I took a look, but had to bail. Not only am I too large, but no, no, no.
In the humans are amazing category, the record for voluntarily holding their breath is 24 minutes 37.36 seconds.
Croatian freediver holds breath underwater for almost 25 minutes; breaks previous record
And I though I was doing good in school when I got to 2 minutes.
I’d love to see a crime comedy spoof where someone tries to suffocate this guy with a pillow.
Bill Gates’ annual net worth in a world with a 3% wealth tax:
I had a patient who suffered from this. She eventually took her own life. This is more a delusional disorder than fullblown schizophrenia, although that’s a bit of a nitpick. Delusional disorder is characterized by non-bizarre delusions (meaning they could theoretically be true but they aren’t) and a lack of negative symptomatology (apathy, cognitive deterioration and social withdrawal). Also, only the content of thinking is whacky, no loss of congruence. So very much like your average CT supporter, nothing unusual at first, until they open their mouths.
Another interesting variant is the Capgras syndrome, where all or some of someone’s loved ones are replaced by body doubles. As an American woman who suffered from this explained to me: they’re similar, but not the same. Very distressing, because in her mind the “real” loved ones were missing…
Ferrets! What could go wrong?
James MacPherson (1736-1796) claimed to have collected the poems of the forgotten “Homer of the North”, Ossian, and translated and published these between 1761 and 1765. The result was astonishing – people, especially the ones living in northern Europe, took to these at once. They proved that there was an ancient cultural life in northern Europe that was equal to that of classical Greece and Rome. There was a craze for things Ossian – plays, more poems, paintings, music.
But the whole thing was revealed to be a massive fraud. MacPherson took a few snippets of authentic poetry and made the rest up. But not before it had left a big and indelible mark on European life and culture.
What’s interesting – and the reason I bring all this up – is that there was a craze for naming children after characters in the poems. MacPherson made many of these up – they’re not ancient authentic names. Those he didn’t make up were minor names that were amplified by association.
He made up the names Fiona and Malvina. That was my grandmother’s name.
I’;m not sure if he made up Oscar or simply brought it to everyone’s attention (Wikipedia claims it’s an actual name from Gaelic myth). But once Napoleon bestowed the name on his nephew it was off and running.
I did a google search on
Today Paraguay has declared unlimited war on all the grasshoppers in Finland.
In reality, it was St. Urho.
Oscar is an actual traditional name (http://edil.qub.ac.uk/34061). “Fiona” is pretty close to one, as well (the Gaelic word for “white” is “fionn,” already a man’s name, and the Welsh cognate “Gwen” is a frequent element in women’s names). Malvina, on the other hand, I think is his invention. I wouldn’t be shocked to find he was anglicizing a Mael Bhionn or something, though.
As I said, there’s evidence for “Oscar”. Some claim “Fiona”, but just because the root is plausible doesn’t mean it was really used. And, in any event, even the ones that were actual names weren’t anywhere near as popular until Macpherson’s books came out.
That reminds me that the name Cedric didn’t exist until the book Ivanhoe was written (although Cerdic existed).
Beats being named “Blanche.”
In WW2, my father was ineligible for the draft due to extreme hay fever. So they taught him to be a tank diver. I knew nothing about this until 20 years ago, after he had passed.
What a terrible shame, because it sounds like he was an awesome fiction writer.
True. You can read his works online, if you’re interested.
Samuel Johnson didn’t think so.
From Boswell’s Life of Johnson:
At this time the controversy concerning the pieces published by Mr. James Macpherson, as translations of Ossian, was at its height. Johnson had all along denied their authenticity; and, what was still more provoking to their admirers, maintained that they had no merit.
The subject having been introduced by Dr. Fordyce, Dr. Blair, relying on the internal evidence of their antiquity, asked Dr. Johnson whether he thought any man of a modern age could have written such poems? Johnson replied, ‘Yes, Sir, many men, many women, and many children.’
For the Celtic languages, although the names mean “white,” they also have connotations of “fair” and “handsome” as well as “blessed” and “holy.” Not just vague positives: these are dictionary meanings, albeit secondary ones. I don’t think the Romance languages Blanche / Bianca have that connotation, though I can’t say that for certain.
(Edited because I checked: true in Irish, Welsh, and Breton, at least.)
Bán is another word for white in Irish, with cognates in other Celtic languages. I think (subject to correction by people who speak the language) that it’s a more neutral word for the colour, without the connotations of fionn.
There’s a famous Old Irish poem about a white cat, Pangur Bán.
Remember “Squanto” (real name Tisquantum) who was so helpful to the English settlers in America? Ever wonder why he spoke English well enough to assist in that way? Because he lived in England from about 1617-1619 (having been abducted and transported there).
So Squanto may have been able to see a play at the Globe Theatre, and if he’d been just 5 years earlier, he could have conceivably bumped elbows with Shakespeare himself. This “primitive, untutored savage” may have spent more time in London that most of the original English settlers in America.
And Donald Bean Lean from Walter Scott’s Waverley:
Donald Bean Lean was the very reverse of all these. He was thin in person and low in stature, with light sandy-coloured hair, and small pale features, from which he derived his agnomen of “Bean” or white; and although his form was light, well proportioned and active, he appeared, on the whole, rather a diminutive and insignificant figure.
Squanto’s story is a long and complicated one. He may have crossed the Atlantic many times, depending upon who you read and how they interpret the evidence. He was also deeply involved in the politics of the colony. His story deserves to be told in a book or movie (and not Disney’s Squanto: a Warrior’s Tale, which apparently has an iffy relationship with history)