Arts:literature Videos

For most of its existence the word shave did not refer to hair removal. Men have been scraping the hair off their faces (or not) time out of mind and our word shave is old too. It first appears in Old English in 725 and the experts trace its little cutting trail back through Germanic languages to a Teutonic word scab.  Our word scab goes back to Latin and Greek roots which in Latin relates to meanings of “scratch” and “itch,” while in Greek it may relate to words meaning “dig” and “spade.” Merriam-Webster thinks shave relates to these scabby Latin and Greek roots but The Oxford English Dictionary says it’s doubtful. Right from the beginning of its use in English the word shave meant to scrape away, but it wasn’t until 600 years after it came into English that it was used in reference to hair removal. A shaver can be the thing you use to shave with but the word has also been used to refer to a youngster, presumably someone who has just gotten old enough to shave. Around the time of Henry VIII the term shaveling appeared as a derogatory term. In this case though it wasn’t the young and inexperienced that were being insulted, the low social standing of shavelings had much more to do with King Henry’s desire for new wives and his break with the Catholic Church. When Henry got turned off of the Catholic Church so did his subjects. But all the while there were these monks milling around in their monasteries and old cathedrals. Since their brand of religion was out of favor so were they. These were the guys who were being called shavelings and the reason for that was that their church required them to shave the tops of their heads; a style called a tonsure. Before the word shave meant to remove one’s beard or underarm hair it was being applied to things such as the removal of a thin layer of wood. We still shave off wood with a wood-plane and some authorities think that the word shaft might have evolved because this is how people would have produced wooden shafts, by shaving away the material they didn’t need.

Available at www.amazon.com... Wagon of Fools and Other Parables by Samuel Benjamin Gray is a collection of seven parables told as short stories, each with a very particular and important message. More video book trailers at www.movingstories.tv.

Lambert Schlechter, Petits travaux dans la maison, Éditions PHI, 2008. Texte lu par Carla Lucarelli. Ecouter en ligne Télécharger le fichier mp3 Clic droit / Enregistrer sous... Téléchargement >> [mp3 : 2 Mo / Durée : 1'25] jamais terminé dehors rien ne va plus plus rien ne va mes petits travaux mes manies dedans dehors malgré l'éloge c'est la multiplication des amours tantôt paisibles un jour turbulentes magie des chiffres volupté sans pareil confluence des saisons parfois ça déborde les séparer un jour

The largest gathering on Earth, the Hajj, is happening this week. The annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca draws some 3 million people to Saudi Arabia from all over the world. Blogger Aman Ali, talks about the meaning and experience of the Hajj, which his parents are making this year. Are you making the Hajj this year? Have you gone in the past? Tell us about your experience. Comment below!

A new theory of genetics asserts that mankind's most troublesome genes may be vital to our adaptability, if given the right kind of nurturing. David Dobbs, contributor to The Atlantic, writes about the orchid hypothesis in this month's issue and discusses his findings.

The Motorola Droid is the latest smartphone to hit the market. Is it an 'iPhone killer'? To settle the issue, two WNYC producers, On the Media's Mark Phillips, an Android enthusiast, and The Takeaway's Jim Colgan, an iPhone aficionado, bring their water-cooler debates on the air for a showdown.

Secretary Tom Vilsack has brought 34-year veteran Pearlie Reed back to address troubled race relations at the USDA. First up, investigating the 3,800 complaints of racial discrimination a recent review found to have potential merit. Terence Samuel, deputy editor of The Root, takes a look at what Secretary Tom Vilsack is doing to change the Department of Agriculture’s reputation as the last plantation.

Rev. Herbert Daughtry, pastor at the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church (413 Atlantic Avenue, between Nevins & Bond Streets), talks about today's "Day of Outrage" over gun violence. He's joined by Rossana Rosado, publisher and CEO of El Diario New York and by WNYC reporter Arun Venogopal.

David Fahrenthold, Washington Post staff writer discusses the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's lobbying around climate change legislation and the recent departure of some chamber member corporations.

On this edition of the Word Balloon Podcast, writer/artist Matt Wagner joins us for an interesting discussion that begins with a question. Will the 20th century superheroes be as easy to retcon... WORDBALLOON features one on one interviews with the writers and artists behind today's pop culture favorites. The creative minds behind today's hottest comics, films, and Television , tell behind the scene stories providing a DVD like commentary on their works, without spoiling the stories. Hosted by Chicago Radio Host John Siuntres, Wordballoon covers the pop culture entertainment scene , like no other podcast.

Today people are victims of injustice or fraud as well as car accidents and homicide. SPONSOR: GotoMeeting Hold your meetings online for just $49/mo. Try GoToMeeting FREE for 30 days. This is an improvement over victims of ages past that were restricted to having to have died to qualify as victims. The word victim comes to English from Latin in the 15th or almost the 16th century. The earliest meaning in English was that victim was a sacrificial animal used in some pagan religious ceremony. Back then any religious ceremony that wasn’t Christian was automatically considered suspect by English speakers. This would have been true of French speakers too who get involved in the word’s history as we’ll see in a moment. As a Latin word victima naturally made its way into French as well but the Latin roots of the word mean that it evolved in a pre-Christian time and likely among people who thought these animal sacrifices were just the thing that God wanted; or gods, or something. Most dictionaries don’t go this far back but the Century Dictionary suggests that the Latin victima was probably appled to sacrificial animals because when they were offered to the gods they would have been all prettied up, effectively wrapped in a bow. The Latin word vincire meant “bind,” or “wind” as you would do with a ribbon and the Century Dictionary at any rate suspects this has the same etymological root as victim. Though English adopted the word from Latin in a small way at first another influence on getting the word adopted into the language came about from French. I’d never known it but in the latter 1500s in Reims, France there was an English college and it produced an English translation of the New Testament. I myself think of Reims as more of a source of champagne than of vocabulary but English bibles had an influence on English vocabulary and perhaps it was the French vocabulary of the New Testament translators that influenced their generous use of the word victim in the holy book. In any case it wasn’t until 100 years later that the word became common and sometime after that when it started to soften in meaning so that death wasn’t always a prerequisite.

The 12th and final episode of Brand Gamblin s scifi tale, Tumbler, has been added. Now you can can enjoy any and all episodes at your leisure!