The ancient Celtic language of Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man before the English came along. The English tried to conquer those lands, also trying to wipe out the languages. Irish Gaelic (Gaeilge) is spoken mainly in areas along the western coast of Ireland. Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) is spoken mostly in the Highlands of Scotland and in the northwestern island off of Scotland's coast. The Isle of Man is currently reviving Manx Gaelic (Gaelg).
by Lorelili October 23, 2004
Of or relating to the Gaels, or the ancient Celtic peoples of Ireland(Éireann), Scotland(Alba), and the Isle of Man(Ellan Vannin) in Britain.
It especially refers to their languages: Irish Gaelic(Gaeilge), the most prominent, and her sister languages; Manx Gaelic(Gaelg); and (Scottish) Gaelic(Gàidhlig). Their cousin languages from the Brythonic Celtic languages are Welsh(Cymrig), Cornish(Kernowek), and Breton(Breizh). All of them possess rolling r's, hard-only c's and g's, gutterals, and soft sounds also. All are poetic, musical, beautiful languages, often sounding very Tolkienesque.
The languages are now fragile after centuries of prejudice from the English. Still interest in them has risen in and around their homelands. There is lingering prejudice and doubt still around, but not quite as bad as it once was.
The Celts have been allowed to speak any language but their own. Why?
It especially refers to their languages: Irish Gaelic(Gaeilge), the most prominent, and her sister languages; Manx Gaelic(Gaelg); and (Scottish) Gaelic(Gàidhlig). Their cousin languages from the Brythonic Celtic languages are Welsh(Cymrig), Cornish(Kernowek), and Breton(Breizh). All of them possess rolling r's, hard-only c's and g's, gutterals, and soft sounds also. All are poetic, musical, beautiful languages, often sounding very Tolkienesque.
The languages are now fragile after centuries of prejudice from the English. Still interest in them has risen in and around their homelands. There is lingering prejudice and doubt still around, but not quite as bad as it once was.
The Celts have been allowed to speak any language but their own. Why?
"'S e dùthaich gun anam a th'ann dùthaich gun cànan"?
Gu fìor; tha h-uile rud an-seo airson adhbhar. Gun e/i, marbhaidh 'n iomadachd na t-saoghail seo bìdeag is bìdeag. 'S e cànan àlainn a th'anns a' Ghàidhlig... bu lugha orm e fhaicinn dhol.
Cho fad is bhitheadh na Ceiltich cànanan beò, agus tha ùidh againn orra, bidh ann ronn na dòchais dhaibh.
Ach th'ann mòran obair ri dhèanamh.
("A country without a language is a country without a soul"?
Truly; everything is here for a reason. Without it, the diversity of this world will die piece by piece. It is a lovely language that Gaelic is... I would hate to see it go.
As long as the Celtic languages are alive, and we are interested in them, there will be some hope for them.
But there's still much work to do.)
Gu fìor; tha h-uile rud an-seo airson adhbhar. Gun e/i, marbhaidh 'n iomadachd na t-saoghail seo bìdeag is bìdeag. 'S e cànan àlainn a th'anns a' Ghàidhlig... bu lugha orm e fhaicinn dhol.
Cho fad is bhitheadh na Ceiltich cànanan beò, agus tha ùidh againn orra, bidh ann ronn na dòchais dhaibh.
Ach th'ann mòran obair ri dhèanamh.
("A country without a language is a country without a soul"?
Truly; everything is here for a reason. Without it, the diversity of this world will die piece by piece. It is a lovely language that Gaelic is... I would hate to see it go.
As long as the Celtic languages are alive, and we are interested in them, there will be some hope for them.
But there's still much work to do.)
by Lorelili March 27, 2005
(1868-1913) A Spanish serial killer, aka "The Vampire of Barcelona": a sociopath with a business plan.
She arrived in Barcelona in 1888 and began working as a maid, but found that she could earn more working as a prostitute. A quick learner, she took the chance to overhear the perverse secrets of the wealthy. Soon she opened a brothel, prostituting children ages 5 through 14 to the city's rich pedophiles. Always adept at capturing children, she would dress in rags and visit the destitute Raval district, where the children looked the most abandoned. She could then go to the galas at the opera house in all of her finery, meeting with her clients. In 1909, her brothel was discovered by police, but her wealthy contacts intervened, saving her from prison.
Enriqueta's next move was the cosmetic needs of the wives and mistresses of her clientele; she began procuring children ages twelve and under, killing them and using their bone marrow, blood, and fat as face creams, love potions, charms, and cures for typhoid, tuberculosis, syphilis, and other diseases. In February, 1912, the reports of six-year-old Teresita Guitart's abduction and a suspicious neighbor's sighting of the missing girl led to Enriqueta Martí's downfall. Her list of contacts was discovered among bloody clothes of children, knives, scalps of blond hair, jars of blood and fat, various scorched bones, and an old book of potions.
She arrived in Barcelona in 1888 and began working as a maid, but found that she could earn more working as a prostitute. A quick learner, she took the chance to overhear the perverse secrets of the wealthy. Soon she opened a brothel, prostituting children ages 5 through 14 to the city's rich pedophiles. Always adept at capturing children, she would dress in rags and visit the destitute Raval district, where the children looked the most abandoned. She could then go to the galas at the opera house in all of her finery, meeting with her clients. In 1909, her brothel was discovered by police, but her wealthy contacts intervened, saving her from prison.
Enriqueta's next move was the cosmetic needs of the wives and mistresses of her clientele; she began procuring children ages twelve and under, killing them and using their bone marrow, blood, and fat as face creams, love potions, charms, and cures for typhoid, tuberculosis, syphilis, and other diseases. In February, 1912, the reports of six-year-old Teresita Guitart's abduction and a suspicious neighbor's sighting of the missing girl led to Enriqueta Martí's downfall. Her list of contacts was discovered among bloody clothes of children, knives, scalps of blond hair, jars of blood and fat, various scorched bones, and an old book of potions.
Enriqueta Martí adamantly stated that her clients were the monsters, but not her; it was just her business. Child prostitutes for the gentlemen, elixirs and face creams for the ladies.
The high-class women who brought Enriqueta's "face creams" knew where these products came from, but a street child was little more than a piece of trash to them.
The police arrived in time to save Teresita and another six-year-old, Angelita, but too late to save Pepito, a boy of the same age; Angelita saw Martí kill him and serve his flesh as a meal.
Enriqueta Martí was killed in 1913 by her fellow inmates, but none of her clients was ever brought to justice.
The high-class women who brought Enriqueta's "face creams" knew where these products came from, but a street child was little more than a piece of trash to them.
The police arrived in time to save Teresita and another six-year-old, Angelita, but too late to save Pepito, a boy of the same age; Angelita saw Martí kill him and serve his flesh as a meal.
Enriqueta Martí was killed in 1913 by her fellow inmates, but none of her clients was ever brought to justice.
by Lorelili November 24, 2010
An baby cat. Also known as a kitty. They have sharp little claws and teeth and can be nasty sometimes, but they are soft, cute, and totally lovable. Their meow is just precious to hear. Be gentle; kittens are delicate.
Some people have real problems if they say that they want to hurt cats and/or kittens. How could anybody even think of hurting such cute little things?
by Lorelili March 31, 2006
It didn't matter if a prince or princess was ugly or sickly or the village idiot; as long as they were of royal blood, uncontaminated with that of commoners, that was all that mattered.
Carlos II of Spain is a case point for that problem; in delicate health, retarded, impotent, and terribly ugly, Carlos was the end result of generations of inbreeding among the Spanish Habsburgs.
She was a sickly little girl; her nose was always running and she coughed a lot.
Carlos II of Spain is a case point for that problem; in delicate health, retarded, impotent, and terribly ugly, Carlos was the end result of generations of inbreeding among the Spanish Habsburgs.
She was a sickly little girl; her nose was always running and she coughed a lot.
by Lorelili December 31, 2010
Bad, immoral, corrupt, perverse, vile, degenerate, degraded, evil, dissolute, shameful, disgraceful, vicious, deviant, errant. A reprobate.
Michele Bachmann and Marcus Bachmann are stridently outrageous in their condemnation of homosexuality, but they run a close second behind the even more depraved Fred Phelps.
by Lorelili August 18, 2011
The medium female singing voice in opera and non-classical music (although in the choir, the mezzo-soprano and the contralto are lumped together as altos). The mezzo-soprano has a range of two octaves from A3 (below middle C) to A5 (just two notes short of high C). This is the most common female voice.
Situated between the soprano and contralto, the mezzo-soprano typically plays supporting roles (mothers, maidservants, friends of the heroine) as well as villainous women like the femme fatale (the saying among mezzo-sopranos and contraltos is that they play "witches, britches, and bitches").
Many pop singers are mezzo-sopranos, although the vocal subcategories used in opera are not applied to them. Examples include Madonna, Beyonce, Patti Lupone, Ethel Merman, Tori Amos, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, Whitney Houston (since the mid-1990s), Enya, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Alanis Morissette, and Sarah McLachlan.
Situated between the soprano and contralto, the mezzo-soprano typically plays supporting roles (mothers, maidservants, friends of the heroine) as well as villainous women like the femme fatale (the saying among mezzo-sopranos and contraltos is that they play "witches, britches, and bitches").
Many pop singers are mezzo-sopranos, although the vocal subcategories used in opera are not applied to them. Examples include Madonna, Beyonce, Patti Lupone, Ethel Merman, Tori Amos, Mary J. Blige, Aretha Franklin, Jennifer Hudson, Whitney Houston (since the mid-1990s), Enya, Janet Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Alanis Morissette, and Sarah McLachlan.
Based on vocal weight/voice type, mezzo-sopranos re divided into three subtypes:
Coloratura mezzo-soprano: Light, flexible, pure, very agile and sings very ornate passages (very rare voice). Examples include Cecilia Bartoli, Marilyn Horne, and Jennifer Larmore, and Vivica Genaux.
Lyric mezzo-soprano: Light, mellow, strong and often plays trouser roles (a woman who plays boys and adolescent males) as well as perfectly feminine characters. Examples include Frederica von Stade, Anne Sophie von Otter, Tatiana Troyanos, and Katherine Jenkins.
Dramatic mezzo-soprano: Powerful, rich, warm and with a stronger (and seductive) lower range than a soprano, she is reserved for the roles of villains (temptresses, femmes fatales, witches) as well as mothers and friends of the soprano. Examples include Grace Bumbry, Dolora Zajick, Denyce Graves, Olga Borodina, and Viorica Cortez.
Mezzo-sopranos can't sing high notes as easily as sopranos (they sound appropriately wild and crazed when they do), but they get their revenge by playing some of the spiciest roles ever.
Coloratura mezzo-soprano: Light, flexible, pure, very agile and sings very ornate passages (very rare voice). Examples include Cecilia Bartoli, Marilyn Horne, and Jennifer Larmore, and Vivica Genaux.
Lyric mezzo-soprano: Light, mellow, strong and often plays trouser roles (a woman who plays boys and adolescent males) as well as perfectly feminine characters. Examples include Frederica von Stade, Anne Sophie von Otter, Tatiana Troyanos, and Katherine Jenkins.
Dramatic mezzo-soprano: Powerful, rich, warm and with a stronger (and seductive) lower range than a soprano, she is reserved for the roles of villains (temptresses, femmes fatales, witches) as well as mothers and friends of the soprano. Examples include Grace Bumbry, Dolora Zajick, Denyce Graves, Olga Borodina, and Viorica Cortez.
Mezzo-sopranos can't sing high notes as easily as sopranos (they sound appropriately wild and crazed when they do), but they get their revenge by playing some of the spiciest roles ever.
by Lorelili July 07, 2011