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1500 questions
9
votes
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Did Charlotte Bronte expect the readers of "Jane Eyre" to know French?
In Jane Eyre, much of Adèle's dialogue is in French. I don't know French, but most of what Adèle says isn't particularly important, so I haven't had any trouble understanding or enjoying the book.
But it does make me wonder: did Charlotte Brontë…
T Hummus
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9
votes
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Why are all of these things described as "ambrosial" in "The Iliad"?
In Book XIV of The Iliad, when Hera is preparing to distract Zeus on Mount Ida, her preparations are described:
She closed the doors, and first she washed every speck and stain from her lovely body with a bath of ambrosia. She annointed her body…
Mithical
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9
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Looking for a short story about a painter who is visited by a critic from the future
Here's what I remember:
The protagonist has a friend who is an artist. A man (art critic? art historian? maybe even sociologist?) comes from the future all gushing about how this friend's art is the basis of their whole future society. While the…
Vladimirs Kacs
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9
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Why does Odysseus decide to leave without Philoktetes?
I am reading James Scully's translation of Philoktetes (also known as Philoctetes), in The Complete Plays of Sophocles, translated by Robert Bagg & James Scully. At one point, after getting Herakles' bow, Odysseus declares that he's leaving without…
bobble
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"Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me great" what is the meaning of "holp'st"?
The Twitter bot Willy Shakes tweeted these lines earlier today:
Sly frantic wretch, that holp'st to make me great,
In hope thyself should govern Rome and me.
[Enter AEMILIUS]
— Titus Andronicus
I can't understand the word "holp'st", it looks like…
AncientSwordRage
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9
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How did the Adem view Marriage?
The Adem people believe that:
Men have nothing to do with conception;
Sex is not restricted to specific partners.
In our culture, those are the main reasons for marriage. There were also no married couples shown in the book.
Do the Adem…
Matrim Cauthon
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9
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Are there regional variations of Newspeak?
It is repeated several times throughout 1984 that Newspeak is the official language of Oceania. However, as you can see below, although Oceania covers some English-speaking areas (Australia, England, the United States, Canada, etc.), much of its…
fi12
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Did Twain mean the coin should be enlarged or not?
In Twain's quote about government's ostensibly trusting in God and asserting that on their currency, I have seen it reproduced both this way:
But I think it would better read, "Within certain judicious
limitations we trust in God," and if there…
B. Clay Shannon-B. Crow Raven
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9
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Short Story about several Mall Santas
A few years ago I read a short story, I don't remember where I read it. It centered around several (I think 12?) men who worked as Mall Santas, and they were all talking about the job and about Christmas. Somehow they came to realize that one of…
Tori Girkins
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9
votes
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Does this edit in The Magician's Nephew (from "had her bathe" to "had her bath") fundamentally change the meaning of the sentence?
Later editions of C.S. Lewis 'The Magician's Nephew' have been edited, presumably to reflect modern usage.
Polly went down and had her bathe; at least she said that was what
she'd been doing, but we know she was not much of a swimmer and
perhaps it…
Valorum
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Why is 'beer' used in ''a parson much bemus'd in beer"?
In 1735, Alexander Pope wrote Epistle to Dr. Arbuthnot. There is a line "a parson much bemus'd in beer." What has beer to do with it?
I came across this in Merriam-Webster:
In 1735, British poet Alexander Pope
lamented, in rhyme, being besieged…
Nikki
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9
votes
1 answer
Novel about time travel through period accuracy
A novel was described to me some time ago, in which people traveled to other parts of history by living in carefully designed cubicles (of which there was a whole building, all of them jammed up next to each other with a walkway over the top for…
BESW
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9
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What does "FACIT" mean in D. J. Enright's "The Typewriter Revolution"?
D. J. Enright's poem "The Typewriter Revolution" (1971) is a text in which a typewriter appears to revolt against its owner (?), resulting in the distortion of texts and literary allusions. Below is an example:
TAB e or not TAB e
i.e. the ?
Tygirl…
Typewronger
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9
votes
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Are these actually first editions?
I was sorting through some old books and noticed that both these “My little pony” picture books say first edition on them. If they really were first editions they probably wouldn’t be worth much. But, why do they both say first edition, yet only one…
user13907
9
votes
1 answer
How did they plan the conspiracy against the Capitol given mass surveilance?
The books and movies strongly imply that President Snow was using mass surveillance (e.g. When he revealed that he knew about Katniss and Gale having kissed). Between that, President Snow's paranoia, and the fact that Snow would presumably be…
EJoshuaS - Stand with Ukraine
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