What good is a language that has no word for penguin, I ask you?

Perhaps they have only a word for space-penguin.

is there Klingon for Pandas? Ponies? Pirates?

Not for 'pirate' or 'pony.'

IOLanguageN: Word of the day: Froschmausekrieg

OK, it's German (sort of), but like schadenfreude, schnitzel, and schnauzers, it's easily adopted. George Dyson explains:

My favorite (descriptive if not lengthy) German word is Froschmausekrieg. It means "war between the frogs and the mice" and the file in this photo was so named by Helen Dukas (Einstein's secretary and literary executor) to describe the long and bitter dispute between the School of Math and the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study. A good word to know when facing such a dispute.

After several repetitions, I had to spell it out and explain that I had quit and was taking another job with another group.

Hmm. What I think is happening here is that everyone knows I'm leaving, so they're all bombarding me with work before I go, because there certainly isn't going to be anyone else they can ask to do it after next week.

'tis the season for multi-culti outdoor student festivals. Which means Thai food made by some of my very favorite minions (and I would've said that even before they fed me, but hey, bonus). And lots of other little food booths and things, which I didn't have, because, duh, Thai. And a rather bad DJ. And the Flash is wandering around loose on campus again, although this Flash appeared to be female, unlike the one flea saw in the library the other day.

Friday Cephalopod: Japanese Pancake Devilfish

This week's cephalopod is especially weird - it really does look like a pancake/devil/fish....

Sushi for lunch, I think. I wish I had even a little bit of pep, but last night's black belt training seems to have drained more out of me than I'd thought.

My next test is going to be *hard*. At least it's a year away. I'm sure that some time between now and then I'll stop obsessing over the whole "stabbing me with a real knife???" thing.

Oh, dear Lord, ita. Really?

Just as an update, for those that might be curious: Random power outages that only last long enough to lose 20 min. of work? Yeah, they still suck.

I ate Sitar India samosas. And did not see the Flash.

people who turn up believing they're Klingons and can't speak English (or any other terrestrial language).

Someone in my university does research on people who consider Klingon to be their "home" language. All of them, however, speak English or German as a way of dealing with outsiders. This particular group has no more mental health problems than average, and they don't think that they really are Klingons, just that they have adopted a Klingon lifestyle. A lifestyle that outsiders may consider to be eccentric, just like being a Goth or a Republican.