Category: Language

SitzZwerg

September 28, 2023 By arne hendriks Off

In the Appendix to the online dictionary Wictionary is a section called “Terms considered difficult or impossible to translate into English”. One word that caught our attention is ‘Sitzzwerg’. The German word Sitzen means to sit, and Zwerg means dwarf. Thus a Sitzzwerg is a…

MCR3

November 7, 2021 By arne hendriks Off

According to research at the University of Cambridge the protein melanocortin receptor 3 appears to have an important role in linking signals of caloric sufficiency to the control of lineair growth of the human body. The research provides a mechanistic basis for the global secular…

GHRE

November 27, 2019 By arne hendriks Off

The etymology of the word growth may tell us why it is difficult to ignore its direct superficial appeal. In a balanced world both shrinking and growth have their place. Yet while the concept of growth is universally embraced and celebrated, shrinking is regarded mostly negatively.…

D(r)egrowth

November 7, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

What does it mean when your spellingcontrol keeps changing the word degrowth into the word regrowth? How obsessed with growth must a society be when decades after the word degrowth was introduced to inspire a paradigm shift towards the destructive idea of continuous economic growth,…

8000+ Lil’s

August 18, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Spotify now features over 8,000 artists with “Lil’” at the beginning of their name – from the well-known Lil Wayne and Lil’ Kim,  to Dutch favourite Lil Kleine (which actually translates as Lil Little).  It’s interesting that the seemingly macho world of hip hop seems to…

Original Final Words

July 18, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Richard Matheson’s novel ‘The shrinking man’ was published in 1956 and soon adapted for film. In the film the famous last words are inspiring but quite different from the original final words in Matheson’s book. Supposedly the original text was adapted by director Jack Arnold.…

Readyquotes

April 4, 2018 By arne hendriks Off

Readyquotes are slightly altered quotes by known thinkers and makers. The spirit of the original quote often is already a reflection of the interests expressed within the research of The Incredible Shrinking Man but may have one or two words changed to allow us to…