I thought I'd posted this, but apparently not: Incomprehensible idioms in Maltese.

“Libbislu ċoff u daħħlu wejter!” Literal translation: “Tie a bow on him and employ him as a waiter.” What it means: “The object/human you are speaking about is useless.”

“Mela żobb, Sur Kappillan!” Literal translation: “Therefore penis, Mr Parish Priest!” What it means: “You bet!”

Fun toy/timesink: Translate words into every major European language simultaneously.

In November 1917, a local oil baron united Chechen, Ingush and Ossetian peoples in a Mountain Republic, allied with Germany. The Republic had the distinction of being defeated by both sides in the Russian civil war – first by the Reds, in March 1918, then by the Whites, in May 1919.

Just one of many very obscure and short-lived nations from Russia's civil war. The Republic of Uhtua, the Soviet Republic of Soldiers and Fortress-Builders, Green Ukraine (which was in the Far East), the Confederated Republic of Altai, the list goes on. Some of them had interesting flags too.

Fascinating paper on the longbow, and why it was not adopted to any great extent outside England and Wales.

A ruler who adopted the longbow by creating a culture of archery thus effectively armed a large segment of his population, which in turn created an opportunity that a usurping noble with an eye on the Crown could exploit. Such a noble could organize effective rebellion against his ruler by utilizing the large number of citizens with the human capital required for proficient use of the cheap and easy-to-produce weapon. A ruler therefore had to be confident in his political security to be willing to adopt the bow.

This explanation is of course wrong, as it was entirely due to our greater manly virtue and fortitude.

Modern analogues are left to the reader.

Pagan wild men of Europe: they remind me a bit of Kachina costumes in this neck of the woods. More here, though you'll have to navigate within the site on your own: look for Wilder Mann.

Via Chas, of course.

Relocating the Battle of Hastings?

Giant elk-shaped geoglyph discovered in the Urals, dating to the 6th-3rd millennium B.C.

Hat tip to Forging the Sampo, who also has some good thoughts and quatations on elk in Finnish folklore and the Kalevala.

English Civil War reenactor dispenses some Cavalier justice

European Union forbids claim that drinking water can prevent dehydration

Caganer:

Statuettes of well-known people defecating are a Christmas tradition in Catalonia, dating back to the 18th century. Catalonians hide caganers in Christmas Nativity scenes and invite friends to find them. The figures symbolise fertilisation, hope and prosperity for the coming year.

If you say so. There's a picture, possibly NSFW. Hat tip Chas.

Bloody foreigners:

The official kilogram, a cylinder of platinum and iridium maintained by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures, is more than 130 years old... Some scientists now believe the official kilogram may be losing mass...

As my source for the story puts it, "An honest imperial pound would never show such inconstancy."

And what happened to all that wonderful rationality of the meter being derived from some well-rounded fraction of the earth's dimensions?

Over the years, the official meter has been redefined several times and is now “the length of the path traveled by light in a vacuum during a time interval of 1/299,792,458 of a second.”

Gone the way of Brumaire, Pluviôse, Fructidor and hopes of guillotines in Piccadilly Square, I suppose. Mustn't be unkind, though, they're only poor Parley-Voos after all.

The world mourns the passing of His Tremendousness Giogrio Carbone, Prince of Seborga. He held court in a bar and gave his nation the motto Sub umbra sede (Sit in the shade). Now that's benevolent monarchy.

Via Notes from a Commonplace Book.