SYLLOGISM & EMPIRICISM/EMPRICAL

SYLLOGISM  http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/syllogism
Deductive reasoning
Forming a conclusion through discourse, based on knowledge and reason
To reckon (one of my recent favorite words, check the bottom of my entry entitled 'Fais Do-Do' for more on 'to reckon)
Etymology - Check out entry entitled "LOGOS", syllogism from Greek 'syn' (together) plus 'logos' (to reason, to count, and hundreds of other meanings...just check out your previous "LOGOS" entry) : )

EMPIRICAL   http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/empirical
Inductive reasoning
Forming conclusions based on observation, experience and experiments
Etymology - from Online Etymology Dictionary

from L. empiricus , from Gk. empeirikos  "experienced," from empeiria  "experience," from empeiros  "skilled," from en-  "in" + peira "trial, experiment." Originally a school of ancient physicians who based their practice on experience rather than theory.

EARTHQUAKE!

!!!EARTHQUAKE!!!

Seriously, there was an Earthquake today!  Well, now it actually happened yesterday, therefore on Tuesday, 23 August 2011, at approximately 1400 I experienced my first Earthquake!
It was so fucking weird.  I was in bed trying to figure out if I should sleep more or get up.  I was in a pickle because supposedly Rafe was coming tomorrow (today) morning with the exterminators so I was trying to get myself up for a cleaning marathon but I was so anxious about it I hadn't actually been able to sleep.  So I was cranky, about 1/4 asleep, and then...
I felt like I was swaying...but I was aware it was the bed, the room.  It was just for a second, so I thought maybe I had misinterpreted the affects or the vibrations of some type of construction in the neighborhood...and THEN we were OFF!
And I was really swaying back and forth!  I was in bed and confused...like "is this really happening?!?!"  IT was like swaying back and forth on a giant swing, it actually wasn't unpleasant except that I knew I needed to get much more scared than I was and that I might need to take action...but then, fortunately, it just suddenly stopped.  While it was happening, and this is weird but I felt like...I couldn't stop it.  Of course I couldn't stop it!  But it's that feeling and realization that you have no control.  It's funny, but that's exactly what Mom said to me..."You realize how you don't have any control..."  And I was like "Yeah Mom, of course, none of us have control over anything...duh!" I am such a snot!  : )
It lasted for maybe 10 or fifteen seconds.  It originated in Mineral, VA and apparently was a five.9.  It went all the way up the East Coast and was felt in Toronto, Ohio...they closed LaGuardia in NY for a little bit and of course evacuated all the office buildings in DC.  The news people went crazy and even an hour later were showing "footage" of people in NY and DC standing on the streets...like, they couldn't go back into their buildings and they couldn't go home!  Poor assholes.
Mom said it was really scary.  Poor Mommy!  She was on the sixth floor, and the building was swaying back and forth and stuff was falling off her desk and cabinets and her drawers were opening.  I tried to call her immediately afterwards...of course she was my first call...and I kept on calling her, Carly called her...but she didn't get back to use until about 1five00!  Interestingly enough, Rafe got in touch with me before Mom did! : )  I guess they had evacuated and had to stand outside their building for over an hour, and of course all the phone lines, cell phones included, were down because everybody freaked out at the same time and tried to call somebody.
I texted and called Carly, but I didn't talk to her until she got home with Bill and Cory at their usual 1440.  They were all O.K., and according to Bill and Carly they were in Reston, in the car, and felt nothing!
I went to the pool at 1five30, and after I swam I talked to these 'office' ladies in the pool, some of whom where there because they got to leave work early cuz of the Quake.  One lady told me she had been in the pool with some of her friends at the time and that they felt NOTHING.  She then told me that a man was swimming laps and he swam up to them and said "Did you feel the earthquake?".  The ladies thought he was making a sexual, macho boast about his swimming so they were like "Oh yeah, we feel that earthquake!" and one of them said "We better look out for the Tsunami!".  Then, apparently all the neighbors started running out  of their houses, freaking out (I was one of these people, but I simply stuck my head out the door to make sure a plane hadn't crashed in the parking lot) going "Did you feel the Earthquake!?!?!"  Then the ladies realized that the man was asking them a genuine question, not hitting on them, and apparently they were embarrassed and apologized to him.  So funny!
And...I lucked out with Rafe and the Exterminators.  Apparently Rafe 'miscommunicated' with them and they're not coming today, and he's decided not to come at all.  (Yeah!)  We rescheduled for Monday, 29 August 2011 between 1000 and 1200.  While it is nice to have more time...I wish the fucking cockroaches had been killed in the Quake!!!
The great QUAKE off 2011!!!!!!
<3ALE<3 

"Fais Do-Do" or Another French Related Entry

WHAT ON EARTH IS "FAIS DO-DO"!!!!
I heard the song Fais Do-Do* and, of course, I couldn't let this go. I understood most of the song, except for that inscrutable, oft repeated first line.  It made me crazy for two or three weeks and I'm not quite sure why I didn't consult my good friend Internet before now....and thank you Internet! Seriously, I just typed "fais" in the search engine and I think "fais do-do" was the 2nd option Google offered.  Glad I'm not a scholar, it probably takes forever to find information that aids in endeavors important humanity via the Internet.

"Fais Do-Do" does, as I suspected (really! I had already figured out what it meant! I just couldn't quite figure out why, and I didn't have proof!) means to "make sleep" in that Faire is 'to do or to make' and "Do-Do" is a diminutive of "Dormir". For the etymology check out the wikipedia article, which is actually good, containing direct quotes and references!

Fais do-do - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Long story short "Faid do-do" is the name of an old, therefore traditional, childrens song with no author or date, some of the lyrics apparently printed in 1871. "Fais do-do" is also commonly known as a name for a Cajun dance party which originated before World War II, acquiring the name because it was what the mothers would sing to put their baby's to sleep before coming out to party. My own suspicion of why they called it a "fais do-do" is because of the age-old link between parties/sleep/sex. You know, the "BED" Party : ) ... but, as I said, that is my own opinion, I'm not quoting an official source.

Link to a page with a version of the lyrics:

http://www.kididdles.com/lyrics/f041.html

Link to a youtube recording of a version of the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XinHHPshH88

Lyrics from the above Youtube page for practicing French speaking (listening to the song), language and translation:

CHORUS:

Fais do-do                                      Make sleep-sleep / Go to sleep
Colas mon p'tit frère                     (Ni)C(h)olas little brother
Fais do-do                                      Make sleep-sleep / Go to sleep
t'auras du (lolo)                             you will have of / you should have (see below for 'lolo') 
lolo                                                   milk/boob or treat  (seriously!...see Google Translate!)

CHORUS x2

Maman est en haut        Mom is in high / Mom is upstairs  

Qui fait des gâteaux       Who make of cakes / Making cakes

Papa est en bas               Dad is in low / Dad is downstairs 

Qui fait chocolat              Who make chocolate / making chocolate

CHORUS x2

Les anges là haut          The angels there high / The angels up there

font un beau chateau    Make a beautiful house / Make a beautiful castle

Pour le p'tit frérot         For the little brother (frerot is brother?  interesting)

qui fait bien dodo           Who makes good sleep-sleep

CHORUS x2

Les gentils oiseaux            The nice birds

ont des chants nouveux   have of songs new / have new songs

Pour le p'tit frérot             For the little brother 

qui fait bien dodo               Who makes good sleep-sleep

CHORUS x2

Transuit: Depuis 'milk' en francais est 'le lait', je suppose que c'est la maniere 'lolo' est fait, est aussi pourquoi il les moyens 'boob' et 'treat'!
LE BON TRAVAIL!

AND ANOTHER EXERCISE IN TRANSLATION
I found this phrase in one of the youtube comments by a native french speaker and it's interesting because my translation...a more literal translation...is different from the google translation...I guess a functional translation. Anyway, I'm writing it down for the same reason as yesterday...to help me remember the literal meanings of those 'small' French words, and to help me get back on track with learning reading and speaking French.

"Ca doit être une autre version."

ça - it

doit - must

être -to be (the infinitive)

une - a (feminine)

autre - other

version - version

and...Google Translate reckons** this as "It must be another version"

*In two or three episodes of True Blood Season 4 a young mother cajun ghost named Mavis becomes obsessed with a living baby who she believes to be her own...of course, she can't move one since her baby was actually murdered by it's white father right before he murdered her...so she eventually possesses the character Lafayette and steals the living baby. Luckily the other characters figure out what happened before they try to kill or convict Lafayette and they help Mavis to remember and come to terms with her past, enabling her to move into the light. AWWW! : )

**RECKON - more British English! Yes, we have it in American, but it only seems to be used by southerners and hill folk! At first I didn't like it just for that reason (I know, I'm a snob, but I'm sure some of it is based on self hatred since I myself am hill folk : ) ) but after several years I realized the Brits were on to something in that the only synonyms for "Reckon" are long ass phrases, i.e. "I have determined the cause of the Earthquake to be" vs. "I reckon the Earthquake was caused by..." . See! Much simpler! (Yes, Earthquakes on my mind...today, or actually yesterday, was the day of the Earthquake!  I'll make a separate Post.)  Also, it's related to the word from yesterday "SUSS", which is similar in meaning to "RECKON". Why on earth did these words not make it to American? Also, why don't we have the expression "Taking the piss." and/or it's 'polite' alternative "Taking the mickey." There isn't a similar expression in American and to craft an approximate meaning is difficult and artless. Instead of "When she called you an idiot savant she was taking the piss" you say "When she called you an idiot savant she was ...just fucking with you. OR ...making fun of you." See!?!? Not as cool!

I need to create separate posts for these awesome musings on the difference between British/Australian/New Zealandish/Canadian/American. I'm sure professional linguists have no interest in these things! : )

<3 ALE <3

A historical French grammar - Google Books

A historical French grammar - Google Books

I should read this entire book. This link is to page 314 which discusses the word 'CESTUI', and while wading through the text (it is difficult...old french, old latin, modern french, vulgar latin...and then there's my inept concept of the english language!) of section entitled "The Pronoun" and reading the examples Mr. Arsene Darmesteter provided I finally REALIZED why I even included the words "lui" and "celui" in the examples in my previous post...because "CESTUI" is "CE" "EST" "LUI"! DUH! I was so desperately trying to communicate this to myself!!!!

Anyway, it's all in this great, long, book and I think the entire thing is available online via Google Books.

One mystery (partially) solved!

And that's why this blog is called...

REALISE!

Cestui | Define Cestui at Dictionary.com

Cestui | Define Cestui at Dictionary.com: cestui

My Basic French Lesson

aka Words I Always Forget

I always forget the actual meaning of the little French words...then I find expressions I can't suss* because I can't remember the exact meanings of the individual little words.  This is partly because of the French convention of smushing all the little words together with apostrophes, but mostly because of my recent lax attitude towards improving my French and Latin.  

Anyway, the big mystery word of the day is the Medieval French/English law word "CESTUI", found in the legal expression "cestui que use" an expression which has a long an storied history buried in the arcana of Roman and Medieval French and English law but which we would today call the 'beneficiary' of a trust.  I've read through entire histories on the origins of the expression "cestui que..." which contain a great deal of information, but most of the info is about the legal history of the expression and I've found none so far which can divine the most inscrutable of words..."CESTUI".  

I have a problem because it is Medieval French...I have enough problems with Medieval English.  Now, most first year French students could tell you that it looks a little bit like the word "c'est" in modern French which translates to "it is" or "that", but it is here that I encountered my problem.  I could remember so many expressions containing "c'est", "ce", "est", "qu'est que c'est", "celui" etc... but I couldn't remember the exact meaning of 'ce', 'est'...I mean I could but it always seems to lead to more expressions and since French isn't an exact reproduction of English the words and phrases are used in different ways, which lead to ancient tomes on French etymology which started confusing me even more.  

THEREFORE...for my own memory and peace of mind I making myself copy the most basic words and their individual meanings.  For this purpose I am using Google Translate, which is a good tool for basic individual word translation.

THE "FORGETTABLE" WORDS:

ce - this

est - is

lui - him, it, he (can also mean she as 'he, him, his' considered the generic in French)

c'est - this is or that

celui - that

celui-ci - this one

celui-là - that one

que - as pronoun that, which, what, whom; adj. what; adv. how; prep. than; conj. than, whether

quelle - as adj. what, which, whichever; pron. which, whoever

Des exemples de Que et Quelle:

Qu'est-ce que c'est? - What is it?  In this phrase is 'What" the adjective "QUELLE" or the prounoun "QUE"?  I initially thought it was "QUE" because it appears "What" can be used by itself and refers to someone or something else in the discourse...(PRONOUN: A word that can function as a noun phrase used by itself and that refers either to the participants in the discourse (e.g., I, you) or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere in the discourse)...but see the example and definition below.  Also, I suss* the literal translation of this sentence to be "What is it that it is?"

Quelle heure est-il? - What time is it? or What hour is it? 

This lead me to question how the word "WHAT" functions in a sentence.  In the previous example "Qu'est-ce que..." I thought "Qu' " was "Que" and therefore a pronoun, but in the sentence "Quelle heure..." the word "What" is an adjective since, according to Google Translate, "Quelle" means "What" as an adjective.  However, in both sentences it seems to me that "What..." basically means the same thing.  Also, I can see how "What" could be an adjective since "What" is a description of time if the answer was "It is six o'clock"..."six o'clock" being equal to "what".  It sort of makes sense.  In "What is it?" if the answer was "A Bunny" than "What" equals "A Bunny" therefore "A Bunny" is a description of "...it?".  ???  This is confusing and I am obviously going to need to research this issue.  Right now I'm too tired and have too much to do to stay up researching, so I will finish with the examples I've already prepared, then tomorrow I will pursue this quest. I've also decided to officially stop searching for "CESTUI" as that can also be researched tomorrow. 

Qu'est-ce que vous appelez-vous? - "What is your name?" or direct translation "What is it that you call you?"

Je préfère être chaud que froid. - "I'd rather be hot than cold." or "I prefer to be hot than cold."  I included this example because it showed how "que" is used in the French language has a preposition or conjunction in comparative sentences.  Since I am going to research grammar tomorrow I'll wait until then to include better examples and to finally decide whether (whether would be "que" in French!) "que" is a preposition or conjunction in this case.  Currently my money is on conjunction since it can also be used as "whether" in similar instances.    

; )   : )   ; )   : )   ; )   : )   ; )   : )   ; )   : )   ; )   : )   ; )  : )  ; )  : )  ; )  : )  ; )  : )  ; )  : )  ; )  : )  ; )  : )  ; )

FOR TOMORROW:  Research and try to actually LEARN grammar (years and years of me begging myself to do this) my specific goal being to uncover how the word "What" functions in both the English and French languages. Also pursue to ancient hidden meaning of the Medieval French/English Law Word "CESTUI".

...AND FINALLY

*SUSS - (yes, my "British English" is actively improving : )) "to understand" or "to divine the meaning of"

<3 ALE <3