The Sherpas are an ethnic group in Nepal. The Nepalese name of Mt. Everest is Sagarmatha.
Yes, it's terribly simple. The good guys are always stalwart and true, the bad guys are easily distinguished by their pointy horns or black hats, and, uh, we always defeat them and save the day. No one ever dies, and everybody lives happily ever after.
Giles ,'Conversations with Dead People'
Natter 74: Ready or Not
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, butt kicking, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Zenkitty - Aug 30, 2015 5:20:26 pm PDT #4442 of 30003
Every now and then, I think I might actually be a little odd.
billytea - Aug 30, 2015 5:37:45 pm PDT #4443 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
The Sherpas are an ethnic group in Nepal. The Nepalese name of Mt. Everest is Sagarmatha.
This is all coming straight off Wikipedia: apparently the Nepalese name was only coined in the 1960s. Up till then, the Nepalese (and most others in the vicinity, it seems) had used the Tibetan name, Chomolungma.
Connie Neil - Aug 30, 2015 5:48:09 pm PDT #4444 of 30003
brillig
Thanks, guys. I hope they mean something cool like "Pillar of Heaven" or "Spine of the World" or "Divine Throne." Apparently all Denali means is "tall." Which, points for succinctness, but I like my mountain names to have a bit more cosmic resonance.
Matt the Bruins fan - Aug 30, 2015 5:53:54 pm PDT #4445 of 30003
"I remember when they eventually introduced that drug kingpin who murdered people and smuggled drugs inside snakes and I was like 'Finally. A normal person.'” —RahvinDragand
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have the impression that Everest isn't all that significant in the culture/myths of the locals despite its fascination for record-obsessed Western mountaineers. I think I remember hearing of a nearby lower peak that's a much bigger figure in Tibetan folklore. (Possibly because it's a lot more landslide-y than Everest and tends to kill people who try to climb it...)
billytea - Aug 30, 2015 5:55:33 pm PDT #4446 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
Chomolungma apparently means "Holy Mother", which isn't too bad. (The Yangtze River is actually known as Chang Jiang in China, which means literally "Long River". Beijing is the literal translation of "Northern Capital"; Shanghai mean "On-the-Sea". And all their months translate as "Month 3" or such like. One might be grateful Everest was named by Tibetans.)
billytea - Aug 30, 2015 5:58:18 pm PDT #4447 of 30003
You were a wrong baby who grew up wrong. The wrong kind of wrong. It's better you hear it from a friend.
I think I remember hearing of a nearby lower peak that's a much bigger figure in Tibetan folklore. (Possibly because it's a lot more landslide-y than Everest and tends to kill people who try to climb it...)
I'm not sure if it's Tibetan or Nepalese, but I think no one's yet reached the absolute summit of the third-highest mountain because the locals regard it as a holy site. Expeditions just get within spitting distance and leave it at that.
Connie Neil - Aug 30, 2015 6:12:11 pm PDT #4448 of 30003
brillig
I remember a PBS special by Michael Wood about the Himalayas, with an incredibly holy mountain, where you do a pilgrimage of walking around it. One of the stories was of Krishna's bride taking him there for their honeymoon. It's one of the highest mountains, but it was more isolated--thus walk-around-able--and nearly perfect in shape.
Connie Neil - Aug 30, 2015 6:12:56 pm PDT #4449 of 30003
brillig
tends to kill people who try to climb it
Which seems only fair.
quester - Aug 30, 2015 6:20:37 pm PDT #4450 of 30003
Danger is my middle name, only I spell it R. u. t. h. - Tina Belcher.
PBS special by Michael Wood
My secret boyfriend.
meara - Aug 30, 2015 6:22:02 pm PDT #4451 of 30003
Yay fluevogs and thrift gods!
I bought so much stuff at the thrift store yesterday. Tried to start Marie Kondo-ing my stuff, but "useful" and "sparks joy" have very little relation to each other.
Then went to see "Diary of a Teenage Girl" with a friend. It was weird. Interesting setting but good lord awkward. Now I'm trying to convince myself to go work out. I got dressed. That's step one. Now to get to the gym...