Day: January 15, 2017

An update in the listing of my favourite people on Quora since November:

To Mehrdad Dəmirçi (keep the A2As coming, whether I know the answer or not), Achilleas Vortselas (too level-headed for a Greek, no wonder he was a mod!), Vadim Berman (if only we’d overlapped both on Quora and in Melbourne!), Victoria Weaver (Gustav Mahler says hello, grazhdanka Viktoriya), John Gragson (lay down the law, John), Amy Dakin (whose own Odyssey I’m honoured to follow), Sofia Mouratidis (Yalla tis!), Susan James (the peer review panel looks forward to more research updates), User (Anya of Lincoln, who shall shine even more than her language does), Neeraj Mathur (the learnèd historical linguist), Steve Rapaport (the learning historical linguist), Heinrich Müller (connoisseur of TV Tropes, as any true sociologist must be), Michaelis Maus (the nihilist terror), Ayse Temmuz (must not freak out about Afyonkarahisar, must not freak out about Afyonkarahisar), Sam Murray (confidant(e) in chief),

I love reading you, I love seeing you, I love bantering with you, and I love learning from you.

I love youse guys.

So. I’m going to take a scientific approach to this question.

I am going to take my own personal TW awards: people who have featured in my “I love youse all” series:

• I love youse guys by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
• I love youse guys #2 by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
• I love youse women by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile
• I love youse guys #4 by Nick Nicholas on Opɯdʒɯlɯklɑr In Exile

I am going to apply rigorous criteria: good Quora citizenship, notability of at least 100 followers (same criterion as for Necrologue), good and expansive contributions as answerer, I’ve seen a reasonable amount of their stuff (which means reasonably large number of answers, at least 500, in feeds I have not muted).

(Yes, there are several omissions following those criteria that have pained me.)

I’ll then prune it subjectively, so it doesn’t end up being 50 users long. I’m having a devil of a time limiting it to 20 users. And I can’t limit it further. Good thing I’m not the one handing these out; it’s a wrenching thing to rank your friends and those you admire.

I come up with:

• Michael Masiello
• Dimitris Almyrantis
• Sam Morningstar
• Lara Novakov
• Zeibura S. Kathau
• Robert Todd
• Gareth Jones
• Habib Fanny
• Jeremy Markeith Thompson
• Mary C. Gignilliat
• Irene Colthurst
• Pegah Esmaili
• Clarissa Lohr
• Gigi J Wolf
• Jordan Yates
• Michaelis Maus
• Heinrich Müller
• Amy Dakin
• John Gragson
• Victoria Weaver

---

Since 8 people have already been kind enough on this thread to say I Woz Robbed, let me arrogate the opportunity to say a few words in acknowledgement.

• There’s two more rounds.
• I want nothing to be taken away from those that got the quill. Nothing at all.
• I said a bunch of stuff at Nick Nicholas’ answer to Why do some Quorans reject the Top Writer title?, which I stand by.
• A large part of me would love to get the quill, sure—who doesn’t want acknowledgement?
• But see, I already have acknowledgement. I have the acknowledgement of people in this thread, and a bunch of people in other threads—including people that got the quill and expressed their regret that I didn’t, and people that never had the quill, and people I didn’t even know, and and people that I know well and think the world of.
• And that, itself, is worth more than any quill.

User said the following in a comment elsewhere in this thread. It is bound up in her own narrative and not mine, so I won’t claim it as mine. But it is such a great truth, that it deserves to be seen:

https://www.quora.com/Who-deserv…

[…] …so here I am on Quora and people listen and value what I have to say. Compared to what I had last year I AM A TOP WRITER…and having someone like you Kate tell me you value me enough to be with other people on this list..oh yeah I feel like a TOP WRITER…beleive me..I’m not crying about it..

Or, as I put it on the day to Audrey Ackerman, who has earned her quill, richly—and who was one of those who said they were upset at me not getting a quill:

I won’t lie, I felt a pang, but I have no intent of letting that get to me. You deserve it. I deserve it too, whether I get it next batch or not.

Souvlaki – Wikipedia lists the variation of Souvlaki within Greece and Cyprus. Gyro (food) – Wikipedia speaks to gyros, which is the Greek evolution of the Doner kebab – Wikipedia.

In Greece, Souvlaki properly is a skewer of meat, typically pork, and often served in pita. Gyros, which involves shaved rotisserie meat (again, typically pork) is distinct from souvlaki. Either are served in small pita bread wraps, with mustard, salad, and fries.

The Cypriot version involves a pita pocket two or three times the size, tomatoes, cucumbers and cabbage, and often parsley and onion.

The Australian version diverged early, and it’s a gyros, not a skewer: you will see gyros (or yeeros) as a name as well, but souvlaki is the usual name here. (Often enough pronounced souvalaki, and more recently, as would happen with any Australian slang word, souva). Now that there is a new wave of migration of Greeks to Australia, Greek-style souvlakis are popping up as a contrast to Greek-Australian Souvlakis.

The gyros is traditionally lamb, and pork is unheard of. Chicken is the alternative meat in both Greece and Australia. The pita is twice the size. Tzatziki instead of mustard, salad, and no fries.

… Achilleas, why do you ask? What is there for me to add to the foregoing explanations?

Ah, you must be a fan of the IPA!

French: /ɑ̃tʁəpʁəˈnœːʁ/

Or something like that.

Received Pronunciation, per entrepreneur – Wiktionary: /ˌɒntɹəpɹəˈnɜː/

Me: /ɔntɹəpəˈnɜː/

That is what Mark Harrison said, btw 🙂