twelvepence
@twelvepence.bsky.social
Lover of language, books, plants, orchids, video games, knowledge...
“Here we all are by day; by night we’re hurled / By dreams, each one into a sev’ral world.”
September 20, 2025 at 3:50 PM
“Here we all are by day; by night we’re hurled / By dreams, each one into a sev’ral world.”
Reposted by twelvepence
Old Soviet joke for today:
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
August 30, 2025 at 5:06 AM
Old Soviet joke for today:
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
A man walks into a newsstand every day, looks around, and leaves.
After a long time of this, the owner says “Can I help you find something?”
“I’m looking for the obituaries.”
“The obituaries are in the back of the newspaper, comrade.”
“Not the one I’m looking for.”
Reposted by twelvepence
Spread the love and acceptance #pridemonth
June 3, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Spread the love and acceptance #pridemonth
Reposted by twelvepence
Reposted by twelvepence
Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality
![[“Fantasy is escapist, and that is its glory. If a soldier is imprisoned by the enemy, don’t we consider it his duty to escape? The moneylenders, the know-nothings, the authoritarians have us all in prison; if we value the freedom of the mind and soul, if we’re partisans of liberty, then it’s our plain duty to escape, and to take as many people with us as we can.”]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:hppum4l25hcczzffastsicpq/bafkreihuubdwcftfkvvlnepoaf6pfxqulryfp7ydrydi5fe2pflwz63wgm@jpeg)
February 23, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Ursula le Guin, on the accusation that fantasy is an escape from reality
Today's Sanskrit bahuvrīhi compound:
लोभोपहतचेतसः lobhopahatacetasaḥ (m. pl. nom.)
"Those whose minds are smit by avarice."
From चेतस् cetas ("mind") + उपहत upahata ("destroyed") + लोभ lobha ("greed, confusion").
#Sanskrit #langsky #linguistics
लोभोपहतचेतसः lobhopahatacetasaḥ (m. pl. nom.)
"Those whose minds are smit by avarice."
From चेतस् cetas ("mind") + उपहत upahata ("destroyed") + लोभ lobha ("greed, confusion").
#Sanskrit #langsky #linguistics
February 11, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Today's Sanskrit bahuvrīhi compound:
लोभोपहतचेतसः lobhopahatacetasaḥ (m. pl. nom.)
"Those whose minds are smit by avarice."
From चेतस् cetas ("mind") + उपहत upahata ("destroyed") + लोभ lobha ("greed, confusion").
#Sanskrit #langsky #linguistics
लोभोपहतचेतसः lobhopahatacetasaḥ (m. pl. nom.)
"Those whose minds are smit by avarice."
From चेतस् cetas ("mind") + उपहत upahata ("destroyed") + लोभ lobha ("greed, confusion").
#Sanskrit #langsky #linguistics
Reposted by twelvepence
“Do not bend your neck for that which cuts necks.”
A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
February 7, 2025 at 1:31 PM
“Do not bend your neck for that which cuts necks.”
A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
A Sumerian proverb, as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.
Amended for current times:
Sie wissen das, und sie tun es.
Sie wissen das, und sie tun es.
January 29, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Amended for current times:
Sie wissen das, und sie tun es.
Sie wissen das, und sie tun es.
Unsolicited fun Sanskrit tidbit:
One word for “herb, plant” is ओषधि oṣadhi, literally meaning “burning receptacle” or “light-bearing.”
(From √उष् uṣ “to burn” + धि dhi, weak form of √धा dhā “to hold, possess, place”).
#langsky
One word for “herb, plant” is ओषधि oṣadhi, literally meaning “burning receptacle” or “light-bearing.”
(From √उष् uṣ “to burn” + धि dhi, weak form of √धा dhā “to hold, possess, place”).
#langsky
January 16, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Unsolicited fun Sanskrit tidbit:
One word for “herb, plant” is ओषधि oṣadhi, literally meaning “burning receptacle” or “light-bearing.”
(From √उष् uṣ “to burn” + धि dhi, weak form of √धा dhā “to hold, possess, place”).
#langsky
One word for “herb, plant” is ओषधि oṣadhi, literally meaning “burning receptacle” or “light-bearing.”
(From √उष् uṣ “to burn” + धि dhi, weak form of √धा dhā “to hold, possess, place”).
#langsky
Reposted by twelvepence
something interesting i learned on my Italy trip last year:
"o sole mio" does NOT mean "oh my sun" (as i had always assumed).
"'o" (note the leading apostrophe) is the masculine definite article in the Neapolitan language. it's really "my sun.." (cf. Italian "il mio sole")
1/
"o sole mio" does NOT mean "oh my sun" (as i had always assumed).
"'o" (note the leading apostrophe) is the masculine definite article in the Neapolitan language. it's really "my sun.." (cf. Italian "il mio sole")
1/
January 15, 2025 at 3:43 PM
something interesting i learned on my Italy trip last year:
"o sole mio" does NOT mean "oh my sun" (as i had always assumed).
"'o" (note the leading apostrophe) is the masculine definite article in the Neapolitan language. it's really "my sun.." (cf. Italian "il mio sole")
1/
"o sole mio" does NOT mean "oh my sun" (as i had always assumed).
"'o" (note the leading apostrophe) is the masculine definite article in the Neapolitan language. it's really "my sun.." (cf. Italian "il mio sole")
1/
Because it’s another sopping wet day in the Pacific Northwest, here’s one of the many Sanskrit words for cloud: अभ्रम् abhram, literally “water-bearer.”
Derived from अप् ap “water” + √भ bhṛ “to bear.”
Derived from अप् ap “water” + √भ bhṛ “to bear.”
January 11, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Because it’s another sopping wet day in the Pacific Northwest, here’s one of the many Sanskrit words for cloud: अभ्रम् abhram, literally “water-bearer.”
Derived from अप् ap “water” + √भ bhṛ “to bear.”
Derived from अप् ap “water” + √भ bhṛ “to bear.”
Reposted by twelvepence
Horrified Taylor Swift Realizes Football Happens Every Year
theonion.com/horrified-ta...
theonion.com/horrified-ta...
December 26, 2024 at 5:33 PM
Horrified Taylor Swift Realizes Football Happens Every Year
theonion.com/horrified-ta...
theonion.com/horrified-ta...
“And I know that all I understand about living is having your your work to do, and being able to do it. That’s the pleasure, and the glory, and all. And if you can’t do the work, or it’s taken from you, then what’s any good? You have to have something…”
-Ursula K. Le Guin (Tehanu)
-Ursula K. Le Guin (Tehanu)
December 17, 2024 at 8:26 PM
“And I know that all I understand about living is having your your work to do, and being able to do it. That’s the pleasure, and the glory, and all. And if you can’t do the work, or it’s taken from you, then what’s any good? You have to have something…”
-Ursula K. Le Guin (Tehanu)
-Ursula K. Le Guin (Tehanu)
嵐影湖光
lán yǐng hú guāng
(lit. “mountain-mist reflection lake light”)
A phrase for a scene of mist-draped mountains illuminated by light reflecting off the surface of a lake.
lán yǐng hú guāng
(lit. “mountain-mist reflection lake light”)
A phrase for a scene of mist-draped mountains illuminated by light reflecting off the surface of a lake.
illuned.by
December 11, 2024 at 1:10 PM
嵐影湖光
lán yǐng hú guāng
(lit. “mountain-mist reflection lake light”)
A phrase for a scene of mist-draped mountains illuminated by light reflecting off the surface of a lake.
lán yǐng hú guāng
(lit. “mountain-mist reflection lake light”)
A phrase for a scene of mist-draped mountains illuminated by light reflecting off the surface of a lake.
From my walk around the WWII memorial this evening.
December 9, 2024 at 3:18 AM
From my walk around the WWII memorial this evening.
Reposted by twelvepence
Reposted by twelvepence
To everyone in a similar scenario: the tactic my doctor's office has taught me is to ask, in writing, for:
1) the name, board specialty, and license number of the doctor making the determination the treatment was not medically necessary;
1) the name, board specialty, and license number of the doctor making the determination the treatment was not medically necessary;
March 26, 2024 at 2:16 AM
To everyone in a similar scenario: the tactic my doctor's office has taught me is to ask, in writing, for:
1) the name, board specialty, and license number of the doctor making the determination the treatment was not medically necessary;
1) the name, board specialty, and license number of the doctor making the determination the treatment was not medically necessary;
उरग uraga (lit. “chest-goer”)
One of the Sanskrit words for “snake.”
One of the Sanskrit words for “snake.”
December 5, 2024 at 5:37 PM
उरग uraga (lit. “chest-goer”)
One of the Sanskrit words for “snake.”
One of the Sanskrit words for “snake.”
I love that many of the orchids I thought were too young to flower are now in spike. Photos to come!
December 5, 2024 at 5:13 PM
I love that many of the orchids I thought were too young to flower are now in spike. Photos to come!
I deeply admire those who dedicate themselves to doing one single thing for their entire life, but I cannot imagine the same for myself without feeling imprisoned.
December 4, 2024 at 10:59 PM
I deeply admire those who dedicate themselves to doing one single thing for their entire life, but I cannot imagine the same for myself without feeling imprisoned.
Whenever I try to name the unseen emotional undercurrent that sustains many of my colleagues in a corporate setting, the phrase that keeps returning to me is “perverse enthusiasm.”
December 4, 2024 at 3:51 PM
Whenever I try to name the unseen emotional undercurrent that sustains many of my colleagues in a corporate setting, the phrase that keeps returning to me is “perverse enthusiasm.”
Reposted by twelvepence
I will never, ever get over this.
December 3, 2024 at 5:49 PM
I will never, ever get over this.