stevep
Veteran Member
Joined: November 2012
Posts: 120
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Post by stevep on Nov 14, 2014 21:13:54 GMT -5
(sorry for the brief absence....)
Sadly, *most of the world* has a better grasp of the U.S. than Americans do of the rest of the world. Mark Twain (I think it was) once commented that the primary outcome of war was to teach Americans geography. I've lived outside the U.S. for a time and was totally shocked by how little I knew of the world compared to how much the world knew of the U.S. At least now I can get several foreign news programs (in English) and the internet helps a lot, too. So does travel....
I went hiking with a couple from the Netherlands many years ago--in Yosemite--and we ended up playing a game in which I tried to stump them with an English word neither of them knew. It took awhile, but I finally came up with "intrepid"--you might be a tougher opponent :-)
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Mountains
Nov 15, 2014 2:09:01 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by Johansson on Nov 15, 2014 2:09:01 GMT -5
Isnt that to rewrite a book or explain a word in another language? "Översätta" in Swedish.
I kept myself from Googling it so I might very well be wrong. :-)
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stevep
Veteran Member
Joined: November 2012
Posts: 120
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Post by stevep on Nov 15, 2014 7:01:13 GMT -5
I was going to not reply right away just to keep you in suspense, but I'm too softhearted :-)
It means fearless, brave, bold. Usually also implies that the person has great endurance. "The intrepid explorers continued onward through the swamp". Figured it would have cropped up in the fantasy stuff :-)
--Steve
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Post by Johansson on Nov 15, 2014 15:30:37 GMT -5
Oh, then I learned a new word today. I read the magnificent fantasy serie "the Malazan book of the fallen" by Steven Erikson and the word "crimson" was quite common, a crimson sky, crimson armor etc etc and it took some time before I actually looked it up and realized that it was a color...
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stevep
Veteran Member
Joined: November 2012
Posts: 120
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Post by stevep on Nov 18, 2014 12:17:39 GMT -5
That's funny; I had a similar experience as a young child--my mother was reading a book to me and the word "melancholy" kept cropping up. I didn't think to ask about it until near the end of the book, but I was glad I did because it seemed like such a "grown up" (big) word.
But, speaking of colors, here's one that very few people know: "cardinal" - the only reason I know it is because a local university was previously known as the "Indians" but North American Indians objected to being a college mascot, so the name was changed. I've never known what the thought process was behind the choice of "cardinal", but it's sufficiently obscure that probably only the well-educated have any idea what it's about (I had to look it up).
I also looked up St Lucy's celebration--turns out the local Scandinavian society celebrates it (not a surprise, I guess). I thought you said the marathon was in November but the celebrations seem to be in mid-December (the 13th, usually). Anyway, I look forward to hearing how you do.
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Post by Johansson on Nov 29, 2014 1:39:08 GMT -5
The marathon is off in a couple of hours, I have had a touch of cold for a couple of days but it has never really broken out so I think I´ll be fine. What do you think of the running outfit Steve? Cheers! /Anders
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