REFEREE OR REFEREE
What is the correct term, referee or referee?
R. The Dictionary of Americanisms, of the Association of Academies of the Spanish Language (ASALE), indicates that the acute form referi is more frequent in Cuba, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay, while the esdrújula referi is the usual one in the rest of American Spanish.
Any of these two voices, as well as referee, which is used above all in Spain, is preferable to non-adapted Anglicism referee. If you prefer to use the latter, it is appropriate to write it in italics or between quotation marks if this font is not available.
THE SEAT
Have you noticed that toilet seats have an open front, why?
R. Ah, universal answer. The global industry guide to the Uniform Plumbing Code, created by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO), surpassed the ASNPC and, since 1973, has called for open toilet seats. These plumbing codes are not laws in themselves, but many municipalities simply adopt what is written in the UPC as their own local codes.
The answer, it seems, is that the gap in the front of the seat makes it easier for users to clean up after themselves; These johns were designed with Janes specifically in mind, Lynne Simnick, IAPMO’s senior director of code development, told Slate in 2013. The U-shape was meant to give women plenty of room to clean without having to stand or touch the seat directly. That’s especially helpful for those of us nesters who like to put a layer of toilet paper on the seat before squatting down.
CRITICS
I’ve found that the movies that critics recommend are generally kind of boring, and the ones that don’t, well, some of them are more fun. Could it be that the critics are “different” people?
A. Yes they are, otherwise there would be no stable point of comparison when judging the films.
There is not supposed to be an individual correspondence. If there was, then you wouldn’t need criticism at all. We’d just say, “This week’s top 10 box office takers are the best movies.”
The true role of a film critic, says Rainer, who watches five to seven movies a week, is not to make a simple value judgment, was this movie “good” or “bad,” but to use language in a way that that “exploits the experience of the film for the reader.”
A thoughtful, well-written review not only conveys the excitement of great cinema, but also explains how the film fits into larger political and social conversations. It goes beyond plot summaries and PR-ready soundbites to illustrate why some artwork works and others fail.
BURIALS
What happens when a cemetery fills up?
A. When a cemetery fills up, as in countries with a high population density, it is resorted, as in Hong Kong, to dig up the dead after 6 years for cremation, due to lack of space. Everyone knows that this is the case and no one protests. With the extremely high and unjustified prices of burial and evening protocols in Mexico, more and more people are opting for cremation, already accepted by the Catholic Church as the first and only option. Funeral homes and so on are going to end the business of exploiting human grief.
