Pedants' Paradise

[Bryn]

I would have thought Frenchie would shout "bis", and hope she was not misheard.

[jean]

My point was that I would (personally) never call out brava, bravi or brave at a recital or concert. It would be Bravo! or nothing. (In fact, Nothing.) That's because I would be calling out in English (in this country, at least), whereas Italian audiences are invariably calling out in Italian.

And when I used to attend concerts regularly in Venice, where the audiences were mostly Italian but with a sizeable proportion of British tourists, I would hear a mixture of both.

[french frank]

I would have thought Frenchie would shout "bis", and hope she was not misheard.

Oh, no, Bryn, I'm English so, le cas échéant, I would call out English 'encore' . Except I wouldn't of course.

Amsy, I have no strong feelings about what anyone else does or does not choose to call out .

[Sir Velo]

Australian batsman David Warner tweeted that his former coach, the embattled South African Mickey Arthur, had been made an "escape goat" by the media. Gotta love those Aussies!

[amateur51]

Australian batsman David Warner tweeted that his former coach, the embattled South African Mickey Arthur, had been made an "escape goat" by the media. Gotta love those Aussies!

[mercia]

we need a Hebrew scholar to tell us how to translate עזאזל (azazel)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scapegoat

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

we need a Hebrew scholar to tell us how to translate azazel

I was always told that in Hebrew the vowels were never written.j

[LeMartinPecheur]

I was always told that in Hebrew the vowels were never written.j

Isn't that just in Jahweh/ Jehovah, in order not to infringe rules about naming the name of God?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Isn't that just in Jahweh/ Jehovah, in order not to infringe rules about naming the name of God?

The rule was that the name should not be spoken, hence the need to guess the vowels, resulting in two very differnt words.

[vinteuil]

I was always told that in Hebrew the vowels were never written.j

Most of the time Hebrew and Arabic are written without vowels. But there are vowel systems, and important texts - including scriptures - will include these.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niqqud

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_diacritics

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

A very interesting link. Thank you.

[jean]

I assume the practice of writing God as G-d is unrelated to the absence of vowel characters in Hebrew?

[Pabmusic]

I thought this was interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23729570

Proof (if I say so literally) that even dictionary meanings change. But it seems to have taken since 1769 for us to acknowledge it.

[french frank]

I thought this was interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23729570

Proof (if I say so literally) that even dictionary meanings change. But it seems to have taken since 1769 for us to acknowledge it.

It shows the dual uses of a dictionary:

1. To illustrate how words are used accurately

2. To enable one to understand what other people mean when they use a particular word or phrase (hence how it is commonly used by native speakers).

[Sir Velo]

I thought this was interesting.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-23729570

Proof (if I say so literally) that even dictionary meanings change. But it seems to have taken since 1769 for us to acknowledge it.

It's still incorrect.