In his review of a new translation of Giovanni Boccaccio‘s The Decameron (by Wayne A. Rebhorn, Norton, 2015), Stephen Greenblatt writes: Many of these stories are scandalously obscene, but the scandal has nothing to do with filthy words….circumlocutory words, or periphrases…have nothing to do with prudery. They are part of Boccaccio’s inexhaustible bag of metaphorical tricks, andContinue reading “Boccaccio And Double Entendres In A Patriarchal Society”
Tag Archives: inside jokes
Heard The One About Fascists, Socialists, And Murderers?
In Identity and Violence: The Illusion of Destiny (W. W. Norton, New York, 2006, pp. 6-7), Amartya Sen, in the course of asserting how ‘our freedom to assert our personal identities can sometimes be extraordinarily limited in the eyes of others’, slips in the following: [S]ometimes we may not even be fully aware how othersContinue reading “Heard The One About Fascists, Socialists, And Murderers?”
Diego Marani, Europanto, Blinkenlights, and Hacker Neologisms
In reviewing Diego Marani‘s Las Adventures Des Inspector Cabillot, Matthew Reynolds notes his invention of Europanto, a ‘mock international auxiliary language‘: Marani’s ability to see humour in his longing for a universal language has flowered in his creation of Europanto, a jovial pan-European language which began in his office [presumably, either the the Directorate-General for Interpretation of the European Commission,Continue reading “Diego Marani, Europanto, Blinkenlights, and Hacker Neologisms”
Samir Chopra 