the “s” at times in family words like “défenestrer”.

knowing this, « être » becomes much more regular :

some French derivations become clearer :

some English cognates become more obvious :

sometimes, the acute replaces the circumfex for phonetic reasons :

Also, where « c → ch » (eg. cantare→ chanter) :

and « w → gu » (eg. war→ guerre ; warden→ guardian) :

bonus etymologies :

Also just be aware that the circumflex has some other uses too, like distinguishing « sur — sûr » or « dû » and the vowel quality in « âge »

Where was this post when I was doing A-Level French! This is actually a really interesting language change called “syncope” (the loss of a medial segment within a word) and what makes it even more interesting to me is that not only was the -s- dropped post vocalically and largely before voiceless stops, but that the circumflex was (unnecessarily but coolly) adopted as an orthographic marker of the lost -s-. Even more interesting is that syncope usually occurs in vowels. I love this.

The loss of /s/ when there’s no vowel after it also a thing that’s happens more variably in some varieties of Spanish, such as pronouncing “estar” as /ehtar/ (which is a lot like French “être”). Here’s a paper about s-deletion in Argentine Spanish which summarizes some of the literature at the beginning. 

@shredsandpatches stuff Faust buys at 2 am on Amazon

Mephistopheles is like "this is just metal, but ordering from Amazon is Satan-approved"

it's been pointed out on here before that a lot of terf arguments are actually rooted in sexist idealology that feminists fought and died to unnormalise decades ago and that's its own kettle of fish but one thing i also find very frustrating about this so called 'radical' feminism is that it's so... defeatist? like the moment you categorically label an entire section of society as Bad and Inherently Evil then there's also the implication that nothing can be done about it, and it completely takes all accountability away. saying all men are evil is just another way of saying boys will be boys. he raped her because he's a man. he hit her because he's a man. he didn't listen because he's a man - it's almost offensively oversimplified. there's no point trying to fix this issue in society because men are just Like That, okay! so now what? it's not like they're going anywhere, so you just accept that 50% of the population are evil and will forever treat you terribly and there's nothing to be done about it bc they're biologically predisposed to it? like is that fr the argument here? you're soooo radical for that

The "radical" in "radical feminism" is less about "radical" as making sweeping systemic changes and more about the idea that all oppression is rooted (Latin radix) in (binary, perisexual) biological sex -- so, whatever plumbing you have makes you intrinsically an oppressor or oppressed. This is also why a lot of radfem discourse makes being a woman sound like the worst thing ever. TERF logic therefore concludes that no one with oppressor plumbing could have non-predatory reasons for having a gender identity at odds with that, because why would anyone want to be seen as a woman? They must have an ulterior motive! 🙄

(IME a lot of the most obnoxious radfem types also have nothing but contempt for most women as well, trans and cis alike -- it honestly seems like a hugely misanthropic outlook in general)

The fact that deep space nine is a shopping mall and gas station is SO charming to me

Not to be extremely American but it’s one of those massive truck stops you find along the interstate that’s always open and has a place to do your laundry and shower and play video poker and buy audiobooks and 30 different kinds of jerky and a new seat cushion for your rig because it’s been bothering you for a while and there are other travelers shooting the shit around the coffee machines just to get some social time in before the road’s calling you back because you aren’t supposed to stay forever. You pick up a hand pie and a fidget spinner and maybe a new pair of sunglasses because god only knows where the your old ones are in the cab, consider buying a carton of cigarettes or that dang horrible nicotine gum and somehow when you roll back through 6 or 8 months later the folks at the inset all-night greasy spoon greet you and everybody else like you’re a regular just there the other day.

Eric Houck

gallery walls appreciation post because lately i've been obsessed with them ✶

on a scale of luke skywalker to jaime lannister how well would you deal with losing your right hand

or, on a scale of luke skywalker to jaime lannister how well do you deal with latent sexual feelings for your sister

or, on a scale of luke skywalker to jamie lannister how well would you deal with your dad being an utter bastard with unresolved issues about the death of his wife

or, on a scale of luke skywalker to jaime lannister how well would you deal with the fact that your nephew is a complete and total douche

or, on a scale of luke skywalker to jaime lannister how do you feel when you see gwendoline christie in armor

on a scale of luke skywalker to jaime lannister how badly did your failed attempt to murder a kid screw everyone over

A migrating mountain bluebird

May 1, 2023

Illustration of the Works of Mercy, from Sarah Fuller, LA Catholic Worker. 

Park Hae Soo as Mephistopheles in the upcoming play Faust (ft. Yoo In Chon)

source

So the funniest Faust is by far Berlioz's not because of anything about Faust himself but because of how clearly angry Berlioz is at Goethe. "If Goethe can put him in Heaven I can certainly put him in Hungary!" He's just so mad.

The opera is called La Damnation de Faust. Berlioz is like "see? I'm putting the Damnation right there in the title. Let there be no doubt about it, no misunderstandings, mf is getting damned. Screw you Johann."

And it's extra funny because he's got far and away the most sympathetic Faust ever? Poor sap gets duped, straight-up. He's like actively trying to do the right thing, unlike any other Faust ever. But NOPE. You're going in the drink pal. Screw you and the demon horses you rode in on. Get damned, idjit.

Also it's a good opera! Lots of Hungary, because why not, amirite?

i often wonder how many ppl from 2012 tumblr are still active on here

are u also still here, lurking in the shadows????

The Book of Kells, 9th c.

Knight - Leg Armor Detail, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Not one now, to mock your own grinning?

Simon Russell Beale as Hamlet at the National Theatre.

(more Hamlets at the source)

David Tennant as Crowley GOOD OMENS (2019-) — Season 2 (July 2023)

A USPS logo for every state bird!