Stories From the Neighborhood, Then Goose Bumps
Kelly Hayes and John Nordstrom grew up in the same town and went to the same high school, but, until recently, had somehow never managed to meet.
Love
Why do you get goose bumps when you're scared or moved? This hair-raising episode explains it all.
Walking down a darkened lane on All Hallow's Eve, the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Why? Skunk Bear explains.
Free to Speak About Russia, but Now From a Safe Distance
By ALISON SMALE
Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky, a former billionaire and a critic of
President Vladimir V. Putin's who was imprisoned for a decade, said in
Berlin that he would work to help other political prisoners.
The 18th saying derives from an earlier folk legend that a sudden cold sensation was caused by someone walking over the place that one's grave was eventually going to be. This belief is in line with the workings of people's minds in England in the Middle Ages, in which the distinction between life and death was much less clear than we see it now. There was then an unambiguous belief in the everyday communication between the afterlife in heaven or hell and the physical world of the living. When someone dies in our day and age we a likely to hold a commemorative gathering where we talk about the deceased person. Mediaeval mourners would hold wakes, in which they spoke to the deceased, in the belief that their words were being heard and understood. A person's final resting place would also have been understood to be predetermined and 'someone has walked over my grave' would have been said in the belief that a real person had actually walked over the ground where the speaker would be interred.
noun
plural noun: goose-bumps
- a state of the skin caused by cold, fear, or excitement, in which small bumps appear on the surface as the hairs become erect; goose pimples."this place gives me goosebumps"
Someone is walking over my grave
Meaning
A response to a sudden unexplained shudder or shivering.
Origin
'Someone is walking over my grave' seems a rather odd thing for a living person to say when experiencing a sudden shudder, so why is it said?
The 18th saying derives from an earlier folk legend that a sudden cold sensation was caused by someone walking over the place that one's grave was eventually going to be. This belief is in line with the workings of people's minds in England in the Middle Ages, in which the distinction between life and death was much less clear than we see it now. There was then an unambiguous belief in the everyday communication between the afterlife in heaven or hell and the physical world of the living. When someone dies in our day and age we a likely to hold a commemorative gathering where we talk about the deceased person. Mediaeval mourners would hold wakes, in which they spoke to the deceased, in the belief that their words were being heard and understood. A person's final resting place would also have been understood to be predetermined and 'someone has walked over my grave' would have been said in the belief that a real person had actually walked over the ground where the speaker would be interred.
The earliest known record of the phrase in print, which is of course an indication of the earliest date that we can prove that the phrase was in public use, is in Simon Wagstaff's A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation, 1738. (Simon Wagstaff was one of the many pseudonyms of the celebrated writer Jonathan Swift):
Miss [shuddering]. Lord! there's somebody walking over my Grave.
The old folk belief is recorded by the Yorkshire novelist Harriet Parr, who also used a pseudonym, that of Holme Lee, in Basil Godfrey's Caprice, 1868:
Joan shuddered - that irrepressible convulsive shudder which old wives say is caused by a footstep walking over the place of our grave that shall be.
The expression is sometimes found in the form of 'a goose (or occasionally, a rabbit) walked over my grave'. These are later and chiefly American variants and the 'goose' version at least appears to be a back-formation, derived from 'goose bumps/goose pimples' which are associated with a sudden feeling of chilliness.
The modern-day scientific explanation for sudden unexplained shuddering and for goose pimples is that they are caused by a subconscious release of the stress hormone adrenaline. This may be as a response to coldness or an emotional reaction to a poignant memory. Fanciful it may be, but somehow, I prefer the mediaeval version.
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Cold turkey
Meaning
The sudden and complete withdrawal from an addictive substance and/or the physiological effects of such a withdrawal. Also, predominantly in the U.S.A., plain speaking.Origin
At this time of year you have probably had enough of cold turkey to last until next year's festivities. Nevertheless, here's another plateful.The term 'cold turkey' is now predominantly used as the name of the drug withdrawal process. Also, by extension, it is used to refer to any abrupt termination of something we are accustomed to. To find the origin of the term we need to delve into the annals of American speech. Let's talk turkey.
The turkey looms large in the American psyche because of its link to early European colonists and is, as even Limies like me know, the centrepiece of the annual Thanksgiving meal. In the USA, and as far as I can tell nowhere else, 'plain speaking/getting down to business' is called 'talking cold turkey'. This usage dates from the early part of the 20th century, as in this example from The Des Moines Daily News, May 1914:I've heard [Reverend Billy] Sunday give his 'Booze' sermon, and believe me that rascal can make tears flow out of a stone. And furthermore he talks "cold turkey". You know what I mean - calls a spade a spade.The English newspaper The Daily Express introduced the phrase to an English audience in a January 1928 edition:
"She talked cold turkey about sex. 'Cold turkey' means plain truth in America."'Talking cold turkey' meant no nonsense talking and its partner expression 'going cold turkey' meant no nonsense doing. To 'go cold turkey' was to get straight to the scene of the action - in at the deep end. An example of it in use is found in Debates: the official reports of the Canadian House of Commons, 1899:
I am told that other countries, for instance Australia, have gone cold turkey all the way. They have gone full metric and have experienced less difficulty in the implementation of their program over the long-term.The earliest reference to 'cold turkey' in relation to drug withdrawal that I can find is from the Canadian newspaper The Daily Colonist, October 1921:
"Perhaps the most pitiful figures who have appeared before Dr. Carleton Simon are those who voluntarily surrender themselves. When they go before him, they [drug addicts] are given what is called the 'cold turkey' treatment."In the state of drug withdrawal the addict's blood is directed to the internal organs, leaving the skin white and with goose bumps. It has been suggested that this is what is alluded to by 'cold turkey'. There's no evidence to support that view. For the source of 'cold turkey' we need look no further than the direct, no nonsense approach indicated by the earlier 'in at the deep end' meaning of the term.
See other phrases that were coined in the USA.
Press Freedom | 15.11.2011
Writing can be deadly
It is an incredibly long list, featuing hundreds of names of people from all around the world - they are writers in jail.
The so-called Caselist is published by the international writers' association P.E.N. It consists of the names of writers, authors and journalists who have been jailed or murdered in just the past few months and those of people who have simply disappeared.
It is updated every six months.
In the first half of 2011, it is alleged there were 647 different attempts around the world to silence writers. Cases are rarely made public, but some of the better known ones include those of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya and Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. It is thought that both were murdered - most likely because they published work that opposed the dominant powers within their countries.
Similarly, in the 1980s, death threats against Indian-British novelist Salman Rushdie made waves around the world.
The fear of free speech
But many cases - too many, some would say - are kept under wraps.
And this where P.E.N. comes in.
The London-based association has branches in nearly every country. Founded 90 years ago, it originally campaigned for peace and international understanding, but as a reaction to increasing attempts to silence voices of writers it established the Writers in Prison Committee in 1960. The committee deals exclusively with writers who are threatened, persecuted or censored.
Politkovskaya's unsolved murder continues to attract international attentionThe representative of Writers in Prison is Dirk Sager, vice-president of P.E.N. Germany and a former TV reporter.
During the Cold War, Sager reported from Moscow and East Berlin for West German channel ZDF. At the hands of the East German regime, he himself experienced what it is like to be silenced by a disapproving body of power, even though in his case it was "only" brief threats.
"In Iran, for example, authors and journalists regularly get into conflict with the state and end up in jail in Teheran, which is the most horrible thing you can imagine," says Sager.
The notorious Evin prison in Teheran is known for a number of cases involving torturing against prisoners, especially political prisoners, including dissident authors.
Iranian author Marina Nemat spent two years at Evin prison for publishing a critical school newspaper at the age of 16. Years later, in exile, she found the courage to write about her case, telling stories of cruel torture, sexual abuse, solitary confinement and executions. None of her fellow inmates survived.
Help is not easy
"Unfortunately, this horrifying persecution in Iran is completely secure from western influence," says Sager.
Persecution in China also often inspires feelings of powerlessness.
Nobel Prize-winner Liu Xiaobo is president of the independent P.E.N. center in China.
In December 2009 he was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment for "inciting subversion of state power" and his wife was placed under house arrest. His "crime" was signing a manifesto called Charta 08 along with 350 other Chinese intellectuals. Charta 08 called for reform and democracy.
No one can say how many other authors are currently imprisoned in China. Some seem to have simply disappeared. The reasons for their prison sentences can sound absurd - for example, the alleged holding up of traffic.
"The Chinese government's main argument is that the authors aim to overthrow the state with their writings and opinions," says Sager. "The power structures and state control are questioned - and those in power fear this, and retaliate in the cruelest ways."
A widespread problem
The arrests of Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik caused an outcrySimilar mistreatment of authors and journalists also takes place on the fringes of Europe.
Belarus has been politically ostracized since its last elections in December 2010 because the country's government is accused of crushing all forms of opposition. On the night of the election itself, several editorial offices were searched and journalists' computers were confiscated. Many members of the Belarusian P.E.N. club, including its former president, were beaten up and arrested.
In Turkey, journalists are imprisoned on a regular basis. The cases of reporters Nedim Sener and Ahmet Sik caused much controversy because both men were arrested for alleged involvement in a secret terrorist organization and planning to take part in a coup against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. They are both still in custody.
Sik had written a book about Islamic influence on Turkey's security forces. The book has been banned in Turkey, where authorities describe it as document written by a terrorist organization.
Holding on to hope
Despite great adversity, the P.E.N association is sometimes successful in freeing imprisoned writers. Its tactics include letters to ministers of justice, negotiations, and threatening to publicize cases widely. Sager says the German branch of P.E.N. also tries to involve the German government.
"We’re against the German foreign ministry operating in such a way that the people being persecuted in China continue to be ignored just so that Germany can maintain a dialog with the Chinese government," explains Sager.
Sager believes in his causeIt is not an easy job, but every success motivates.
In Cuba, 75 prisoners were released last year. They now live in exile in Spain.
Progress has also been observed in Tunisia and Algeria after the recent political uprisings.
But the list of persecuted writers gets longer every year. And Sager knows the list is not even complete - despite P.E.N.'s close cooperation with Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders, which help provide the data.
It is sheer determination that keeps Sager and other P.E.N. members motivated.
"Because they fought for a better tomorrow and are suffering because of it," says Sager, "we cannot abandon them."
Author: Silke Wünsch / ew
Editor: Zulfikar Abbany
Editor: Zulfikar Abbany
China Places Nobelist's Wife Under House Arrest
The wife of Liu Xiaobo, the imprisoned Chinese activist who won this year's Nobel Peace Prize, was allowed to meet with her husband Sunday for an hour--only to then have her phone and Internet access cut off by state authorities when she returned home.
house arrest
n.
Confinement to one's quarters, rather than prison, by administrative or judicial order: a prisoner under house arrest.
Confinement to one's quarters, rather than prison, by administrative or judicial order: a prisoner under house arrest.
imprisoned
Syllabification: (im·pris·oned)
Pronunciation: /imˈprizənd/
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