National Book Lovers Day

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Reading as a child, enjoying the short stories, the long books and the ability to lose ourselves in a story so powerful that at the end we are asking ourselves where to get the next book in the series. At the moment I am waiting expectantly for Richard Osman’s fourth book in his Thursday Murder Club series to arrive on 14 September. In the meantime my appetite has been whetted by receiving a preview of the first three chapters. 

Today is for the reader in all of us - the celebration of National Book Lovers Day!  Crack open your favourite book, visit a bookshop or library to find your next great read, and enjoy the relaxation and joy of being a reader and book lover.

While National Book Lovers Days’s origins may be shrouded in mystery and rumour, the books themselves are not. Starting from carving on stone tablets thousands of years ago, the book was designed to make the writings and drawings portable for those that could not be carried around on stone tablets. Originally these written documents were made on parchment or vellum (calf skin, in case, like me, you did not know) that was then bound tightly with a wooden cover.

Didn't you love learning Latin!

Latin was obligatory when I was at school. It was one of the standard subjects on the curriculum. I actually quite enjoyed Latin despite the old adage we used to repeat under our breath:

Latins a dead language

As dead as dead can be 

First, it killed the Romans

And now, it’s killing me

Learning Latin might have felt tough going in school. Still, it is actually handy to know some Latin as a lot of Latin motto's are found over the entrance of many listed buildings. For instance, the motto of the University of Oxford is ‘Dominus illuminatio mea'. These are the opening words of Psalm 27 (the Bible), meaning The Lord is my Light. One of the long-established independent schools on the Wirral has the motto ‘Beati Mundo Corde’. This means Blessed are the Pure in Heart, again a quotation taken out of the Bible (the Beatitudes). It is quite significant that public institutions saw the value of quoting the Bible. This book was once the backbone of our nation’s progress and development.

In a nutshell - Part 1 - The Gospel in a nutshell

 

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When I was a boy I always heard preachers say that a verse they quoted described the gospel in a nutshell. It was intriguing. What did they mean?

One dictionary definition says this about the phrase: ‘This hyperbolic expression alludes to the Roman writer Pliny's description of Homer's Iliad being copied in so tiny a hand that it could fit in a nutshell,’ www.dictionary.com. Another source (www.grammarist.com) says that ‘In a nutshell is an idiom with its roots in Greece, nearly two thousand years ago. ... The phrase, in a nutshell, describes something that is brief or to the point. The expression, in a nutshell, may refer to an explanation that is given in a concise and precise manner, without referring to extraneous details’.

The statement from the Bible that was described as the gospel, in a nutshell, was this - ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life,’ John 3:16.

Latin phrases

All photographs courtesy of Unsplash

Latin was obligatory when I was at school. It was one of the standard subjects on the curriculum. I actually quite enjoyed Latin despite the old adage we used to repeat under our breath:

Latins a dead language

As dead as dead can be 

First, it killed the Romans

And now, it’s killing me

It might have felt tough going at school, but it is actually beneficial to know some Latin as a lot of Latin motto’s can be found over the entrance of many listed buildings. For instance, the motto of the University of Oxford is ‘Dominus illuminatio mea’. These are the opening words of Psalm 27 (the Bible) meaning The Lord is my Light. One of the long-established independent schools on the Wirral has the motto ‘Beati Mundo Corde’. This means Blessed are the Pure in Heart, again a quotation taken out of the Bible (the Beatitudes). It is quite significant that public institutions saw the value of quoting the Bible. This book was once the backbone of our nation’s progress and development.

Language

Photo by Amador Loureiro on Unsplash

Photo by Lavi Perchik on Unsplash

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

It is estimated that there are between 5,000 and 7,000 languages throughout the world. Each language has its own alphabet, the majority of them have 26 letters in their alphabet but there are some that differ for example, Hebrew has 22, Arabic has 28, Scandinavian languages have 29, Russian has 33 and so on. As children in primary school we were taught the alphabet of our native tongue but most children have the ability to speak their native language before they go to school.

At the United Nations the representatives for each nation sit at their desks in the debating chamber.  There is a room overlooking the chamber that houses the interpreters who can translate what is being said into the language of their representative country. This reveals to us the importance of having the correct understanding of any communication being made, accuracy is of prime importance. The two main languages spoken in the United Nations building are English and French. Most notices around the building are written in these two languages.