Speaking in Tongues

Hello

I have another old Spanish paragraph. 'Cestica' has me stumped, its not in my dictionary, its written in this context:

…una tinaja con ropa e otras cosillas entre las cuales habia un cestica pequena con una poca lana hilada de colores y dos o tres agujas de plata. Ente esta estaba una poca lana de algodon. Y descogi el algodon y halle tres esmeraldas razonables

also Im guessing 'razonables' would be translated as 'reasonable' or perhaps medium-quality emeralds.

Gracias en adelante...

From The Economist, 22 November 2007:

Learning Mandarin

False Eastern Promise

The craze for teaching Chinese may be a misguided fad

“CHINA will be the dominant power in the 21st century and the employment opportunities that speaking Mandarin will give are immense.” Thus Anthony Seldon, headmaster of Wellington College, at a conference in 2006 entitled “Why every school should offer Mandarin”. Nearly two years later, the spectacular growth of the language in British schools shows no sign of slowing…

In Duck Soup, a Marx Brothers movie made in the early 1930's, the character played by Margaret Dumont says: "In behalf of the people of Fredonia..."

When did that expression become "on behalf of..."?

Does anyone still say "in behalf of..."?

So my friend and I really want to spend the summer together somewhere warm, preferably near a beach. The problem is, she wants to learn Spanish, I already know Spanish and really want to learn Portuguese. Do you all know of any communities (that will be warm in June and July) where a good amount of both these languages is spoken?
Obrigada!

What does this mean: Sülale damganıza bakınız

Thanks!

All information is data. However not all data is information.

What does this mean? And, is it correct?

While I realize that current chav-type usage of 'innit' is just an evolution from 'isn't it', how long has this been in use that way?

I ask because I am reading "Restless" by William Boyd. Part of the book is set during WW2 and part in 1976. In one dialogue set in 1976, the woman, a 28 year-old PhD student [mockingly] says about an opera, "That Verdi bloke, innit".

So, was 'innit' used like that in 1976 or has Boyd mixed up his eras?

lecondel. Meaning: to come and go for meetings that produce few results. Etymology: from the the US name Condoleezza.

If this is Mathilda's idea of homor, I, for one, will no longer bother answering her queries.

Hi all,

Does anyone know of any good travel message boards (kinda like thorntree) in languages other than English? I'm specifically looking for ones in Portuguese, Hebrew, Spanish, Hindi, Italian, French, or German, but other languages might be okay if they let you post in English... so far I only know of losviajeros.com in Spanish; anyone know of any others?

Thanks!