"Joker"

[Geoffrey Steven Nathan]

Do not forget also Timur's role in fathering Calaf, and then wandering with him into Peking where Calaf gets himself into plenty of trouble.

Geoff

Geoffrey S. Nathan
Faculty Liaison, C&IT
and Professor, Linguistics Program
http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
+1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)

Nobody at Wayne State will EVER ask you for your password. Never send it to anyone in an email, no matter how authentic the email looks.

----- Original Message -----

> From: "Victor Steinbok" <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Sent: Thursday, April 25, 2013 6:12:21 PM
> Subject: Re: "Joker"

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: "Joker"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Not sure about Tamerlan, but Timur is a fairly common Russian name as
> well as name used in North Caucasian region (both Christian and
> Muslim
> groups) and in Central Asia. Timur is less associated with Tamerlane
> than with a popular book by an author who wrote a number of books for
> children (I would estimate for 8-13 year olds, but that's only a
> rough
> estimate). I just checked Wiki and they credit him with "Timur
> movement" among "pioneers". He was covering the front as a war
> correspondent, got caught with the troops in an encirclement, joined
> the
> partisans and soon died in combat. (or so we are told) Of course, he
> named his son Timur (not sure if it was before or after the book, but
> likely the son was the inspiration for the book).

> VS-)

> On 4/25/2013 3:56 PM, Cleve Evans wrote:
> > I'd just like to point out that in the absence of either direct
> > information from the person himself or his parents, and without
> > knowing anything about how common the name Tamerlan has been
> > historically in Chechnya and Dagestan, the idea that Tamerlan was
> > some sort of "burden" this guy had to "live up to" may be just as
> > silly as speculating that the actions of an American named
> > William, George, or Al have something to do with trying to "live
> > up to" the memory of William the Conqueror, George Washington, or
> > Al Capone.

> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org