simpletailor [he/him]

Awesome, love this, thanks for the rec!

Endorsing this answer and adding some more info and examples.

Etymologically: blasphemy comes from ancient Greek, meaning “hurtful speech”. In the Christian context, this was extended to mean impious speech, or taking God’s name in vain. Euphemy, in contrast, “good speech”, includes ways religious people modified these invocations against God to avoid blasphemy. Damn > darn ; God > gosh; sacré dieu (fr) > sacré bleu. Of course this is not just limited to religious speech: shit > sheesh; fuck > fudge; putain (fr) > purée.

More etymology on the terms we use to discuss these categories of words: “vulgar” = of or relating to the common people (i.e., not "polite society’). “Profanity” = religiously impure (literally “before the temple”, i.e., before being consacrated).

In a state with laws which reflect this Christian tradition, blasphemy is considered impolite, antisocial, and absolutely a corruption of the youth to allow children to hear such words. This is how these words get tied in to legislation which also prohibit other vulgarities. This is why you can’t say “God damn” on American public radio or tv. These laws often blanket ban the words without any mind to context. Sometimes they loosen them, however, so you might hear “damn” on the radio, but they censor the entire phrase “god damn”.

Cross-culturally, common insults, vulgarities, or invectives involve invoking the taboo: what’s impolite or improper to talk about in the culture? Scat/urine (shit, piss, s/cum, pissintunicus(medieval Latin), sex or sexual organs (dick, douche bag, fucker, pendejo(sp), dirtbag/scumbag (referring to a used condom)), blasphemies (go to hell, God damn you, hostie de tabernak(fr-ca)). What animals have a negative reputation (ass, cow, ayı(tr), bitch)? In what ways did you or your family break social norms (bastard)? Bonus if any of these overlap (mother fucker, ppb).

Note that a lot of profanities and insults are misogynist in origin. There are some obvious ones that refer to female genitalia or to female promiscuity, but even “Son of a bitch”, “mother fucker”, and “bastard”, while all directed at a male referant, impugne his mother’s character within the patriarchal system.

I don’t remember recipes off the top of my head, so no measurements:

Parmigiano: Mince some cashews and Nutritional Yeast. Nutritional yeast by itself is often suggested, but the cashews add a new layer. This is more expensive than knock-off “parmesans” but not far off from an artisan Parmigiano.

Ricotta: silken tofu is the key here. Again, cashews and Nutritional yeast. Blitz everything in a food processor, takes like 2 minutes. Great in lasagne.

Mozzarella: heat up cashew milk in a saucepan, add a thickener (usually xanthan gum and tapioca starch). Tbh this was annoying and I never got it right, so I just buy vegan mozzarellas.

– When buying vegan cheeses, note that they don’t really melt like dairy cheese, especially the “shreds”. Look for a liquid vegan cheese, or introducing an oil can make it meltier. The shreds work pretty well for quesadillas

Hi, I am a linguist who studies how people learn languages. Duolingo isn’t terrible, but there are better uses for your time.

Here are some reasons:

• it’s basically just flash cards + gamification. Not terrible for rote memorization, but it’s not the whole picture of learning a language.
• the sentences are decontextualized. Language is meant to be used in context, so ideally you want your language practice to happen within a conversation (or story–this is why I recommend the Duolingo Stories)
• the computer scientists who founded it didn’t know that language acquisition was a field of research, despite there being world-class scholars at the same institution.
• Duolingo employs some linguists now. Some launder the reputation of the company by publishing research (mostly A/B design UX research on how to retain users).
• Many Duo linguists work on the Duolingo English Test (meant to replace the exams universities use for international students), which means their research is centered around assessment practices. Not on its face a bad thing, but this influences the kind of research done.
• other Duo linguists oversee the revolving door of underpaid contractors who produce content for their lessons. The company is currently working on AI to replace these workers.
• Alphabet owns them

As others in this thread have pointed out, it’s also much better for Western languages with the Latin alphabet. Duo started with Spanish and French, and I’ve heard through contacts that work there, French is their archetypal/flagship course. The computer scientist-oriented solution for expanding to other languages is to assume typological similarity between languages, which means languages that are farther from French in grammar, writing system, etc. will all be contorted to fit the shape of their system.

My suggestions for anyone looking to learn a new language:

• practice rote memorization on your own, and prioritize communicating with others in authentic contexts.
• find a community of language learners to practice with. This can be formal classes or informal meetups, but keep each other accountable to using the language. You will all help each other improve.
• find a community of people who already speak the language. Practice with them as much as possible.
• focus as equally as possible on reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. These are all different skills that synergize with each other but don’t correlate 1:1 (i.e., being good at reading helps you get better at writing, but if you only practice reading, you aren’t automatically improving your writing)
• do not be afraid to make mistakes. It’s okay to use the wrong word, pronounce something weirdly, or use incorrect grammar. People make mistakes in their native languages all the time. You’ll learn from the mistakes and get better in the future. The most important thing is putting the time in. Automaticity comes from practicing.

I could literally go on for days. Happy to answer specific questions anyone has.