December 14, 2010
Taxonomy [tak-son-uh-mee] is the practice and science of classification. The word finds its roots in the Greek ‘taxis’ (meaning ‘order’ or ‘arrangement’) and ‘nomos’ (meaning ‘law’ or ‘science’).
Taxonomies are typically organized by generalization-specialization relationships, or less formally, parent-child relationships: the subtype has the same properties, behaviors, and constraints as the supertype plus one or more. For example: car is a subtype of vehicle, so any car is also a vehicle, but not every vehicle is a car.
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December 14, 2010
The term life hack refers to productivity tricks that programmers devise and employ to cut through information overload and organize their data. The original definition of the term referred to utilities that filtered and processed data streams like email and RSS feeds. Examples of these types of life hacks might include utilities to synchronize files, track tasks, remind yourself of events or filter email. As the meme spread, the definition of the term expanded. Today, anything that solves an everyday problem in a clever or non-obvious way might be called a life hack. The term became popularized in the blogosphere and is primarily used by geeks who suffer from information overload or those with a playful curiosity in the ways they can accelerate their workflow.
The terms hack, hacking, and hacker have a long history of ambiguity in the computing and geek communities, particularly within the free and open source software crowds. However, in the context used here a ‘hack’ is a clever trick or stratagem. British technology journalist Danny O’Brien coined the term after polling a group of productive geeks on the details of their work processes. O’Brien discovered a pattern among these super-productive programmers: that they devised and used ’embarrassing’ scripts and shortcuts to get their work done.
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December 14, 2010
Parasite single is a Japanese term for a single person who lives with their parents until their late twenties or early thirties in order to enjoy a carefree and comfortable life. In English, the expression ‘sponge’ or ‘basement dweller’ may sometimes be used. The expression is mainly used in reference to Japanese society, but similar phenomena can also be found in other countries worldwide.
In Italy, 30-something singles still relying on their mothers are derided as ‘bamboccioni’ (literally, big babies) and in Germany they are known as Nesthocker (German for nestling), who are still living at ‘Hotel Mama.’ In the U.K. they are referred to by the acronym NEET (not in employment, education, or training). The expression was first used by Professor Masahiro Yamada of Tokyo Gakugei University in 1999. The catchy phrase quickly found its way into the media and is now a well-known expression in Japan.
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December 13, 2010
Lagom is a Swedish word with no direct English equivalent, meaning ‘just the right amount.’ It is also widely translated as ‘in moderation,’ ‘in balance,’ ‘optimal,’ ‘suitable,’ and ‘average.’ But whereas words like ‘sufficient’ and ‘average’ suggest some degree of abstinence, scarcity, or failure, lagom carries the connotation appropriateness although not necessarily perfection. The archetypical Swedish proverb ‘Lagom är bäst,’ literally ‘The right amount is best,’ is translated as ‘Enough is as good as a feast.’ The concept of lagom is similar to that of the Middle Path in Eastern philosophy, and Aristotle’s ‘golden mean’ of moderation in Western philosophy.
The value of ‘just enough’ can be compared to idiom ‘ess is more,’ or contrasted to the value of ‘more is better.’ It is viewed favorably as a sustainable alternative to the hoarding extremes of consumerism. It can also be viewed as repressive: ‘You’re not supposed to be too good, or too rich.’ In a single word, lagom is said to describe the basis of the Swedish national psyche, one of consensus and equality. In recent times Sweden has developed greater tolerance for risk and failure as a result of severe recession in the early 1990s. Nonetheless, it is still widely considered ideal to be modest and avoid extremes.
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December 10, 2010
‘Red tape‘ is a derisive term for excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making. It is usually applied to governments, corporations and other large organizations. Red tape generally includes the filling out of seemingly unnecessary paperwork, obtaining of unnecessary licenses, having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting one’s affairs slower, more difficult, or both.
The origins of the term are somewhat obscure, but it is first noted in historical records in the 16th century, when Henry VIII besieged Pope Clement VII with around eighty or so petitions for the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon. The documents were rolled, sealed and bound with the obligatory red tape, as was the custom. To this day, most U.K. barristers’ briefs are tied in a pink-colored ribbon known as ‘pink tape’ or ‘legal tape.’ All American Civil War veterans’ records were bound in red tape, and the difficulty in accessing them led to the modern American use of the term. Karl Marx wrote about the phenomenon of changing from one person in control of a complete task, to having multiple people each with specialties in specific tasks. He saw this occurring as society shifts from a Seigneurial system to a capitalist system.
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December 10, 2010
‘Kafkaesque‘ [kahf-kuh-esk] is an eponym used to describe concepts, situations, and ideas which are reminiscent of the literary work of the Austro-Hungarian writer Franz Kafka, particularly his novels ‘The Trial’ and ‘The Castle,’ and the novella ‘The Metamorphosis.’ The term has also been described as ‘marked by a senseless, disorienting, often menacing complexity: Kafkaesque bureaucracies’ and ‘marked by surreal distortion; and often a sense of impending danger: Kafkaesque fantasies of the impassive interrogation, the false trial, the confiscated passport, etc.’
It can also describe an intentional distortion of reality by powerful but anonymous bureaucrats: ‘Lack of evidence is treated as a pesky inconvenience, to be circumvented by such Kafkaesque means as depositing unproven allegations into sealed files…’ Another definition would be an existentialist state of ever-elusive freedom, existing under unmitigable control. The adjective refers to anything suggestive of Kafka, especially his nightmarish style of narration, in which characters lack a clear course of action, the ability to see beyond immediate events, and the possibility of escape. The term’s meaning has transcended the literary realm to apply to real-life occurrences and situations that are incomprehensibly complex, bizarre, or illogical.
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December 10, 2010
Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written subjectively, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word Gonzo was first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style. The term has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.
Gonzo journalism tends to favor style over accuracy and often uses personal experiences and emotions to provide context for the topic or event being covered. It disregards the ‘polished’ edited product favored by newspaper media and strives for a more gritty approach. Use of quotations, sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and profanity is common.
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December 8, 2010
Bouffon is a modern french theater term that was re-coined in the early 1960s by French acting instructor Jacques Lecoq to describe a specific style of performance work that has a main focus in the art of mockery. Similar to, but distinct from clowning, the bouffon draws from burlesque, commedia dell’arte, farce, gallows humor, parody, satire, and slapstick.
According to Lecoq, ‘the difference between the clown and the bouffon is that while the clown is alone, the bouffon is part of a gang; while we make fun of the clown, the bouffon makes fun of us. At the heart of the bouffon is mockery pushed to the point of parody. Bouffons amuse themselves by reproducing the life of man in their own way, through games and pranks.’
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December 8, 2010
Bisha’a (‘trial by fire’) is a ritual practiced today by some Bedouin tribes for the purpose of lie detection. It is the best-known of various forms of trial by ordeal which are practiced by the Bedouin, but is increasingly uncommon, with more and more Bedouins preferring standard courts of law for enactment of justice. The basic ritual consists of the accused being asked to lick a hot metal object thrice. He is provided with water for rinsing after the ceremony. He is then inspected by the official who presides over the ceremony, the Mubesha, and by the designated witnesses of the ritual.
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December 7, 2010
Ducking-stools and cucking-stools are chairs formerly used for punishment. They were both instruments of social humiliation and censure, primarily for the offense of scolding or back biting, and less often for sexual offenses like having an illegitimate child or prostitution. They were technical devices which formed part of the wider method of law enforcement through social humiliation.
Most were simply chairs into which the victim could be tied and exposed at her door or the site of her offence and publicly shamed. Some were on wheels and could be dragged around the parish. Some were put on poles so that they could be plunged into water, hence ‘ducking’ stool.
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December 7, 2010
Kangura was a Kinyarwanda- and French-language magazine in Rwanda that served to stoke ethnic hatred in the run-up to the Rwandan Genocide. It was established in 1990, following the invasion of the rebel Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), and continued publishing up to the genocide. Sponsored by the dominant MRND party and edited by founder Hassan Ngeze, the magazine was a response to the RPF-sponsored Kanguka, adopting a similar informal style.
‘Kangura’ was a Kinyarwanda word meaning ‘wake others up,’ as opposed to ‘Kanguka,’ which meant ‘wake up.’ The magazine was the print equivalent to the later-established Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM), publishing articles harshly critical of the RPF and of Tutsis generally. Its sensationalist news was passed by word-of-mouth through the largely illiterate population. Copies of Kangura were read in public meetings and, as the genocide approached, during Interahamwe militia rallies.
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December 7, 2010
Der Stürmer (literally, ‘The Stormer;’ or more accurately, ‘The Attacker’) was a weekly Nazi newspaper published from 1923 to the end of World War II in 1945. It was a significant part of the Nazi propaganda machinery and was vehemently anti-Semitic. Unlike the ‘Völkischer Beobachter’ (‘The People’s Observer’), the official party paper which gave itself an outwardly serious appearance, the tabloid-style ‘Der Stürmer’ often ran obscene materials such as anti-Semitic caricatures and accusations of blood libel, pornography, anti-Catholic, anti-capitalist and anti-reactionary propaganda. The paper originated at Nuremberg; the first copy was published April 20, 1923. Its circulation grew over time, distributing to a large percentage of the German population as well as Argentina, Brazil, Canada and the United States.
‘Der Stürmer’ was best-known for its effective anti-semitic caricatures, which revealed Jews as ugly characters with exaggerated facial features and misshapen bodies. Many of these drawing were the work of Philipp Rupprecht, known as Fips, who was one of the best-known anti-Semitic cartoonists, his virulent attacks wedding ‘Jewish capitalists’ with ‘Jewish Communism.’ At the bottom of the title page there was always the motto ‘Die Juden sind unser Unglück!’ (‘The Jews are our misfortune!’), coined by German historian, Heinrich von Treitschke in the 1880s. The paper’s other motto was: ‘Deutsches Wochenblatt zum Kampfe um die Wahrheit’ (‘German Weekly Newspaper in the Fight for Truth’).
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