{"id":7240,"date":"2015-07-17T23:58:11","date_gmt":"2015-07-18T02:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/culturedarm.com\/?p=7240"},"modified":"2015-07-27T03:30:20","modified_gmt":"2015-07-27T06:30:20","slug":"cultureteca-17-07-15","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culturedarm.com\/staging\/5793\/cultureteca-17-07-15\/","title":{"rendered":"Cultureteca 17.07.15"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cultureteca<\/a><\/p>\n

A new feature here at Culturedarm, Cultureteca<\/strong> ought to prove a weekly collection of stuff on and off the internet: snatches of music, videos humorous or otherwise, snippets of literature, sometimes art, architecture, or photography, and topical sporting moments, alongside assorted other diversions.\u00a0There will be no standard format, no compulsion to include something\u00a0on every subject each week. And that lack of structure\u00a0should, in this instance, make everything\u00a0more exciting even than it already sounds.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

‘Cultureteca’?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The suffix ‘-teca’ can be used to refer to any collection of things.<\/p>\n

The etymology of the suffix stretches back to the Ancient Greek ‘\u03b8\u03ae\u03ba\u03b7’ (‘theke<\/em>‘), which could signify\u00a0a box or chest, a tomb, or the sheath of a sword. ‘\u03b8\u03ae\u03ba\u03b7’ stemmed from ‘\u03c4\u03af\u03b8\u03b7\u03bc\u03b9’ (‘tithemi<\/em>‘), meaning to place or to put.\u00a0In today’s Greek, ‘\u03b8\u03ae\u03ba\u03b7’ (‘thiki<\/em>‘) means case, sheath, or holster. But the suffix ‘-\u03b8\u03ae\u03ba\u03b7’ (‘-thiki<\/em>‘) indicates some sort of storage, collection, or exhibition.<\/p>\n

In French, the suffix ‘-th\u00e8que’ works in the same way, as in the words\u00a0biblioth\u00e8que,\u00a0filmoth\u00e8que, and\u00a0glyptoth\u00e8que (for a collection of sculptures). And likewise from the Latin variant ‘-theca’ comes ‘-teca’, a common suffix in Spanish and especially Italian, where we find ludoteca (for a playroom or games room), pinacoteca (art gallery), paninoteca (sandwich shop), and\u00a0enoteca (specialist wine shop\/cellar).<\/p>\n

In English, ‘-theque’, ‘-theca’, and ‘-teca’ have all occasionally been\u00a0added to nouns. Perhaps the Latin ‘-theca’ is found most frequently; although the best-known formulation is surely ‘discotheque’.<\/p>\n

Deciding which form to use here proved especially complex, because ‘theque’, ‘theca’, and ‘teca’ have meanings beyond their respective utilisations as a suffix. ‘Theque’ has a narrow medical usage as ‘an aggregation<\/span> of nevus<\/span> cells<\/span>\u00a0in the<\/span> epidermis’.\u00a0<\/span>‘Theca’ has various uses within\u00a0a broader biological context, all carrying the sense of an external case, sheath, or cell. An easy misspelling, ‘Techa’ can refer to a river in the Urals; while ‘techa’ in French can be a vulgarism, something like ‘cunt’ or ‘pussy’.<\/p>\n

In Italian, ‘teca’ – from the Latin ‘theca’ – indicates a small reliquary, a container for relics.\u00a0And in Spanish the suffix ‘-teca’ has been used in an entirely separate relation, to identify several Central American ethnicities, including the Aztec (‘azteca’) and Zapotec (‘zapoteca’) people.<\/p>\n

Alas, with ‘Culturetheque’ already appropriated by several institutions, and ‘Culturedtheque’ too similar and clunky, I have ultimately gone with ‘Cultureteca’. I was close to\u00a0‘Culturedarm Miscellany’, and thought of various other things like ‘Culturedarm Weekly Mix’ or ‘Box of Culturedarm’ – and these would have saved us all this etymological bother. Perhaps I’ll change my mind and switch to ‘Culturedarm Miscellany’ – but ‘Cultureteca’ is pretty catchy, so for the time being I’m\u00a0pleased enough.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Wimbledon Pressers, Jennifer Lawrence Trailers, and Paint-on-Glass Pushkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

The BBC put up a short ‘Best of the press’ video at the beginning of the week, showcasing some of the funnier moments\u00a0from\u00a0across Wimbledon 2015<\/a>‘s post-match press conferences. That video is watchable here<\/a>; but for those without the relevant access, I have embedded some of the\u00a0high-and-lowlights below. For instance, here a reporter asks Tomas Berdych how he feels heading into the quarter-finals of the men’s draw – despite the fact he has just lost his fourth-round match to Gilles Simon in straight sets:<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FU1QpPAD9gc<\/p>\n

Here a thoroughly obnoxious question is levelled at Caroline Wozniacki, concerning her former partner Rory McIlroy:<\/p>\n