Hebrew 102: Vocab Memory Hooks

My last exam is tomorrow. It’s a Hebrew exam. Urgh. Here, in the hope that typing these makes them stick in my head. Are my vocab memory hooks. For the English speakers amongst us the italicised words represent the pronunciation of the Hebrew (approximately).

זקן = to be/grow old = when you’re old you need za cane to walk.
יכל = to be able = ye call an expert when you want to be able
ירא = to be afraid = I’m not agist, I’m just afraid of people from a different yira.
כבד = to be heavy/important = that is a very heavy and important cabed (cupboard)… maybe…
מלא = to be full with = the mail bag is full with letters
שכב = to lie down = they shackev up together.
דם = blood = Out damn spot.
יראה = fear, reverence = the old man grabbed that kid by the yira and put the fear of God into him.
כלי = vessel, utensil = I had a boat called Kelly, a good vessel.
למה = why? wherefore? = Why do llamas look so silly?
מה = what? = What is that in ma soup?
נאל = to redeem, protect = Boaz hit the na-al on the head when he redeemed Ruth.
שמח = to be glad = Sometimes when parents samach their children in public it makes me glad.
שלח = to stretch out = we stretched the other team’s defence and gave them a real shelaching.
שפך = to pour = I poured water on my computer, now she f#$ked (apparently the ruder the better, and I can’t get this one out of my head).
אף = nose = when I sneeze I go aph-choo
חיל = power, valour = Hitler was powerful so people had to say “hayil Hitler”
צאן = flock, sheep = Once we shear the sheep we can get some new clothes sown (sic)
קהל = assembly, congregation = We have to have our assembly in the qahall
אחר = other, another = I have another tooth acher
אל = No. = You can’t call me al
נא = particle of entreaty (now or please) = Do it na, please…
פן = lest = I take a pen everywhere, lest I think of something and forget it.
ידע = to know = when you know how something goes you go yada yada yada
שכן = to dwell = I wouldn’t want to dwell near a chacane(sic) because people drive crazy through them
אדון = Lord, master = A good mafioso recognises A Don as master.
אהל = Tent = Camping is a taste of a hell.
בשת = shame, disgrace = that referee’s decision was absolutely bosh*t.
גוי = people, nation, gentile = It’s a joy to be a goy.
חשך = darkness, obscurity = The Darkness sound better on Cashek.
צרה = distress, strait = I need something for this one “tsara
שפה = lip, edge = and this one “sapha“…
כמו = like = when you’re in camo you look like a tree.
קדשׁ = holy, sacred, sanctuary = qadosh (again, I’ve got nothing…)
זבח = to slaughter, kill = Zavach is the sound a knife makes hitting bone.
חדל = to cease, leave off = he was going fast, but then ha dalled it back down to one…
חטא = to sin, miss the mark = he did the wrong thing, so he got a cata on his arm.
חפץ = to delight, have pleasure in = I delight in cafetz, a cafe for pets.
צעק = to cry out = If Graeme Kennedy had cried out “tsaak” instead he wouldn’t have been in trouble…
זבח = sacrifice = zebach.
חטאת = sin = If you sin you get the catath nine-tails.
מזבח = altar = mizbech
צדקה = righteousness = zedecha, I remember this one because Melchizedek was the king of righteousness.
אכל = to eat, consume = when you eat a tic tac you eat a calorie
יצא = to go out, come out = yatsa, yahtzee for people who go out…
נסע = to journey, travel = Nasa travels to the moon.
נשא = to lift up, carry = The other Nasa, we have lift up…
רדף = to pursue = Walker, Texas Ranger, rad off after some guys on a horse.
שאל = to ask = Nobody asks for sal-ad.
שכח = to forget = If you shake a baby they’ll forget everything they know.
תפש = to grasp, sieze = I like to grasp as many tapas as possible when the tray comes around.
הק = statute = there’s a statute somewhere that says you have to drink coke
משׁפט = judgment = mishpat
נפשׁ = life, living being = nephesh
איה = where? = Where the hell are ay?
עוד = still, yet = odie the dog never stays still.
בחן = to examine = bachan
ברא = to create = I created a story about the barra I caught.
משׁח = to annoint, smear (related to messiah) = I smeared peanut butter all over the bench and made a messach
עזב = to leave, forsake = azav
אמת = truth = emmeth
חן = favour, grace = The teacher showed me grace by not giving me the cane
מנחה = gift = Some body gave me a minka coat. I said I don’t wear whale.
עולם = forever = the guys from Prison Break were on the o-lam forever.
עון = iniquity, guilt, punishment = my guilt is my aon.
שׁבת = sabbath = sabbath
אז = then, at that time = az soon as.
עד = until, up to = I like to fast forward the programs until I get up to the ads
נלחם = to fight, do battle, rage war = nilcham
נמלט = to slip away, escape = If Ivan (ni)milat escapes he should be shot.
נסתר = to hide oneself = I’m (ni)star at hide and seek.
קרא = to call = qara
נשאר = to be left over, survivor (participle)
נשׁבע = to take an oath = I took an oath to shava my head
מועד = appointed time, season, meeting place = moed
נשׁיא = prince, chief = nisi
עדה = congregation = eda
עץ = tree = ets
שבט = rod, sceptre = you can take that rod and shevet
גם = also = gam
בקר = cattle = I like to cook cattle on the baqar beque
בקר = morning = Morning has boqer, like the first morning…
קץ = end, extremity = qets
שׁר = prince = sar
שׁרה = princess = sarah
בקש = to seek = baqesh
גדל = to be great = gadol
דבר = to speak = davar
הלל = to praise = halal
ספר = to count = saphar
קדש = to be holy = qadesh
אם = mother = em
רב = multitude = rov
תועבה = abomination, taboo = toeba
תמיד = continually = tamid

St. Eutychus: Now with (hiddenish) ads

So. I just thought I should make this clear. I don’t have ads on my blog (unless you count the occassional reference to my T-Shirt store on Cafepress (currently with one T-Shirt, possibly with more during the holidays), or the plugging of my coffee roasting services (I just got a fresh 10kg of Green Beans to roast – hit up the order form…).

Sometimes, if I remember, mentions of a book will also take you to Amazon in a way that would, if you purchased something, result in a small commission for me. I don’t do that often. Because Book Depository is cheaper.

Anyway, when I installed Google’s search thing in the header, it came bundled with adwords. So now, if you search for something, you’ll notice there are ads with the search results. Click them and I get a few cents. I’m still opposed to the idea of having ads all over the site. I don’t know why.

And so it begins… Christian in England loses job and court case for disagreeing with gay adoption

Interesting. From the BBC.

“A Christian adoption adviser dismissed for refusing to recommend same-sex couples as suitable parents has lost her claim for religious discrimination.

Dr Sheila Matthews, 50, from Kettering in Northamptonshire, lost her job with the county council when she asked to abstain from voting in same-sex cases.

She told her employers Northamptonshire County Council she felt children “did best” with heterosexual parents.”

And so it begins. In England.

So, it turns out one can not abstain from an issue one disagrees with on religious convictions in England – note, she wasn’t actually voting against gay adoption, she was asking not to be put in a situation where she would have to vote against them. Lunacy.

More people should read this article from ABC Unleashed. This is a ridiculous case of forcing someone to conform to the majority view on a conscience issue – the type of think 1984 warned us about…

Here’s the killer line from that ABC article:

…there is an alternative to the combination of ‘disapproval and hate’; and it is ‘disapproval and love’. Even in our hyper-sensitive Aussie culture ‘disapproval and love’ is a moral oxymoron, but in fact we adopt this approach to life every day and it is a morally consistent approach for relating to people whose sexual expressions differ to those with whom you agree.

Invisible Beggar

I like this. You could install a string of these around a city and generate a pretty nice income I reckon.

Via “Your Mind Blown

Bad Christian Music: Redux

So, the title of this video on YouTube promises so much, and delivers so little. It ends up being a guy using a Poker motiff and standing in a bar, singing about Jesus while wearing an awful shirt and doing bad Country Music style dancing.

Though, the country style dancing is not as bad as this country style dancing…

And I know what you’re thinking – these videos have been stripped from their original context, where it was probably ok to be dancing like a cowboy and singing about Jesus.

Well, I ask you, were these eyebrows ever ok, in context? The words are ok – but this is a Television commercial for Christianity, and that sort of facial expression has always been synonymous with “crazy”…

At the very least, he didn’t forget the words.

But what you guys really need to inspire you is a Christian boy band (as in kids – as in something like Hanson, but not)…

This is what happens when they grow up. They become a “Christian Crunk Rock Band”… called Family Force Five.

Maybe they didn’t get enough Psalty the Psinging Psalmbook, and his rhythmic dog Blooper.

Maybe we all need some Kerney Thomas, whose seemlessly redubbed televangelist programs are something to rival the Wine Barrel Church in heresy that makes you unsure whether to laugh or cry.

More music to study to: Gotye

I’m really looking forward to the new Gotye album. Here’s his first song:

Research shows Christians are nicer than atheists

Yeah. Read it and weep those of you in the religion poisons everything mob. The results are in. In America anyway.

Forty percent of worship-attending Americans volunteer regularly to help the poor and elderly, compared with 15% of Americans who never attend services. Frequent-attenders are also more likely than the never-attenders to volunteer for school and youth programs (36% vs. 15%), a neighborhood or civic group (26% vs. 13%), and for health care (21% vs. 13%). The same is true for philanthropic giving; religious Americans give more money to secular causes than do secular Americans. And the list goes on, as it is true for good deeds such as helping someone find a job, donating blood, and spending time with someone who is feeling blue.

England’s Telegraph follows this USA Today story in breaking the news.

No doubt there’ll be a long queue of atheists lining up to debunk this theory on the internet. Because they’ve got so much spare time (since they’re not out and about, you know, helping people.

And the answer to the question of why this is the case isn’t “because we’re told to be good from the pulpit” – no, it’s good old peer pressure, in the form of community.

What is it about friends-at-church that fosters good citizenship? It could be that requests to get involved carry more moral weight when they come from someone you know through your congregation rather than work or your bowling team. Or perhaps religious congregations simply foster peer pressure to do good. At this point, we do not know the precise magic civic ingredient in religious friendships.

Not knowing exactly how religious friendships foster good neighborliness thus leaves open the possibility that the same sort of effect could be found in secular organizations. But they would probably have to resemble religious congregations — close-knit communities with shared morals and values. Currently, though, such groups are few and far between. (Communes might qualify, for example.)

Interesting. Thoughts?

Music to Study to: Boy and Bear and Deerhunter

Speaking of music. I’m enjoying the Boy and Bear EP With Emperor Antarctica:

And a bit of Deerhunter’s Halcyon Digest I suspect many of you will like the former more than the latter…

Compare and Contrast: Owl City and the Postal Service

I heard this song somewhere, and then a friend favourited it on YouTube.

I’d always thought it was by the Postal Service, until I shazammed it (is that a verb?). Turns out I was wrong. And thousands of Internet people have already commented on the similarities.

And if you think the Postal Service sound a lot like Death Cab for Cutie that’s because Ben Gibbard is in both bands.


So there you go, I’m educating you all so that you don’t have to continue listening to the inferior knock off.

Facebook Email… umm… I mean “New Messages”

So, Facebook have announced their gmail killer that isn’t really a gmail killer at all – but a new fangled way of controlling what you read and who you read it from. The new “messages” accounts (which include an optional Facebook email address) will be rolling out in invitation only beta for a while. If you want an invite you should go to this link (if you haven’t already).

I’m the kind of guy who wants Facebook and Google mining all my data so they give me more relevant ads and less ads about Christian dating and bad coffee. You might not be…

Segway proto-prototype

I used to ride one of these around Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall (I was a gopher for a law firm). I didn’t have a helment.

Via Bits and Pieces and 22 Words.

For those who fail at spatial orientation

Some people. No, some women, struggle with knowing right from left. It’s true. They seem binarily opposed and permanently fixed relative to one’s eyes and hands. It seems like it should be more than a fifty-fifty bet. But still, they struggle. So now, I present you all, these gloves. May they be a blessing for the female drivers in your household.

Happy Meals? Happy times… a study of burgers over time

J. Kenji Lopez-Alt does cool stuff with food. And he’s just done it again. He set out to debunk a popular myth about McDonalds – the idea that their burgers not decomposing is somehow a damning indictment on their food. How? Well, he cooked some home made burgers and recorded similar results.

Here’s where he describes his experiment, and here are the findings.

His conclusion:

“… the burger doesn’t rot because it’s small size and relatively large surface area help it to lose moisture very fast. Without moisture, there’s no mold or bacterial growth. Of course, that the meat is pretty much sterile to begin with due to the high cooking temperature helps things along as well. It’s not really surprising. Humans have known about this phenomenon for thousands of years. After all, how do you think beef jerky is made?

Now don’t get me wrong—I don’t have a dog in this fight either way. I really couldn’t care less whether or not the McDonald’s burger rotted or didn’t. I don’t often eat their burgers, and will continue to not often eat their burgers. My problem is not with McDonald’s. My problem is with bad science.”

Chalk and Chess

Take your chess game on the road with this chalk chess set.

Sold here, via Gearfuse.

Shirt of the Day: The making of a Pacman Ghost

Ever wondered where those Pacman Ghosts come from? This shirt design (currently up for voting on Threadless) has the answer.