Is it true that there are 99 Irish words for rain? Author and broadcaster Manchán Magan, who died last week at age 55, wasn't sure, so he wrote a book about it, "Ninety-Nine Words for Rain (and One for Sun)." Here's an excerpt, which was published in the Irish Times. "The word for a sudden, heavy shower is spairn; as opposed to sprais, a sudden, heavy, spattering shower; or búisteog, which is simply a sudden shower; or múirling, a sudden heavy shower that moves like a wall of water; or liongar ceatha, a particularly nasty sudden shower; or tuile shléibhe, a sudden shower near a hillside," he writes. "I could fill this entire page with rain words, but what’s more interesting is the insight this abundance of terms gives into our forebears; the countless sodden, shivery experiences that led to the creation of each word." #Books [@bookstodon]( ) #Language #Linguistics #Irish #Ireland #AsGaeilge #Culture
At Sean "Diddy" Combs' sentencing hearing today, prosecutors referenced his repeated history of violence against women and behavior in federal custody and asked the judge to sentence him to 11 years in prison. Combs and several of his children addressed the court, asking the judge not to deny them the care of their surviving parent — the defense team argued he should face no more than 14 months behind bars. He was later sentenced to 50 months in prison and a $500,000 fine. Judge Subramanian told Combs he was unconvinced that he was the changed man his defense team portrayed. Here's more from [@THR]( ). #SeanCombs #Celebrity #Entertainment #Crime #USLaw #PDiddy #PuffDaddy
Earlier this week, agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security surrounded and raided an apartment building in Chicago, pulling men, women and children from their beds in the middle of the night. They then posted a "highlight reel" on social media. For his Doomsday Scenario newsletter, Garrett Graff writes about these "Kavanaugh Raids" and their connection to the Palmer Raids, a century ago. #USImmigration #USPolitics #BrettKavanaugh #USSupremeCourt #ICE #KristiNoem #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity #KavanaughRaids #USHistory [@histodons]( )