From Pricasso to ‘a jean’ to Speaking? In? Questions?

This Week in History

29 November 1864: The Sand Creek Massacre takes place in Colorado when US soldiers and civilians attack a Cheyenne settlement without provocation. They kill between 150 and 200 people, mostly women and children.

28 November 1907: King Leopold II of Belgium hands over the administration of the Congo to the Belgian parliament.

29 November 1947: The General Assembly of the United Nations adopts Resolution 181, which calls for the division of Palestine into two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab. The resolution was never implemented.

Pablo? X12? Que?

♦ The full names on the painter Picasso's birth certificate are: Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Martyr Patricio Clito Ruíz y Picasso. The full name of the Australian painter known as Pricasso is Tim Patch.

♦ The names of the children of Springbok lock Franco Mostert and his wife, Juan-Ri, are Joia-Belle, Jemi-Milja and Juan-Henke.

♦ Beyoncé and Jay-Z have three kids: Blue Ivy, 11, and twins Rumi and Sir, both seven.

♦ Elon Musk's youngest child is Techno Mechanicus, aka Tau. He also has a daughter named Exa Dark Sideræl (her parents call her Y) and a son named X Æ A-12, aka X.

♦ Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's children are named Poppy Honey Rose, Daisy Boo Pamela, Petal Blossom Rainbow, Buddy Bear Maurice and River Rocket Blue Dallas.

Cut it out with these 5 things:

♦ Men who use their second name's initial. Hunter S Thompson got away with it, Piet C Pompies won't.

♦ People who use expressions from other language groups to sound cool. “Lekker djy nè!” or “Awê!”

♦ People imitating Tolla van der Merwe or Casper de Vries.

♦ People talking? In phrases? And full sentences? All with question marks?

♦ Referring to “a jean".

Artificial Cleverness of the Week

Pika Labs' Pika 1.0 was launched this week. It creates video or animation within moments based on still photographs, existing video material or typed commands. It's not widely available yet but you can join the queue at https://pika.art/waitlist.

See below for a list of impressive things Pika 1.0 can do:

Afrikaans dictionary throwbacks

As recorded in the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal:

♦ Vlyt en spaarsaamheid is eienskappe van die deugdelike huisvrou. (Diligence and thrift are qualities of a virtuous housewife.)

♦ Die huisvrou weet dat ’n oliebol glad iets anders is as ons vetkoek. (The housewife knows that an oliebol is quite different from our vetkoek.) — Die Burger, February 29, 1960

♦ Die huisvrou sal nie goeie gesondheid geniet indien sy ’n droë koekie met die oggendtee en koek en tee in die middag eet nie. (The housewife will not enjoy good health if she eats a dry biscuit with morning tea and cake with afternoon tea.) — Boerdery Suid-Afrika, April 1960

♦ ’n Huisvrou is gewoond aan raap en skraap… en daarby gou ook… Daar word van jou verwag om in ’n ommesientjie ’n ete (vir onverwagte gaste) voor te sit. (A housewife is accustomed to improvising and quickly putting together a meal, especially when unexpected guests arrive.) — Landbouweekblad, June 2, 1964

♦ Saam met oggenddrag word eenvoudige juwele gedra — lang oorkrabbetjies en ’n pelsjas pas nie by die huisvrou wat haar weeklikse voorraad kruideniersware koop nie. (Along with morning attire, simple jewellery is worn — long earrings and a fur coat don't suit the housewife buying her weekly groceries.) — L le Roux and R Hansen: Avontuur, 1966

♦ Die sorg van huisvrou en moeder te wees is genoeg om menige vrou se senuwees te laat uitrafel… Sy voel prikkelbaar en raak gou op haar perdjie (Being a housewife and mother is enough to fray the nerves of many women… She feels irritable and easily gets on her high horse.) — Jan van Elfen: Babasorg, 1967

♦ Mans in hulle mannewêreld begryp so weinig van al die sorge van ’n huisvrou. (Men in their male world understand so little of all the worries of a housewife.) — Tydskrif vir Letterkunde, February 1980

Authentic Choice

Dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster has made “authentic" its word of the year. Editor-in-chief Peter Sokolowski told AP it's a word that's being looked up more than in the past as we struggle with what's real and what's false in the era of deep fakes, post-truth and artificial intelligence.

♦ VWB ♦

BE PART OF THE CONVERSATION: Go to the bottom of this page to share your opinion. We look forward to hearing from you.