Barry's sinofication of Tibetan

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

TIBETAN GUIDE--A bit more about my "ahistorical, acultural, asocial, self referential jibe" regarding my "Tibetan driver or 'guide.'"  Ouch, that hurts!
   I have a general MIR guide for Mongolia & Tibet.  I also have a driver (who does not speak English).  And I also have a local guide just for this area.  It's not just my opinion, either--our Tibetan guide is just awful.  For example, someone asked her what the statue of a guy on a horse was all about.  "Statue?" she asked.  The question was repeated.  "That statue?" she again asked.  We were finally told it was a "Tibetan hero on a horse."  It's like that with every question.  This is her job!  The MIR guide recognizes the problem, but we'll have to get through it.  Just don't expect too much in the way of slang or proverbs from Tibet.

HADA--I should have added that the Tibet brochure I was reading from was put out by the China National Tourism Administration.  It was intended for English language tourists of Tibet.  Yes, it was sinofication; perhaps sinofication should be recorded, too.
   LONELY PLANET--TIBET lists "_kathak_--prayer scarf; used as a ritual offering or as a gift."  LONELY PLANET does not mention "hada."
   I did not intend my brief note to be a full explanation of either "hada" or "kata"...When my tour guide put one on me, she gave no explanation whatsoever.

MOMO--Again, I gave what was on the menu.  In other posts, I gave a historical explanation of "momo" from a book.  I report on the foreign terms in English contexts as I come across them--contemporary and historical.  I'm not in Tibet and in the New York Public Library at the same time.


AMAZON BOOK ALERT
   An Amazon alerts says that these books will be out soon:

CASSELL'S DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH IDIOMS by Rosalind Fergusson
(October 2002)

DICTIONARY OF IDIOMS by Martin H. Manser
(October 2002)

A DICTIONARY OF POLARI & GAY SLANG by Paul Baker
(January 2003)