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Sunday 7 June 2009

Cold rain and warm compost

Handsworth's rain swept, the garden's damp, flowers downcast, fish not feeding, and down the soggy end of our garden lies our compost bin - working and warm. We argue about including orange skins. "The worms don't like the acid in citrus fruits" "Let's just see how it goes." Το λεξικό δεν βρήκε καμία λέξη - so I wonder what is the Greek word for 'compost'. Is it λίπασμα? Looking for it led me to a nice funny Greenpeace clip:
Then I got advice from teacherdude (a blog inspired by shrewd unsentimental philhellenism) that the word λίπασμα will do, though it covers all fertilizer, and a warning that 'komposta' - κομπόστα - means something rather different, the fruit preserves guests are served with coffee (see blog November 2007)
* * * Email from a friend about a paper on political skills that Kim and I wrote in the 1980s:
Noticed that your model is featured in People Alchemy this week - 'Owl, Fox, Donkey, Sheep: Political Skills for Managers' Management Education & Development, Vol 18 (1)
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2 comments:

  1. teacher dude10 June 2009 at 08:30

    You are right about the translation, though the word, λίπασμα is used generically to mean fertiliser of any sort.

    Interestingly, there is the Greek word κομπόστα but that is used for the traditional fruit preserves served with coffee.

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  2. Simon Baddeley10 June 2009 at 08:50

    I take it you mean something like our neighbours will offer - a tasty quince sweetmeat, kidoni (κυδώνι) gliko, or figs sweetened and mulled in ouzo. Thanks, teacher dude, for helping us avoid a future faux pas

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Simon Baddeley