cptkitten

[cptkitten]

[ID: youtube comment from Hal Sawyer:

My favorite relic English still used everywhere is the word "the" used in phrases like: "the more I look at this, the stranger it seems, or "the bigger they come, the harder they fall". This "the" is not the article of any noun, it is a different word, a conjunction descended from the old English "þā", pronounced "tha" which means either "when" or "then". Back in early Middle English the structure "if - then" had not taken over and if you wanted to express an if - then relationship you said "þā whatever, þā whatever", meaning "when such-and- such, then such-and-such". "þā" sounds almost the same as "the" and the spelling of the two converged, but the meaning remained totally different. "the more, the merrier" literally means "when more, then merrier" or "if more, then merrier'; same as centuries ago.

end ID]

this is so cool

now with added wiktionary link

update, correction to this:

[image description: tweets from user Matt (official) that read, "this is not quite accurate. this 'the' comes from þȳ, the old instrumental case of the definite article. so it's like 'whereby x, therefore y' or 'by how much x, that's how much y.'

þā ... þā does indeed mean 'when ... then' in Old English, but this temporal correlative is not where we get 'the more the merrier' construction. i'm afraid someone took an OE class and mixed a few things up.

so it doesn't originally mean 'if more, then merrier' as suggested in the comment. it has always meant 'by how much more, that's how much merrier' i.e. double or triple the quantity leads to double or triple the merriment." end id.]

thanks to @wovesaxe for this addition

[cptkitten]

The important thing is that Marcille did not learn to blaspheme against the natural order to save her girlfriend. She just happened to have studied the art of spitting in God's eye for wholly unrelated reasons, and when the opportunity by chance arose to employ that skill in service of girlfriend-saving, she was ready.

[cptkitten]

I don't think people on the West Coast understand how much denser and multipolar the US is east of the Mississippi

[cptkitten]

Okay you guys.

IF YOU PRIMARILY DO NOT SPEAK ENGLISH reply with what you mentally call it, if you have a nickname for it or something

[cptkitten]

But it’s my favourite pan and nothing else cooks veggies as well in the quantities I need :(

they dont tell you this but like half of adulthood is just washing the same FUCKING pan

[cptkitten]

[ID: an illustration labeled “Iconic fauna of Hawai’i”, depicting animals - an i’iwi bird, a monk seal, a humpback whale, an Oahu tree snail, a yellow-faced bee, a nēnē goose, a Hawaiian hawk, a hoary bat, and a reef triggerfish. Teal leaves adorn the background and there is a red, yellow, and blue patterned border. Animals are labeled with their Hawaiian and English names. End.]

The theme for Creature Mail this month is endemic island creatures! This design will be a postcard. :-)

[cptkitten]

Triple J's holding an Australian Music Hottest 100, lets gooooooo

https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/countdown/hottest100

[cptkitten]

Wizards (1977)

[cptkitten]

@wilwheaton

Okay so I don’t really tag celebrities because reasons but like… Wil has a type, and I think this fits

Reblog this post to ask mutuals to tell you their weirdest theory about u

[cptkitten]

Alright. I'm calling it done before it kills me. This is Second Head. It's an Art Book containing instances of the phrase "second head" in fanfics found on AO3. I'll explain much, MUCH more in the cut.

So when I say 'art book', I mean this is an intrinsic piece. I have no motivations aside from personal amusement and interest in outcome. A lot of money was lost/transmuted into free frustration in this project and I have no claims, obviously. I will prolly be the only person alive to read this.

THAT SAID. I have noticed in my years reading fanfic, there's a few linguistic shibboleths that arise in authors who also have experience in the mines. I think there's not a soul alive who hadn't wandered across a 'ministrations' when reading Narutos oral sexing. There's- Hold on. Here's some pix.

There's an impulse, I think, to in-group even when performing a creative act. A feeling that there are certain ways one Should go about the act, by virtue of seeing it performed that way. Especially so when 'training' at the act is often just Doing. Double Dog Especially when the act is exclusively for oneself with very little oversight. Which is to say, we make what we see and we make what we think we should make. At least, at first.

Now, I've been noticing 'grew a second head' (to insinuate surprise) in fanfic for some time. I've never seen it used Outside of fanfic. (Edit to add: I am not making the argument the phrase is from fanfic. Nor do I Believe it is from fanfic. Jesus Hopping Christ, people. That's not what this project is about.) That may speak to my own bad habits but it got me curious. So a friend and myself downloaded a mirror of AO3 from July of 2024. He did some code- Stuff to scan the mirror for "second head" and of the ~13 million works, ~70k (English) results were returned. That's a rounding error, honestly, but Far FAR more than I expected.

This book is 401 such examples that I personally selected for a variety of reasons. The number itself was arbitrarily chosen. Each page is separate fic, the roughly 300 words around our key phrase.

I don't think repetition or mirroring is a negative thing. I think it's quite charming. Nor do I think it's a sign of a 'bad' artist or 'bad' art. I think it's a signifier of personhood, of belonging, of enthusiasm. Of culture shared and wishing to share. I think it's real sweet. I always smile when I catch a 'grown a second head' in a work.

And it's really fucking funny when it's John Sherlock getting a sloppy toppy. Bless.

Edit: Fixed a very VERY funny error.

Edit: I am not making the argument that the phrase is exclusive to fanfic or, fucking forbid, FROM fanfic. I'm stating this Again because we skim here. Also- If you would like slamdunk my ass by stating the phrase predates the Internet or your GenX parents use it, please use 'sailboat' in your comment so I know you're specifically trying to kill me.

Edit Edit: You know what? Fine. I DO think this phrase came from fandom. I think ENGLISH came from fandom. I think YOU came from fandom. I think EVERYTHING came from fandom. The Sun, the Moon, the Seas- Fandom. Specifically Sonic Mpreg. The second head was Shadow the Hedgehog crowning. Congrats!

[cptkitten]

these are KILLING me

[cptkitten]

do you guys wanna see my favorite video on the internet yes you do

[cptkitten]

It looks something like “Dave Walter Ab~~~~” but google ain’t giving me shit

What does this signature say?? 🤔 metal wall art

[cptkitten]

[cptkitten]

30-Song Guess Your Age Quiz

Fwiw, they thought I was MANY years younger than I am. Just made me feel good all over. 😊

[cptkitten]

Me in the middle of being tortured : I hate this song can you skip it please