Monday, August 04, 2003

BLOODY DIARRHEA!!

fountain is the cause
making water-dung bloody
Shigella kicks ass







[NB: The Sino-Korean term for diarrhea is seol-sa (pronounce it "sull-sah"), which sounds a bit like "salsa." The pure Korean term is much rougher: mul-ddong, which is literally "water(y) dung." This is the term I chose for the haiku. Comparing Sino-Korean and pure Korean terms for things can be interesting. The Sino-Korean term for "anus" is hang-mun ("mun" means "gate" or "door"), but the pure Korean term is ddong-kumong, or "dung hole." I am reminded of high-register and low-register words in English resulting in part from Norman rule in England. The ruling class, speaking what was to become French, would have made reference to "pork." The conquered masses retained the more Germanic-sounding "swine," and both words are found in modern English, with "swine" still sounding a bit ruder and lower-class than "pork," which clever marketing has re-imaged as "the other white meat."]
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