The Gospel as the Great Passage, I: On Talking Books

My great-grandfather was born to a peasant family in Spain. At a young age, he spent some time training to become a priest, and although he ultimately chose another path, he nevertheless retained a great love for language: Latin, Greek, and Spanish, then Sanskrit, Quechua, Turkish, Indostani. After long years of military service, research, and… Read More The Gospel as the Great Passage, I: On Talking Books

Profanity, Euphemisms, and an Archdemon’s Undesirable Friend

My upbringing was, in certain respects, relatively sheltered. Of relevance for this post, I hardly ever heard anyone use profanity in real life. It might occasionally show up in a TV show or movie, but we mostly avoided works with such language, and in any case, those were fictional. Indeed, the fact that I practically… Read More Profanity, Euphemisms, and an Archdemon’s Undesirable Friend