Showing posts with label reflections. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reflections. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Coining Ukrainian words

The Ukrainian language has been hampered for a long time by a certain timidity in its users, engendered by conservatism and overprotectiveness (not unwarranted, I admit). This timidity prevents the natural generation of new native Ukrainian words and leads to unnecessary and unsystematic borrowing from other languages, thus defeating its own original impulse. Some people try to overcome the difficulty, and I will from time to time write here the best results of word creation activity. Today's two entries are

вбух for implosion

and

попих for thrust.

Added on Nov 5: I have created another good word, посмик., but am at a loss regarding what does it stand for. Help! :)
Updated on Apr 25: it will stand for tug. I should have known at once! ^.^

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Painful quotes

...because what we had in a number of our early staff members was an inability to be responsible, which meant also an inability to define one's own character, to form an integrated concept of one's place in the school or in the world, a difficulty in formulating one's own individual makings. I think it is very closely related to a need for personal friendships as a means of shoring up the individual concerned, a means of filling the vacuum created by his lack of self-esteem and lack of well defined character. What such an individual is looking for... is other people's intimate intrusion upon himself, other people's getting into him and becoming part of him.

... I'm not saying that whole people are incapable of interpersonal relations... they don't hungrily seek them out at every turn as a substitute for their own undeveloped personality...


Daniel Greenberg, «Announcing a New School» (emphasis mine)

Saturday, October 6, 2007

Anti-statements

If you are saying «I am a white man, I can afford this», you are merely trying to convince yourself. You'll arrive when this thought doesn't cross your mind anymore.

The same can be said about «Stop treating me like a child» and its relatives. Usually, an adult would neither say this nor think like this.

Afterthought added on Dec 20: in relationships, «I trust you» often has similarly self-deceptive character. Sometimes, as in answer to a question, «I trust you» may attempt to simply state a fact, but even then it is difficult to disentangle the statement and the anti-statement, i.e. the rational and the emotional content.