Monday, September 25, 2006
suttee
suttee - n - A Hindu practice whereby a widow immolates herself on the funeral pyre of her husband: now abolished by law.
This wicked practice was outlawed by the English. The widow's immolation was supposed to be voluntary, but it's been much debated how great an influence social pressures played in her decision.
It's amazing the extent to which Franz Boaz's cultural relativism has become part of the collective consciousness. Allen Bloom told how his studentss could never bring themselves to condemn suttee; their most common opinion was that the English shouldn't have been there in the first place. I tried Bloom's experiment on a friend. "Were the English right to put a stop to this monstrous practice?" I asked. I'll bet you can guess his answer.
This wicked practice was outlawed by the English. The widow's immolation was supposed to be voluntary, but it's been much debated how great an influence social pressures played in her decision.It's amazing the extent to which Franz Boaz's cultural relativism has become part of the collective consciousness. Allen Bloom told how his studentss could never bring themselves to condemn suttee; their most common opinion was that the English shouldn't have been there in the first place. I tried Bloom's experiment on a friend. "Were the English right to put a stop to this monstrous practice?" I asked. I'll bet you can guess his answer.
darn
darn - v. - to mend with interlacing stitches; to embroider by filling with long running or interlacing stitches
Wikipedia is a little more descriptive:
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting with needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row.
Darning also refers to any of several needlework techniques worked in darning stitches:
Pattern darning is a type of embroidery that uses parallel rows of straight stitches of different lengths to create a geometric design.
Net darning, also called filet lace, is a 19th century technique using stitching on a mesh foundation fabric to imitate lace.
Needle weaving is a drawn thread work embroidery technique that involves darning patterns into barelaid warp or weft threads.
This picture didn't teach me anything, so I included it for a laugh. Apparently, this is a picture of "darning." Let me know if you can figure it out.
Wikipedia is a little more descriptive:
Darning is a sewing technique for repairing holes or worn areas in fabric or knitting with needle and thread alone. It is often done by hand, but it is also possible to darn with a sewing machine. Hand darning employs the darning stitch, a simple running stitch in which the thread is "woven" in rows along the grain of the fabric, with the stitcher reversing direction at the end of each row.
Darning also refers to any of several needlework techniques worked in darning stitches:
Pattern darning is a type of embroidery that uses parallel rows of straight stitches of different lengths to create a geometric design.
Net darning, also called filet lace, is a 19th century technique using stitching on a mesh foundation fabric to imitate lace.
Needle weaving is a drawn thread work embroidery technique that involves darning patterns into barelaid warp or weft threads.
This picture didn't teach me anything, so I included it for a laugh. Apparently, this is a picture of "darning." Let me know if you can figure it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)