/u/TheJucheisLoose's posts
In the film "True Grit" (2010), which takes place in Arkansas in 1873, the characters never use contractions when speaking. Is this accurate for the time? If so, why did people not use contractions then?
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We often hear of "killing the messenger," but how dangerous was it, really, to be a messenger bearing bad news or unwelcome demands in Classical or Medieval Europe/Near East/North Africa?
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A trope in fiction both from and about the Ottoman Empire is the conniving, adulating "Grand Vizier." What exactly was a vizier (or Grand Vizier), and why did the role come to be negatively stereotyped in fiction?
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"Motherf**ker" is, when you think about it, a rather bizarre insult. When and where did it begin to be used in English, and why did it become so popular?
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How old are reflexive interjections like "ouch" and "oops" in English? Might a medieval monk exclaim "a-ha!" upon thinking of the perfect turn of phrase for his translation of Boethius?
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In his landmark history manga "Showa," Shigeru Mizuki states that the Japanese high command only narrowly voted to invade China rather than the USSR in the early 1930's. What, if any, were Japan's plans for an invasion and occupation of Russia before and during WWII?
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