#english latin greek and arabic

[ashes-onthewind]

okay y'all I'm going the fuck to sleep now hopefully

it's 4am...... inshallah i can sleep.....

[yvanspijk]

Cat, chat, Katze, kat

The origin of the word cat is unknown. There are similar words in many related languages, such as French chat, Welsh cath, and Polish kot, but also in unrelated languages, e.g. Arabic qiṭṭa and Turkish kedi. However, none of these languages can be identified as the source language. See the infographic to learn more about it.

[linguisticdiscovery]

azure

During classical antiquity the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli was mined in a place called Lāžvard around modern Afghanistan. That’s also the name of the stone in Classical Persian (لاجورد‎). It comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵʰelh₃- ‘to gleam, to shine’ + Proto-Iranian *varta- ‘stone’. Other words that come from *ǵʰelh₃- include gold, yellow, felon, glow, and cholera! Medieval Greek…

[homerstroystory]

ancient languages summer courses

the belfast summer school in ancient languages is offering courses in beginning, intermediate, and advanced Latin and Greek, as well as Biblical Hebrew, Classical Arabic, Egyptian Hieroglyphs, and Old English, both in person at Queens University Belfast and online. prices range from GBP 75 to GBP 145 for one-two weeks of classes. information can be found here.

[tanadrin]

medieval monks and accountants start using Italian millione ("one thousand" + augmentative suffix) to mean 10^6 by the 1200s; this spreads to other languages

Jehan Adam coins bymillion and trimillion to mean 10^12 and 10^18 in 1475

Nicolas Chuquet extends this scale up to nonyllion (10^54), with every step being another six orders of magnitude (million, byllion, tryllion, quadrillion, quyllion, sixlion, septyllion, ottylion, nonyllion) in 1484. Note that in this period, it was common to put the digit separator every six digits instead of every three.

Guillaume Budé refers to 10^9 as milliart in 1516, in a Latin text

But in 1549, Jacques Pelletier du Mans uses milliard to mean 10^12, citing Budé as a source

In the 1600s, people start putting digit separators every three digits. But some scientists and mathematicians define the numerical scale according to how digits are grouped, rather than the actual order of magnitude: thus, one billion becomes 10^9, one trillion becomes 10^12, etc, creating the short scale.

"Milliard" is eventually added to the long scale, meaning 10^9 (in keeping with Budé's usage); the first published example is from 1676

By 1729, the short-scale meaning of "billion" (10^9) has already crept into American usage

This is in keeping with French usage at the time: in 1762, the Académie Française dictionary cites billion as meaning 10^9.

By the early 19th century, France has almost completely converted to the short scale, and U.S. usage follows France; the long scale is referred to in some sources as "obsolete." But Britain is still using the long scale (and I assume Germany and most other European countries)

Over the course of the 20th century, the long scale begins to become more influential in France, presumably due to the influence of continental usage; while the short scale becomes more influential in Britain, presumably due to the influence of American English. Notably the SI system very specifically uses unique prefixes that are the same across languages, to prevent confusion!

In 1961, the French Government confirms that they're going to officially use the long scale from now on; in 1974, Britain officially switches over to the short scale, and many other English-speaking countries follow.

In 1975, the terms "short scale" and "long scale" are actually coined, by mathematician Geneviève Guitel.

One reason large number names could be so unstable for so long is, of course, that outside specialized usage they are rare, and were even more rare before modern science and large modern monetary amounts became commonplace points of discussion. Wikipedia says "milliard" wasn't common in German until 1923, when bank notes had to be overstamped during Weimar-era hyperinflation.

As it currently stands, English, Indonesian, Hebrew, Russian, Turkish, and most varieties of Arabic use the short scale; continental Europe and most varieties of Spanish outside Europe use the long scale. A few countries use both, usually in different languages, like South African English (short scale) and Afrikaans (long scale) or Canadian English (short scale) and Canadian French (long scale) . Puerto Rico uses the short scale in economic and technical usage, but the long scale in publications aimed at export.

Notably some languages use neither, having their own names for large numbers--South Asian languages have the Indian numbering system, and Bhutan, Cambodia, and various East Asian languages also have their own numbering systems. Greek, exceptionally, uses a native calque of the short scale rather than a borrowing.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Some free or inexpensive comprehensible input, audio and video lessons, and listening practice stuff for popular languages because idk I felt like googling some stuff today

Arabic: Yale k-16 interactive reading, Arabic Comprehensible, Egyptic

Bengali: Bangla Shekho, Bengali Fairy Tales

Chinese (Mandarin): Comprehensible Chinese, hackingchinese.com, Acquire Mandarin, Comprehensible Mandarin, Blabla Chinese, Easy Mandarin, Mandarin Click

English: English Comprehensible input for ESL beginners, Dreaming English, EnglishClass101, British Council LearnEnglish, News in Slow English

French: French Comprehensible Input, alice ayel, Easy French, innerfrench.com, Little Talk in Slow French, Francais Authentique

German: DW Learn German, Naturlich German, Comprehensible German, Easy German, Löwenzahn, Deutsch Direkt, Learn German With Falk

Greek (modern): Natural Languages TRPS Greek, Helinka, Hellinic American Union, Easy Greek, Greekpod101

Greek (ancient): Easy Latin (Greek Course), Alpha With Angela (biblical [Kione] Greek), Chihon Teaches, Ancient Greek in Action, Athenaze

Hebrew: The Hebrew Adventure, Free Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew), Hebrew Time, thehebrewcafe.com

Hindi: Comprehensible Hindi, HindiPod101, Hindi TV, Easy Hindi

Hungarian: FluentBox, Magyar Hungarian, Speak Hungarian With Angie, Easy Hungarian,

Icelandic: Icelandic For Foreigners, icelandiconline.com, Ylhyra, Viltu laera islensku,

Italian: Italian For Americans, Easy Italian, Learn Italian With Lucrezia, teacherstefano.com

Japanese: Comprehensible Japanese, DailyJapanese, Akane Japanese Class, iroironanihongo, Japanese Immersion With Asami, Speak Japanese Naturally, Learn Japanese with Tanaka san,

Korean: Comprehensible Input Korean, Korean Patch, Immersion in Korean, Intuit Korean, Learn Korean in Korean, Hello Jadoo, MAVOCA, Storytime in Korean, Talk to Me in 100% Korean

Latin: Easy Latin, ScorpioMartianus, Quomodo Dicitur?, Found In Antiquity, The London Latin Course

Portuguese: Teach Yourself Portuguese, The Sounds of Portuguese, Portuguese With Leo, Easy Portuguese

Russian: Comprehensible Russian, Easy Russian, About Russian in Russian, Russian With Max, Russian from Russia, Real Russian Club

Spanish: Dreaming Spanish, Teacher Catalina. Hola Spanish, Easy Spanish,

[writerthreads]

Fantasy names ideas (with meanings!)

By Writerthreads on Instagram

I always have trouble coming up with names for side characters, so hopefully this can help you as much as it helped me! The names in brackets are additional ones that are similar.

Male Fantasy Names

Aldric – (Germanic) old ruler / wise ruler

Caelum – (Latin) sky / heaven

Druvan(/Dhruv) – (Sanskrit) steady / immovable

Fenris – (Norse) named after the mythical wolf Fenrir

Kaelen(/Kaelan) – (Celtic) warrior / mighty

Leofric – (Old English) beloved ruler

Maelor – (Welsh) prince / lord

Rurik – (Slavic) famous ruler

Torin – (Gaelic) chief / thunder

Zarion – (Hebrew) full of sadness

Baldric(/Balrik) – (Old Norse) mighty warrior

Garron – (Irish) strength / protection

Ithran – (Arabic) crowned / majestic

Jorah – (Hebrew) autumn rain / early rain

Oberon – (Germanic / French) noble bear, associated with royalty

Female Fantasy Names

Ariella – (Hebrew) lioness of God

Brienne – (Celtic) noble / strong

Elysande – (French) noble / gracious

Isolde – (Germanic / Celtic) ice ruler / beauty

Lyra – (Latin) derived from the constellation Lyra, lyre

Mirabel – (Latin) wonder

Seraphine – (Hebrew) burning one / angelic being

Taliyah – (Arabic) blooming / rising

Yvaine – (Old French) evening star

Althea – (Greek) healer / wholesome

Calantha – (Greek) beautiful flower

Elira – (Albanian) free spirit / liberated

Selene – (Greek) moon goddess / light of the moon

Eleanor – (Greek / French) shining light

Gender-Neutral Fantasy Names

Aeris – (Latin) air / ethereal

Elynor(/Aenor) – (Greek) light / shining

Lior – (Hebrew) my light

Orin – (Celtic) pale / fair

Rune – (Old Norse) secret / mystery

Selwyn – (Old English) good friend / companion

Vesper – (Latin) evening / evening star

Aenor – (Germanic) strength / honor

Ilan – (Hebrew) tree / oak

Soren – (Scandinavian) stern / severe

Next up, country name ideas?

[allherfaeriesmeetinjuly]

no hate but the integration of musically upbeat pop songs in edits of the wednesday franchise is disintegrating me to splinters of nothingness.

[illuminaryart]

No Greater Love. 16x20 watercolor and ink. Each "I love you" was written by a native speaker or student of that language. Afrikaans, American Sign Language, Arabic, Bijabo, Burmese, Czech,  Danish, Dutch,  English, Faroese, Fijian, Finnish, French, German, Greek (koine), Greek (modern), Gujarati, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Icelandic, Ilakano, Indonesian,  Italian, Japanese, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Kreyal, Kriol, Latin, Latvian,  Lingala, Luganda, Malay,  Malay, Mandarin,  Melpa, Mongolian, Nakui, Nepali, Papua New Guinean Pidgin (three versions), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian,  Runyankore, Russian, Samoan,  Sesotho, Slovak,  Sorimi, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil,  Tedim, Thai, Tohono O’odham, Tongan, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu.

[dragonpropaganda]

Oh! these symbols are part of a set! here are the raw files

Neon signs are derived from a random seed during the rendering of the level instead of deliberately picked out, so you're right that they're gibberish, but it's really fun to see analysis of them

Another chance to talk about Rain World's random symbols that suspiciously resemble Hebrew letters for no reason at all. Random wall symbols are not a rare phenomenon in this game. But there is a singular specific room that caught me thinking for a little too much. In SU_B04 you will find those three letters

When I first played the game I never noticed it, but now I can't remove my eyes from it every time I start a new playthrough.

The letters resemble those three letters: Sameh caf and shin, and they actually create a word (it's so exciting I know). The thing is, the letter shin is mostly used as a prefix, in this specific order it's used to create a word that means "That throne". And the problem is that in English it will sound perfectly fine, but in Hebrew this word is meaningless and confusing because the lack of a sentence. (let alone the word כס is also kind of incorrect on it's own because you need to add another word: the royalty - המלוכה, to imply this is a royal throne but it's not important now)

When add a prefix to a word YOU HAVE to use it in a sentence. This is how valid sentences look, the meaning of the word changes depends on the context presented in the sentence. Of course this is probably just a funny coincidence, because in the same region you can find a similar sight that is complete gibberish (???, D and G)

But the thought of Rain World, by random chance, containing a whole Hebrew word (in an invalid way but still) that means "this throne" on some luxurious ass pillars is completely hilarious, and spark my interest so much.

[velisle]

The Meaning Of Villains' Names (ft Vogel)

Inspired by the post @.cherryisagamer made for Ikemen Prince here

Take most of these with a grain of salt, because of Cybird's weird naming tendancy as well as how names are in most cases are perceived in various ways by everyone. Also included extra information because I'm a silly little nerd.

Name: William Rex

Meaning:

“William” meaning “resolute protection/protector”

“Rex” meaning “king”

William is actually German in origin. It derives from the Germanic Wilhelm, whose roots wil (“will, desire”) and helm (“helmet, protection”) combine to mean “resolute protector”

Name: Liam Evans

Meaning:

“Liam” is the Irish short form of “William”, therefore same meaning as him

“Evans” meaning “the Lord is gracious”

Evans is a boy’s name of Welsh origin. An Anglicized form of Ifan, which stems from the Hebrew John, it translates to “graced by Yahweh” or “God is gracious.”

Name: Harrison Gray (I had to go check if his last name was with an e or a)

Meaning:

“Harrison” meaning “son of Harry”

“Gray” meaning... “of a colour intermediate between black and white, as of ashes or lead”

Originating primarily from Scotland, Gray is a descriptive surname that gained popularity in England. It described someone with gray hair or complexion. Alternatively, the surname Gray had habitational roots associated with those hailing from Graye-sur-Mer, Normandy.

Name: Elbert Greetia

Meaning:

“Elbert”, a variation of Albert, meaning “noble; bright”

“Greetia”... from written records, it appears to have been used as an actual surname during the 1800s but I couldn't find any info regarding its meaning.

This masculine name has Old English and German roots, coming from the name Albert. Translating to “bright,” “noble,” or “famous.”

Name: Alfons Sylvatica

Meaning:

“Alfons” (there are many variants btw) meaning “noble; ready; brave”

“Sylvatica” comes from the scientific name for forget-me-nots, “Myosotis sylvatica”

Alphons is a masculine name of German origin. Composed of apalaz and funsaz, it means “ready for battle,” “noble,” and “brave.” This sweet moniker is thought to be ultimately derived from the Latin Alphonsus and boasts a wide variety of variants, such as Alfonso, Alfonzo, and Alphonso.

Name: Roger Barel

Meaning:

“Roger” meaning “famous warrior”

“Barel”... denoting a “courageous or brave person”

This name is forged from the German elements hrod and ger, imbuing it with the striking translation of "famous spearman."

Name: Jude Jazza

Meaning:

“Jude” meaning “praised” and praised is he in the jp server

“Jazza”... I think saw a post here saying how it's a form of Jeremy? But I can't find it now. There's something similar in Arabic I found however, “Jaza” (pronounced differently, there's not much emphasis on the Z afaik) meaning “reward; recompense; good return” which I find fitting his themes of retribution for those not keeping promises and debts, how he keeps all his promises etc.

Name: Ellis Twilight

Meaning:

“Ellis” meaning “kind; benevolent”

“Twilight” in its literal sense, “dusk”. His eyes contains a similar colour palette + I believe it is a reoccurring theme with him

Name: Victoria

Meaning: “Victor” meaning “conqueror”

Victor is one of the earliest Christian names, borne (as Vittorio) by several saints and popes, symbolizing Christ's victory over death. Victor made it big in the English-speaking world during the reign of Queen Victoria, one of the few boys’ names popularized by a female version.

Name: Darius Vogel

Meaning:

“Darius” meaning “possessing goodness; maintains possessions well”

“Vogel”... German for “bird”.

Name: Nica Schwarz/Schwartz (I tried to do some research and it seems like both spellings are used. Please correct me if I'm wrong.)

Meaning:

“Nica” meaning “victory; very good; pure crystal water”

“Schwarz/Schwartz”... German for “black”

Nica appears to have many origins, including Slavic, Persian and Greek. But I'm somewhat inclined to believe his name has something to do with water, as it would go well with Ring's name (Lynn.)

Name: Ring Schwarz/Schwartz

...Cybird has made questionable choices. So I went with what sounded nearest to his name: Lynn (it's so so much cuter for him)

Meaning:

“Ring” meaning “a small circular band, typically of valuable metal”

“Lynn” meaning “lake, waterfall, pool below a waterfall”

“Schwarz/Schwartz”... German for “black”

[astrobiscuits]

Unknown asteroids #1

🦭Adorno (21029) – of Spanish origin; means to decorate/embellish; (for females only) if Sun, Mars, Saturn or the Descendant are badly aspected by this asteroid in the natal chart, it can indicate being “objectified” by men; if one of the mentioned planets/angle are positively aspected by this asteroid, it can indicate fighting for women's rights when it comes to the objectification of women

🦭Advincula (23017) – of Latin origin; denotes someone advanced in a certain skill/job/life experiences OR someone who can advance a certain field

🦭Aenna (1155) – of Hebrew origin; means favor/grace, God has favored me; denotes someone getting blessed by a higher force

🦭Aemilia (159) – of Latin origin; means industrious; denotes a workaholic and/or someone who works in engineering; a second meaning: to strive/excel

🦭Aeschylus (2876) – father of Greek tragedy drama; denotes a strong affinity for drama works (either in reading or writing them); if it aspects Uranus, it can bring popularity due to scandals/dramatic past

🦭Bengt (1846) – of Latin origin, but frequently used in Sweden; means blessed

🦭Cappi (49777) – of Italian origin; means lucky

🦭Elpis (59) – of Greek origin; means "the spirit of hope"; like the star card in tarot, this asteroid shows us where we are most hopeful

🦭Gorky (2768) – of English origin; means awkward/strange

🦭Khandrika (12068) – of Indian origin; means small village/small place

🦭Khalat (468725) – of Indian origin; means robe; denotes someone with high social status, someone who dresses expensive

🦭Libby (5672) – of British origin; means God’s promise; if relevant in synastry, it can indicate fated connections, someone given to us from the above

🦭Odeh (34786) – of Arabic origin; denotes someone (or something) coming back into your life, similar to Aesculapia (1027)

🦭Oenomaos (164555) – from Greek mythology (corresponds to King Oenomaus of Pisa); shows love for consuming wine; if prominent in the natal chart, it can point to an alcoholic

🦭Oenone (215) – from Greek mythology; a nymph abandoned by her lover, Paris, who choose Helen of Troy over her; prominent in people who have been cheated on/left by lovers

🦭Okugi (5174) – of Japanese origin; means the heart or depth of something, secrets, mysteries, esoterica

🦭Okuni (7769) – of Japanese origin; means homeland or native country

🦭Olathe (18984) – its meaning comes from the Shawnee language; means lovely/beautiful

🦭Paeonia (1061) – of Latin origin; denotes the latin term for peony (symbols of peony: love, honor, romance, beauty)

🦭Palach (1834) – of Russian origin; means executioner, hangman, butcher, torturer

🦭Piedade (11912) – of Portugese origin; means pity, mercy, kindness towards an enemy

🦭Pierre (1392) – of French origin; means stone, rock

🦭Quigley (18699) – of Irish origin; means “from the mother’s side”; denotes someone very similar to their own mother or her family, heavily attached to the mother figure or someone who has grown up without a father; a second meaning: “unruly hair”; denotes someone with crazy hair

🦭Quinn (107561) – of Irish origin; means wise, intelligent

🦭Quito (10793) – of Spanish origin; means “center of the world”; denotes someone popular and/or famous

🦭Seiwa (16700) – of Japanese origin; means saint; denotes a person of superior knowledge and virtue; a second meaning: peace, calm

🦭Vangelis (6354) – of Greek origin; means good news

🦭Vate (12312) – of English origin, but borrowed from Latin; means prophet, fortune teller, inspired writer; prominent in witches and tarot readers

🦭Vedrana (176014) – of Croatian and Serbian origin; denotes someone who is lighthearted, joyful, cheerful

🦭Xenia (625) – of Greek origin; denotes a great host, someone hospitable and welcoming with guests and strangers in need

(21029, 23017, 1155, 159, 2876, 1846, 49777, 59, 2768, 12068, 468725, 5672, 34786, 164555, 215, 5174, 7769, 18984, 1061, 1834, 11912, 1392, 18699, 107561, 10793, 16700, 6354, 12312, 176014, 625)

[spookyserenades]

not trying to rush or anything! i was just wondering when we’ll get a taste of sanctity 👀

hehe! I'm working on the first chapter already, it's up to 4k words. I've made a banner (not a swanky one LOL my strengths are not with graphic design) but I'll copy paste my notes about the boys that I've come up with so far. And give you the banner 💕

Seokjin 

Born 1145 - Turned 1176 (Goryeo) 879 years old, physically 31

Manipulative type yandere 

Taeja (crown prince) of a monarch, third-born son; focused on studies, arts, humanities, and would assist in conversations surrounding war and foreign relations

Speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, Arabic (most ancient languages as well)

Power: Compulsion, he can influence minds, wipe memories, make suggestions to control someone

Yoongi

Born 1476 - Turned 1507 (Renaissance Period) 548 years old, physically 31

Obsessive type yandere

Apprentice of Leonardo Da Vinci, created some of his art then went on to have his own famous career, patron of arts 

Speaks Latin, Greek, and all other Romance languages

Power: Paralysis, he can paralyze someone using his mind, rendering them unable to move

Hoseok

Born 1607 - Turned 1637 (Early Modern Period, Piracy’s Golden Age) 417 years old, physically 30

Possessive type yandere

Buccaneer, captain of a ship that would sail around the Caribbean. Plundered and burned cities, owns many fine things, well-traveled

Speaks all Romance languages, Dutch, Haitian Creole

Power: Tracking, he can find anyone with his senses without fail, can predict target’s moves in advance

Namjoon

Born 1630 - Turned 1659 (Joseon) 394 years old, physically 29

Sadistic type yandere

Ruthless military general that led men during the Qing invasion of Joseon. Later became an assassin (sword for hire, essentially) 

Speaks Korean, Mandarin, Japanese, and most other Asian languages

Power: Pain Illusion, when focused on target he can create the illusion that the target is being burned alive

Jimin

Born 1796 - Turned 1824 (Regency Era, 20 years post America’s Independence) 228 years old, physically 28

Clingy type yandere

Famous playwright of romantic tragedies, owner of a theater in England that was extremely popular

Speaks all Romance languages

Power: Hypnosis, he can convince targets that they’re in love with him/can’t live without him

Taehyung

Born 1841 - Turned 1869 (Victorian Era, 20ish years before Industrial revolution) 183 years old, physically 28

Stalker type yandere

Basically Vanderbilt vibes. The coven lives in the Breakers mansion, Taehyung built it. Owned railroads, reclusive business tycoon

Speaks English and French

Power: Glamoring, he can disguise his appearance and his presence itself

Jeongguk

Born 1900 - Turned 1926 (Roaring 20’s, Prohibition Act, Al Capone mafia) 124 years old, physically 26

Overprotective type yandere

Ran with Al Capone crime family, mostly as a booze smuggler and bodyguard. Was turned when the North Siders targeted Capone at the Hawthorne inn

Speaks English

Power: Telepathy, can read minds

[authormars]

Languages

A list of what languages I think the brothers (+others) would speak

Lucifer:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, Spanish, French, Mandarin, English, Arabic, Latin, Greek, Gaelic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, German, Portuguese, Koreon, Italian

Essentially, you name it, he speaks it. Except demonic. He cannot learn it at all and it's very frustrating

Mammon:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, English, Spanish, Portuguese

Leviathan:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, Japanese, English

Satan:

Common, 1st: Demonic (wrath demon variant), Latin, English, Japanese, Spanish, Greek, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Russian

Asmodeus:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Demonic, but specifically the Incubus/Succubus variant

Beelzebub:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, English, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, German, French, HindiLiterally just all the languages where he has to know words for food

Belphegor:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, English, Japanese

Diavolo:

Common, 1st: Demonic (most variants, but the royal one is his first language), Latin, Greek, English, Japanese, Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese, Swahili, French, Russian, German

Barbatos:

Literally every language in every variant. He's lived through all of time, so he's managed to become quite fluent in Angelic/Celestial

Simeon:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, French, English, Spanish, Latin, Greek, Japanese

Luke:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, Latin, Learning English, Learning Japanese

Solomon:

Common, English, Latin, 1st: Hebrew, Aramaic, Japanese, Demonic (not fluent)

Thirteen:

Common, Celestial/Angelic, Demonic

Raphael:

Common, 1st: Celestial/Angelic, English, Japanese, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic

Mephistopheles:

Common, 1st: Demonic (royal variant), English, Japanese, French, Latin, Greek, Hebrew

[najia-cooks]

[ID: A green salad in whitish sauce on a bright blue plate. Symmetrical divots are pressed into it and filled with olive oil. It is garnished with a dandelion. End ID]

هندبة بالطحينية / Hindba b al-tahina (Palestinian wild greens with tahini)

"هندبة" ("hindba"), "هِنْدِبَاء" ("hindibāʔ"), or هِنْدَب ("hindab") is an Arabic word referring to chicory, wild endive, or dandelion greens. Century Dictionary speculates, based on phonetic similarity to European terms for Cichorium endivia, that it is a word of European origin (consider English "endive," ultimately from Latin "endivia," via Byzantine Greek "ἐντύβῐον," "entúbion," and Middle French "endive"). However it seems more likely that, like many Arabic food terms, it is borrowed from Aramaic (הּנְדְּבָא / ܗܶܢܕܒܳܐ; "hendǝḇā").

"Hindba" belongs to the Arabic root ه د ب (ha - dal - ba), which forms words relating to fringes, frills, and hair: compare "هَدَب" ("hadab"), "twisted leaves," and هُدُب ("hudub"), "fringe, lash."

D. S. Fish tells us that this "wild plant [...] is very abundant as a weed among Clover (bersem) [برسيم] in Egypt," where "the leaves are often collected and sold in small bunches."

Two Palestinian dishes are commonly made using hindba. One isهندبة بزيت (hinda b zayt), hindba with [olive] oil, which combines blanched greens with browned onion, lemon juice, and (of course) olive oil. Lebanese hindba is similar, consisting of greens prepared in the same way, but topped with sliced, caramelised onions. The other preparation of hindba is with a dressing made with tahina (tahini), lemon juice, chili, and sometimes garlic or yoghurt.

This recipe is for greens with tahina sauce. Blanching gives the greens a soft, creamy texture; the nuttiness of the tahina picks up on nutty and earthy undertones in the greens; and lemon, garlic, and chili balance that earthiness with sharper notes. This dish is excellent as a side with bread and other vegetable dishes.

Palestinian Red Crescent Society

World Central Kitchen

Anera

Ingredients:

100g chicory or dandelion greens

1 clove garlic, grated or mashed

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Shatta, or green or red chili pepper, crushed or minced

Olive oil

2 Tbsp tahina

Instructions:

Float greens in a large bowl of water and rinse thoroughly. Lift out of the water without allowing to drag along the bottom; any dirt and debris will sink.

Roughly chop greens. Boil in salted water: if using chicory, 2-3 minutes; if using dandelion greens, 7-10 minutes.

Drain greens and squeeze to remove water.

Prepare the marinade. Grate garlic, or mash in a mortar and pestle along with a pinch of salt.

Add lemon juice, chili pepper, and tahina and mix; the garlic will cause the mixture to thicken. Add water and continue mixing until you get a sauce of medium consistency.

Mix greens and dressing together to coat. Taste to adjust salt, lemon, and chili.

Serve topped with lots of good olive oil, alongside khubbiz, pickled cucumbers or turnips, and raw vegetables (such as radishes and green onions).

Identifying dandelions:

Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale agg.) are a group of very closely related flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They grow from a basal rosette of regularly or irregularly lobed leaves. The deep lobes point backward to the center of the plant. Flowers are yellow and solitary, growing on leafless, hollow stalks that emerge from the center of the basal rosette. Stalks produce white sap when broken.

Autumn hawkbit (Scorzoneroides autumnalis) can sometimes be mistaken for dandelion; but autumn hawkbit may have multiple flowers per stem, and the teeth on the leaves are much thinner and do not point back to the center of the rosette. Autumn hawkbit leaves are also edible.

Also contrast cat's ear (Hypochaeris radicata): the lobes on the leaves are more round and do not point backward; there are multiple flowers per stem; and the stems are not hollow. Cat's ear leaves are edible.

Identifying chicory

See hindba b al-zayt.

[francisofgotham1]

Bat Family is Multilingual

While that seems like an obvious observation, not enough people talk about it, either on this site on anywhere else. But yeah, the Bats are a polyglot household. And for those that grew up speaking more than one language, we all know the mayhem that brings.

You know the "spanglish" and "portenglish" that we create? It's on another level at the Wayne residence. Conversations switch languages every sentence, for their dialect of gibberish to anyone outside of it.

For example, the conversation goes: English -> Spanish -> Swahili -> Aramaic -> Mandarin -> Portuguese -> Patuá (Macanese Patois) -> Romani -> Navajo -> Kryptonian -> Coptic -> Arabic -> Doric Greek (Greek from Sparta) -> Griko (Greek dialect in Italy) -> Cherokee -> Vietnamese -> Nahuatl -> Hebrew -> Back to English

Also, they switch languages depending on what they're cooking and proceed to shout it across the kitchen. The loudest The Latin ones and Arabic.

Even sign language is multilingual. The family has their version of it (created by Cass, which uses more body language and movements that show things and feelings instead of words), but they switch between American, British, French, New Zealand, Irish, Brazilian, Maritime, Hong Kong, Inuit, Ka'apor, and even Plains Indian SL on the daily basis. It's so varied that for an outsider, it just looks like their gesturing half the time.

And honestly, I think it all started with an angry Bruce learning French and German from Alfred.