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Riddle
A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that require ingenuity and careful thinking for their solution, and ''conundra'', which are questions relying for their effects on punning in either the question or the answer. Archer Taylor says that "we can probably say that riddling is a universal art" and cites riddles from hundreds of different cultures including Finnish, Hungarian, American Indian, Chinese, Russian, Dutch and Filipino sources amongst many others. Many riddles and riddle-themes are internationally widespread. In the assessment of Elli Köngäs-Maranda (originally writing about Malaitian riddles, but with an insight that has been taken up more widely), whereas myths serve to encode and establish social norms, "riddles make a point of playing with conceptual boundaries and cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Riddle Of The Sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. She is mythicized as treacherous and merciless, and will kill and eat those who cannot answer her riddle. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus. Unlike the Greek sphinx, which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man (an androsphinx ( grc, ανδρόσφιγξ)). In addition, the Egyptian sphinx was viewed as benevolent but having a ferocious strength similar to the malevolent Greek version. Both were thought of as guardians and often flank the entrances to temples. In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival during the Renaissance. Later, the sphinx image, initially very similar to the original Ancient Egyptian concept, was export ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Riddle Joke
A riddle joke, joke riddle, pseudo-joke or conundrum is a riddle that does not expect the asked person to know the answer, but rather constitutes a set-up to the humorous punch line of the joke.Mac E. Barrick, "Racial Riddles & the Pollack Joke", ''Keystone Folklore Quarterly'', Volume 15, Issue 1, 1970p. 3-15/ref> It is one of the four major types of riddles, according to Nigel F. Barley.Nigel F. Barley, "Structural Aspects of the Anglo-Saxon Riddle", ''Semiotica'' 10 (2) (1974) There are many cycles of jokes in the form of a conundrum, such as Elephant jokes, "Why did the chicken cross the road?" and lightbulb jokes. Joke cycles implying inferiority or other stereotypes of certain categories of people, such as blonde jokes, or ethnic jokes (such as Pollack joke) have a considerable amount of joke riddles. Examples * Elephant joke * Lightbulb joke * Newspaper riddle * "Why did the chicken cross the road?" * Radio Yerevan jokes Abstract riddles In areas which have hist ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Proverb
A proverb (from la, proverbium) is a simple and insightful, traditional saying that expresses a perceived truth based on common sense or experience. Proverbs are often metaphorical and use formulaic language. A proverbial phrase or a proverbial expression is a type of a conventional saying similar to proverbs and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression, while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context. Collectively, they form a genre of folklore. Some proverbs exist in more than one language because people borrow them from languages and cultures with which they are in contact. In the West, the Bible (including, but not limited to the Book of Proverbs) and medieval Latin (aided by the work of Erasmus) have played a considerable role in distributing proverbs. Not all Biblical proverbs, however, were distributed to the same extent: one scholar has gathered evidence to show that cultures in which the Bible ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Droodles
''Droodles'' was a syndicated cartoon feature created by Roger Price and collected in his 1953 book ''Droodles'', though the term is now used more generally of similar visual riddles. Form The general form is minimal: a square box containing a few abstract pictorial elements with a caption (or several) giving a humorous explanation of the picture's subject. For example, a Droodle depicting three concentric shapeslittle circle, medium circle, big squaremight have the caption " Aerial view of a cowboy in a Port-a-john."Price, Roger. ''Droodles'', Simon & Schuster, 1953. Origins The trademarked name "Droodle" suggests " doodle", "drawing" and "riddle".Annikki Kaivola-Bregenhoj, ''Riddles: Perspectives on the use, function and change in a folklore genre'', Studia Fennica Folkloristica, 10 (Helsinki: Finnish Literature Society, 2001), p. 62, http://oa.finlit.fi/site/books/detail/12/riddles/. However, the form of the droodlea riddle expressed in visual formhas earlier roots, for ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Puzzle
A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to arrive at the correct or fun solution of the puzzle. There are different genres of puzzles, such as crossword puzzles, word-search puzzles, number puzzles, relational puzzles, and logic puzzles. The academic study of puzzles is called enigmatology. Puzzles are often created to be a form of entertainment but they can also arise from serious mathematical or logical problems. In such cases, their solution may be a significant contribution to mathematical research. Etymology The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' dates the word ''puzzle'' (as a verb) to the end of the 16th century. Its earliest use documented in the ''OED'' was in a book titled ''The Voyage of Robert Dudley...to the West Indies, 1594–95, narrated by Capt. Wyatt, by himself, and by Abram Kendall, master'' (published circa 1595) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Archer Taylor
Archer Taylor (August 1, 1890September 30, 1973) was one of America's "foremost specialists in American and European folklore","Archer Taylor, UC professor", ''The San Francisco Examiner'', 2 October 1973, p. 49. with a special interest in cultural history, literature, proverbs, riddles and bibliography. Early life and education Taylor was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 1, 1890. He enrolled at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, graduating with a B.A. and M.A. in German. He then taught German at Pennsylvania State College. He went on to Harvard University, receiving his Ph.D. degree in German in 1915 with a dissertation on the fairy tale motifs in the Wolfdietrich epics. At Harvard, he studied under such famous scholars as Kuno Francke, George Lyman Kittredge, John Albrecht Walz, Hans Carl Gunther von Jagemann, William Henry Schofield, Charles Hall Grandgent, and F.N. Robinson. From them he developed interest in such fields as German literature, Germanic philol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Charades
Charades (, ). is a parlor or party word guessing game. Originally, the game was a dramatic form of literary charades: a single person would act out each syllable of a word or phrase in order, followed by the whole phrase together, while the rest of the group guessed. A variant was to have teams who acted scenes out together while the others guessed. Today, it is common to require the actors to mime their hints without using any spoken words, which requires some conventional gestures. Puns and visual puns were and remain common. History Literary charades A charade was a form of literary riddle popularized in France in the 18th century where each syllable of the answer was described enigmatically as a separate word before the word as a whole was similarly described. The term ''charade'' was borrowed into English from French in the second half of the eighteenth century, denoting a "kind of riddle in which each syllable of a word, or a complete word or phrase, is enigmati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Robert Petsch
August Ferdinand Robert Petsch (born Berlin 4 June 1875, died Hamburg 10 September 1945) was a German researcher of Germanic culture and folklore. Life and work Petsch studied in Berlin with Erich Schmidt and at the University of Würzburg, where he received his doctorate in 1898 on "Volksrätsel" ('the traditional riddle') and completed his habilitation in 1900 on "Formelhafte Schlüsse im Volksmärchen" ('formulaic endings in folk-tales'). He belonged to the pioneering Berlin school of Germanic studies associated with Wilhelm Scherer. In 1914 he held a lectureship in Liverpool. Then he was appointed full professor at the Königliche Akademie zu Posen — German Academy in Poznán. When Germany lost Poznán through the Treaty of Versailles, Petsch lost his job. In October 1919, Petsch became a professor at the University of Hamburg, taking up the first chair of modern German literary history, and he taught beyond retirement age until 1945. He was a founding figure there in ''Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Rembrandt Harmensz
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in the history of art and the most important in Dutch art history.Gombrich, p. 420. Unlike most Dutch masters of the 17th century, Rembrandt's works depict a wide range of style and subject matter, from portraits and self-portraits to landscapes, genre scenes, allegorical and historical scenes, biblical and mythological themes and animal studies. His contributions to art came in a period of great wealth and cultural achievement that historians call the Dutch Golden Age, when Dutch art (especially Dutch painting), whilst antithetical to the Baroque style that dominated Europe, was prolific and innovative. This era gave rise to important new genres. Like many artists of the Dutch Golden Age, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Alan Dundes
Alan Dundes (September 8, 1934 – March 30, 2005) was an American folklorist. He spent much of his career as a professional academic at the University of California, Berkeley and published his ideas in a wide range of books and articles. He has been hailed as "the most renowned Folklorist of his time". Career Dundes attended Yale University, where he studied English. Sure that he would be drafted upon completion of his studies, Dundes joined the ROTC and trained to become a naval communications officer. When it turned out that the ship he was to be posted to, stationed in the Bay of Naples, already had a communications officer, Dundes asked what else that ship might need, not wanting to give up such a choice assignment. He then spent two years maintaining artillery on a ship in the Mediterranean. Upon completion of his service, Dundes attended Indiana University to pursue a Ph.D in folklore. At Indiana, he studied under the folklorist, Richard Dorson. He completed his de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Elli Köngäs-Maranda
Elli-Kaija Köngäs-Maranda (11 January 1932, Tervola, Finland – 1 November 1982, Québec City, Canada) was an internationally renowned anthropologist and feminist folklorist. She studied Finnish language and folklore at the University of Helsinki, where she received her B.A. in 1954 and her M.A. in 1955. She continued her studies in the United States of America and did her doctoral dissertation in 1963 at Indiana University. She was a lecturer at Columbia University and a fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Harvard University. Köngäs-Maranda was elected a Fellow of the American Folklore Society. The Society's Women's section inaugurated 1983 two prizes in her memory. Research Elli Köngäs-Maranda published books on Finnish-American folklore, theory and practice of riddle analysis, myth and art as teaching materials and structural models in folklore, including: * Elli-Kaija Köngäs-Maranda, ''Finnish Folklore Reader and Glossary'', Indiana University Publications: ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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Semiotics
Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes (semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something, usually called a meaning, to the sign's interpreter. The meaning can be intentional such as a word uttered with a specific meaning, or unintentional, such as a symptom being a sign of a particular medical condition. Signs can also communicate feelings (which are usually not considered meanings) and may communicate internally (through thought itself) or through any of the senses: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or gustatory (taste). Contemporary semiotics is a branch of science that studies meaning-making and various types of knowledge. The semiotic tradition explores the study of signs and symbols as a significant part of communications. Unlike linguistics, semiotics also studies non-linguistic sign systems. Semiotics includes the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |