Capuchin

Capuchin (pronounced kap-yoo-chin or kap-yoo-shin)

(1) A notable agile, forest-dwelling Central and South American monkey (Cebus capucinus), having a prehensile tail and a cowl of thick hair atop the head, vaguely resembling a monk’s hood.

(2) Any monkey of the genus Cebus (the term ring-tailed monkey is also sometimes used and the Sapajus apella is known as the tufted capuchin.)

(3) A style of hooded cloak historically worn by women.

(4) A friar belonging to a strict and autonomous branch of the Franciscan (Friars Minor), casual use extending later to Franciscans and eventually to cowled monks generally.

(5) Among bird-watchers, A hooded pigeon.

1590–1600: From the Middle French, from the Italian cappuccino, the construct being capuche (a long, pointed hood worn by monks in many Roman Catholic monastic orders) + -in(o).  Capuchin was an Italian borrowing of the Middle French capuchin (Capuchin friar) (from the earlier from earlier capucin), from the Italian cappuccino (Capuchin friar (literally “a small capuchin)), from cappuccio (hood, cowl), from the Late Latin cappa (cape, hood); synecdochally it was used also to refer to members of orders of Roman Catholic friars generally.  The Italian suffix -ino was from the Latin -īnus, from the primitive Indo-European -inos and was comparable with the English -ine.  It was a noun-forming suffix used (1) to form diminutives, (2) to indicate a profession, (3) to indicate an ethnic or geographical origin & (4) to denote a device, tool or instrument; as an adjective-forming suffix it was used (1) to indicate an ethnic or geographical origin & (2) to denote composition, color or other physical qualities.  Capuchin & capuchiness are nouns; the noun plural is capuchins.

Lindsay Lohan in black capuchin, Los Angeles, October 2011.

The hooded habits worn by friars and nuns of the Capuchin order were a distinctive reddish-brown and in seventeenth century Europe capuchin was a common description of the hue.  According to histories published by the order, the robes were inspired by the vestments actually worn by Saint Francis of Assisi (circa 1180-1226) in the thirteenth century, some of which were preserved in the Abby to which his remains were taken.  Saint Francis actually wore robes which were uncolored but, apparently for no reason other than product differentiation, the Capuchins colored their fabric lest they be confused with friars of other Church orders (the Benedictines, Augustinians, Franciscans etc).

The Colombian white faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus).

The style of prepared coffee called cappuccino (pronounced kap-oo-chee-noh, kah-poo-chee-noh or (in Italian) kahp-poot-chee-naw) consists of an espresso base topped with foamed milk, often served with powdered cinnamon and (sometimes) whipped cream.  The color contrast between the foam and cinnamon makes designs possible and some baristas make these their signatures.  Although it appears in Italian documents from the nineteenth century, the word seems first to have achieved wider popularity in the immediate post-war years (1645-1948).  It was adopted originally because the color of the foam-cinnamon mix was fancied as having a resemblance to the color of a Capuchin habit.  In a trend which has shocked purists, there have long been those who prefer powdered chocolate to cinnamon.

Lindsay Lohan with a brace of takeaway cappuccinos, Los Angeles, January 2008.

Whether the cappuccino really was “invented” by an Italian Franciscan after the 1683 Battle of Vienna (when the armies assembled by the Holy Roman Empire turned away the Ottomans besieging the gates of the city, thereby saving Europe from the threat of Islamic conquest) is unknown and likely a myth but it remains a popular story and, unlike the similar attribution of the aftermath of the battle being the birthplace of the croissant, it’s never actually been disproved.  Historically, all agree the appearance of the cappuccino has changed over the centuries and the extravagance of the froth is a recent innovation.  The name certainly comes from the color of the habits worn by “Capuchin” friars which so resembled the color the beverage assumed when a small measure of milk was added to the almost black, brewed coffee and it’s at least possible cinnamon was among the herbs sprinkled but there were likely many tried.  The modern cappuccino with espresso créma and steamed milk is a twentieth century creation but innovation has always surrounded the barista’s steam and in the late eighteenth century, the Viennese used the German modification of the Italian cappuccino (Kapuziner) and, being Austrians, added whipped cream and spices although some recipe books mention egg yolks as part of the concoction, sugar apparently compulsory.  As an Italian specialty (thought to be an import from the Italian-speaking parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire barely known outside the country or the parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) it spread in the early years of the twentieth century as espresso machines suitable for use in cafés entered volume production and prices fell but outside the country it remained almost unknown until the 1930s and it was during the post-war period when the combination of an influx of foreigners to Italy and the mass-migration of Italians that the cappuccino became the latest of the nation’s many cultural exports.

A classic cappuccino.

However, unlike the practices in many places, Italians seldom took a cappuccino before ten or eleven in the morning, the cultural tradition (said to date from Ancient Rome) being that milk ingested too early in the day impedes the digestion of food for the rest of the day, thus the Italian preference for an early espresso.  In places beyond, there was no such reluctance and in US cities (where they’d been widely available in Italian restaurants since the 1930s) the breakfast cappuccino became a bit of a cult among urban sophisticates and late in the century as coffee chains became first national and then international, the cappuccino went worldwide.

The cappuccino’s place in the milky ecosystem detailed by CoffeeHow.  Sasha’s coffeehow.co is the web’s outstanding site for coffee fiends, being both comprehensive and accessible.  If there’s anything to be known about coffee, Sasha’s site has an entry.  

Making a cappuccino at home

Ingredients

1 oz dark roast ground coffee.
½ cup hot water.
¾ cup whole milk.
Sprinkle of powdered cinnamon.
Whipped cream & sugar (raw sugar or coffee crystals are best) are optional, neither of which are recommended.)

Directions

(1) Place coffee grounds in French press and add the hot water.  Allow the mix to steep (the process by which a porous solid absorbs a liquid) for 4 minutes, then push down on plunger down and pour into a mug, ideally one with an outward curl to the lip.

(2) While coffee is steeping, pour milk into a small pot and heat to 140-150^o F (60-65^o C); ideally, use a thermometer to test temperature.

(3) Pour hot milk into a large container (ideally one made from stainless steel with handle & spout and conical so opening is somewhat narrower than base) and with handheld frothing wand froth hot milk; this should take some 3 minutes.

(4) Pour frothed milk into mug atop coffee and if foaming has been done correctly it should be very foamy on top.  The sugar can at this point be added but a cappuccino is best enjoyed unsweetened.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and serve, if desired with whipped cream.

Tumblehome

Tumblehome (pronounced tuhm-buhl-hohm)

(1) In naval architecture, an inward and upward slope of the middle body of a vessel; of the sides of a ship: To incline or slope inwards, to contract above the point of extreme breadth.

(2) A conceptually similar shape applied, in reverse, to the upper body of an automobile.

1828: A compound word, tumble + home.  Tumble was from the Middle English tumblen (to fall over and over again, tumble), frequentative of the Middle English tumben (to fall, leap, dance), from the Old English tumbian, from the Proto-Germanic tūmōną (to turn, rotate).  It was cognate with the Middle Dutch tumelen and the Middle Low German tumelen & tummelen.  Home was from the Middle English home, hom, hoom & ham, from the Old English hām (village, hamlet, manor, estate, home, dwelling, house, region, country), from the Proto-West Germanic haim, from the Proto-Germanic haimaz (home, village), from the Proto-Indo-European tḱóymos (village, home), from the root tḱey-.  The (rare and probably extinct) alternative spelling is tumble home.  Tumblehome is a noun; the noun plural is tumblehomes.

The meaning of the word tumblehome has been well understood from its first appearance in the early nineteenth century but the origin has never been obvious.  Shipbuilders had for centuries been using variations of the design for a number of reasons but the first known instance of the word dates only from 1828 and then without explanation, suggesting the term may already have been in common use, at least within the industry.  An 1848 reference from a shipwright does however hint at some sense of novelty, noting “… the upper works usually incline towards the middle line, or as it is termed “tumble home”.  The word “tumble” to refer to the sides of ships appears to have been used at least as early as 1687 but the compound tumblehome seems not to have emerged for another hundred and fifty-odd years.  The idea always summoned was of the imagery of the sides of a ship “tumbling down” the slope created but why “home” was added remains a mystery, the assumption being it was based either on (1) an association with certain domestic architectural styles of the time (2) the romantic notion of the sea, to which the tumblehome falls, being "home" for sailors or  (3) the idea of a dilapidated house in the throes of "tumbling down", fallen bits an pieces accumulating at the bottom.

Big ships and fast cars

In automotive design (upper), the term is applied when the width of the cabin (cockpit or glasshouse) reduces as the height rises.  Although curved glass in the side windows of cars began widely to be adopted in the mid-1960s, thus creating a mild tumblehome effect, the term is applied only when it is sufficiently severe to be apparent to casual viewers.

In naval architecture (lower), the geometry is reversed, a tumblehome define as a hull which flares out as the sides approach the waterline.  Although in some vessels, the effect is barely detectable by the naked eye, it’s a technical term and applies to all hulls which dimensionally qualify.  The opposite, the classic shape for ships’ hull, is called the flare.

USS Brooklyn, 1896.

Tumblehome, unless taken to extremes, was functional in that it improved stability in warships under sail; sailing ships heel (they tend to lean over when moving) and tumblehome reduced this.  At the time, the biggest contributor to a warship’s mass on the upper decks was the guns and a tumblehome design, moving the centre of gravity lower, allowed armament to be maintained or even increased without further loss of stability.  Additionally, there was the benefit of making it harder for boarding parties to climb aboard.  In commercial shipping, vessels were long taxed on the basis of the square footage of a ship’s deck and fat ships with a pronounced tumble carrying the same freight but taxed less, were attractive.  Government fiscal policy thus influenced and distorted design and engineering principles in the same way tax arrangements of windows affected architecture and those on cylinder bores (adversely) affected engine design.

Lamborghini LP500 Countach prototype, 1971.

The Countach had one of the most extreme implementations, the angle meaning it was possible for only part of the side-window to be lowered but at least the Italians were more thoughtful than the Germans; in 1954, facing a similar challenge with the side-glass on the 300 SL (W198 1954-1957) gullwing, Mercedes-Benz simply fixed the panes, ventilation provided only by small quarterlights.  Neither flow-through ventilation or air-conditioning was available so driving in a gullwing could be hot and sticky experience and there's a reason they're sometimes seen being driven (at low speeds and not on public roads) with at least one door open. .  The tumblehome is used by high-performance cars because of the aerodynamic advantages it confers, reducing frontal area an allowing the curve of the greenhouse to be optimized for air-flow, lowering resistance.  Because of great advances made during the late twentieth century, refinements to tumblehomes no longer deliver the 3-5% improvements in a drag coefficient (CD) which once was possible, engineers now pursuing factional gains.  The origins in cars however lay in the quest for more interior space and for mass-market vehicles, bulging out the sides gained the odd vital inch and the technique, combined with curved side glass, has become almost universal although there has been the odd deviation.  Stylists are predicting tumblehomes are likely to become more exaggerated as sides need to be bulkier to meet more rigorous side-impact regulations and roof-lines are lowered slightly in the quest to reduce drag.

Lindsay Lohan in tumblehome blonde wig.

What professional hair stylists call “the tumblehome” is a triangulated shaping which is most cases can’t be achieved without an expert application of product and when sported by models on photo-shoots, it’s common for the angles and an illusion of volume to be achieved with engineering no more complex than a sheet of cardboard (cut to suit) being attached with hairclips to the back of the head.  The look can however be achieved with synthetics which can be persuaded sustainably to behave in a way human hair naturally resists and Lady Gaga (b 1986) made a tumblehome wig a signature feature of her “Fame Monster” period (2009-2010).  With natural hair, a tumblehome with hair a little shorter than that of Lady Gaga’s wig is sometimes technically achievable given the right hair and a generous use of product the sideways projection would be noticeably less.

Lady gaga in Fame Monster mode.

The tumblehome style with the exaggerated elongations al la Gaga is rarely seen and usually represents a lot of work.  However, many take about as much effort to avoid the similar geometry of the “pyramid head”: a triangular shape with a flat crown area which flares to a wide bushy shape at the ends.  A function of length and weight for those with curly hair, pyramids happen usually when the strands are of almost uniform length and the curls tend to “stack”, the weight meaning the roots sit flattest on the scalp while towards the ends where the effective volume (hair + space) is greatest, the curled strands move sideways, unlike the behavior of straight hair which is purely downwards.

Lindsay Lohan with pyramid head, Saturday Night Live, 2004.

Stylists recommend layers as the best tactic to minimize the triangulation, the strategy essentially to create longer, diagonal layers to frame the face, meaning the remaining curls “sit into each other”.  What this does is simply physics, the layering on the surface reducing the weight, increasing the percentage of the volume on the crown area and although some are resistant, the best results will probably be achieved if the hair is cut dry because it will be presented at its natural weight.  When wet, the moisture content will disguise the extent of the left-right movement and exaggerate the up-down.  The shorter the layers of course the more effective the amelioration but this can be too radical for some so clients need to be turned into realists.

Only

Only (pronounced ohn-lee)

(1) Without others or anything further; alone; solely; exclusively.

(2) No more than; merely; just.

(3) As recently as.

(4) In the final outcome or decision.

(5) Being the single one or the relatively few of the kind.

(6) Having no sibling or (less common) no sibling of the same sex (also a noun in this context).

(7) Mere (obsolete).

(8) Single in superiority or distinction; unique; the best.

(9) But (introducing a single restriction, restraining circumstance, or the like).

(10) Except (frowned upon by some).

Pre 900: From the Middle English oonly, onli, onlych, onelich & anely, from the Old English ānlich, ānlīc & ǣnlich (like; similar; equal; unique, solitary, literally "one-like”), from the Proto-Germanic ainalīkaz (one + -ly).  It was cognate with the Old Frisian einlik, the obsolete Dutch eenlijk, the German ähnlich (similar), the Old Norse álíkr, the Old High German einlih, the Danish einlig and the Swedish enlig (unified).  Synonyms include solitary & lone in one context and peerless & exclusive in the other.  Only is a noun, adjective, adverb & conjunction, onliness, onlyer & onlier are nouns and onliest & onlest are adjectives ; the noun plural is either onlys or onlies (both rarely used).

Only’s use as an adverb (alone, no other or others than; in but one manner; for but one purpose) and a conjunction (but, except) developed in Middle English.  In English, the familiar distinction of only and alone (now usually in reference to emotional states) is unusual; in many languages the same word serves for both although Modern German has the distinction in allein/einzig.  The mid fifteenth century phrase "only-begotten" is biblical, translating Latin unigenitus and Greek monogenes; the Old English word was ancenned. The term "only child" has been in use since at least the early eighteenth century.  The derived forms were once in more frequent use than now.  Someone who only adheres to the particular thing mentioned, excluding any alternatives. Onlyism (definitely non-standard) used to be quite a thing in Christianity in matters where there were different versions of documents and among Church of England congregations (often in the same parish) some were once adamant that only a certain edition of the Book of Common Prayer was acceptable and the others represented revisionism, heresy or, worse of all, smelled of popery.  Thus there were 1549-onlyiers, 1559-onlyiers, 1562-onlyiers etc.  The same factionalism of course continues to exist in many religions (and in secular movements and institutions too) but onlier has faded from use.  The adjectives onliest & onlest (a superlative form of only used almost exclusively in the US) are now rare and onlest is used mostly in African American Vernacular English (AAVE).  

No ambiguity intended: Lindsay Lohan in sweatshirt from the I ONLY SPEAK LILOHAN range.  Lilohan is a non-geographically specific dialect of English, the name a contraction derived from that of its creator.  It appears to use a conventional US English vocabulary but is delivered, with an occasionally halting delivery, in an accent vaguely Russian or Eastern European.  Pedants would of course have preferred the text to be: "I SPEAK ONLY LILOHAN".

The construct of the Old English ānlīc being ān (one) + -līc (-ly), only is thus understood in Modern English as on(e) + -ly.  One was from the Middle English oon, on, oan & an, from the Old English ān (one), from the Proto-West Germanic ain, from the Proto-Germanic ainaz (one), from the primitive Indo-European óynos (single, one).  It was cognate with the Scots ae, ane, wan & yin (one); the North Frisian ån (one), the Saterland Frisian aan (one), the West Frisian ien (one), the Dutch een & één (one), the German Low German een; the German ein & eins (one), the Swedish en (one), the Norwegian Nynorsk ein (one), the Icelandic einn (one), the Latin ūnus (one) & Old Latin oinos and the Russian оди́н (odín); doublet of Uno.  The –ly prefix was from the Middle English -ly, -li, -lik & -lich, from the Old English -līċ, from the Proto-West Germanic -līk, from the Proto-Germanic -līkaz (having the body or form of), from līką (body) (from whence Modern German gained lich); in form, it was probably influenced by the Old Norse -ligr (-ly) and was cognate with the Dutch -lijk, the German -lich and the Swedish -lig.  It was used (1) to form adjectives from nouns, the adjectives having the sense of "behaving like, having a likeness or having a nature typical of what is denoted by the noun" and (2) to form adjectives from nouns specifying time intervals, the adjectives having the sense of "occurring at such intervals".

The different phonological development of only and one was part of the evolution of English.  One was originally pronounced in the way which endures in only, atone and alone, a use which to this day persists in various dialectal forms (good 'un, young 'un, big 'un etc), the long standard pronunciation "wun" emerging around the fourteenth century in southwest and west England.  William Tyndale (circa 1494–1536), who grew up in Gloucester, used the spelling “won” in his translations of the Bible which were first published between 1525-1526 and the form slowly spread until it was more or less universal by the mid-eighteenth century.  The later use as indefinite pronoun was influenced by the unrelated French on and Latin homo.

Tyndale, before being strangled and burned at the stake in Vilvoorde (Filford near Brussels).  Woodcut from The Book of Martyrs (1563) by John Foxe (circa 1516-1587).

The bishops in England probably neither much noticed nor cared about Tyndale’s phonological choice but they certainly objected to his choice of words in translation (church became “congregation” and priest became “elder”) which appeared to threaten both the institution of the Church and the centrality to Christianity of the clerical hierarchy.  Tried for heresy in 1536, he was pronounced guilty and condemned to be burned at the stake although, for reasons not documented, he was, after a ceremonial defrocking, strangled until dead while tied to the stake, his corpse then burned.

Pink-themed vegan protest in Perth, Western Australia:  Activist herbivore Tash Peterson (b 1995; in sensible running shoes, right) and unidentified associate (in strappy stilettos, left), spreading their PSAs (public service announcement).  Geographically, Perth is the world's most isolated regional capital city but culturally, it's plugged-in and stuff happens there.

Although transgressions are something the grammar Nazis rush to correct with more than their usual relish, the placement of “only” as a modifier matters only if putting it one place or the other would hinder clarity; there’s never been an absolute grammatical rule and, as long as the meaning is clear, it’s probably better to adopt whatever is the usual conversational style.  In his authoritative A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926), the not always tolerant Henry Fowler (1858–1933) cited the report of a man who "only died a week ago" and while acknowledging the error defended the use on the basis the placement represented "the order that most people have always used and still use", adding "any risk of of misunderstanding was chimerical".  Strictly speaking, although “We only fuck vegans” means a life consisting of nothing else, most would understand it as the view of one prepared to contemplate intimacy only with vegans.  The best compromise to adopt is probably that recommended for handling the split infinitive: Use the more exact “We fuck only vegans” in formal use (such as in writing) and the more natural, conversational “We only fuck vegans” otherwise.  Note that a PSA on a sign held aloft at a protest, although obviously “in writing” is not an example of formal use; it’s just part of the conversation.  Care though must be taken to avoid ambiguity, especially in writing because the intonations of speech and other visual clues are not there to assist in the conveying of meaning.  Were one to say “She only fucks vegans after midnight”, quite what is meant isn’t clear and the sentence is better rendered either as “she fucks only vegans after midnight" (ie carnivores will be accommodated only before midnight) or “she fucks vegans only after midnight” (ie vegans must wait for "the stroke of the midnight hour").  In informal English, “only” is a common sentence connector but again, this should be avoided in formal writing where “only” should be placed directly before the word or words that it modifies.

Front door of a Salvation Army store.

Like language, signs exist in context and the nuances are examples of one of the ways the famous “everything is text” works.  Tash Peterson's signs are written language but operate as speech, their form denoting "shouting".  A static sign on a door is different.  If that sign reads “SERVICE ANIMALS ONLY”, literally that means only such creatures are allowed in (ie no humans) and obviously that's not what's intended.  Also, that the text is in upper case does not imply “shouting” as it would in an e-mail or a social media post because the message remains conversational.  Traditionally the term "service animals" was limited to the “seeing eye” dogs used by the visually impaired but in some jurisdictions, there’s been a bit of mission-creep in the category with a menagerie of “support animals” now added to the lists though the dogs are still the most numerous.  It’s doubtful any humans have ever read the sign and departed disappointed, thinking themselves not wanted, but just in case, one Salvation Army store included some small print: “For the safety of our customers and team we kindly ask that all other pets are kept outside the store.”  Perhaps “For the safety of our customers and team, kindly we ask other pets are kept outside the store” would have been more elegant but Henry Fowler would have called that “linguistic pettifogging”.  Even if unnecessary in this case, clarifying small print appended to a sign on a door can be helpful but on one of Tash Peterson’s protest banners, it would be absurd.

Pistanthrophobia

Pistanthrophobia (pronounced piss-an-thruh-foh-bee-uh)

(1) The fear of trusting one's partner in a romantic relationship.

(2) A fear of trusting people because of dreadful past experiences.

1990s: A compound word, the construct being the Ancient Greek πίστις (pístis) (trust; faith in others; belief; truth), from the primitive Indo-European béydtis (equivalent to πείθω (peíthō) (I persuade) +‎ -τις (-tis) (the suffix added to verb stems to form abstract nouns or nouns of action, result or process)) + anthro- (a  (non-standard) alternative form of anthropo- (a combining form of the Ancient Greek ἄνθρωπος (ánthrōpos) (man, human being) +‎ -phobia (fear of a specific thing; hate, dislike, or repression of a specific thing) from the New Latin, from the Classical Latin, from the Ancient Greek -φοβία (-phobía); it was used to form nouns meaning fear of a specific thing (the idea of a hatred came later)).  Pistanthrophobia is a noun; the noun plural is pistanthrophobias.

Pistanthrophobia is one of the “phobias” which owes its existence to the internet and may even have pre-dated the world-wide-web because some archived bulletin boards (there were several devoted to phobias which is something of a hint about the nature of the obsessives who stalked the boards at 2400 baud) includes entries for the word although it difficult to work out quite when first it appeared.  With the arrival of social media, self-help pages flourished and, of course, few need as much help as pistanthrophobics.  Whether, prior to the internet, there were many fewer phobias as exist today isn’t known but since the 1990s many more have been described, some obviously for jocular effect and while some seem only to state the obvious (atomosophobia said to be the “fear of atomic explosions”) pistanthrophobia surely is a helpful addition because it must be a common condition.  It’s not however a medical diagnosis and has never appeared in any edition of the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), those who clinicians find to be pistanthrophobic handled with whatever is thought to be an appropriate diagnosis under the DSM’s five criteria for categorizing phobias: (1) animal type, (2) natural environment type, (3) blood-injection-injury type, (4) situational type & (5) other types.

Although originally applied to those who avoided romantic attachments because of a traumatic experience in a prior relationship, the term is also applied to those unable to trust others because of instances of rejection or betrayal.

Pistanthrophobia was first defined as the fear of being hurt by someone were one to enter into a romantic relationship and from the start the condition was thought something induced by a painful experience in a prior relationship.  The consequence of such traumas manifest as a fear of again suffering hurt and as an avoidance strategy, intimacy with others is avoided.  Like many phobias, the symptoms can vary in nature and extent but they may include (1) panic and fear, which can excessive, persistent, and wholly disproportional to the level of threat, (2) escape desires which typically manifest as a strong urge to get away from the triggering event or individual, (3) a shortness of breath (or hyper ventilation for those prone to panic attacks), (4) a racing heartbeat and (5) trembling and the onset of cold sweats.  Sufferers will change their patterns of behavior to the point of avoiding not only close contact but even casual conversations with anyone who might be a potential partner.  They will be seen to become guarded and socially withdrawn and at the very least, unresponsive to flirtation although it’s more likely they’ll become stressed and attempt to disengage from the interaction.  Flirtation is to a pisanthrophobe a threat and they become hyper-vigilant to the point where their heightened sensitivity will mean they misinterpret even benign conversations.  However, there are those who merely have no wish, for whatever reason, to enter into any romantic arrangements even when there’s been no preceding trauma and they are not pistanthrophobic.  The phobia is specific to the reactions and can exist even where there’s no history of trauma.

Vladimir Putin (b 1952; president or prime minister of Russia since 1999, centre) and Yevgeny Prigozhin (b 1961, noted multi-faceted Russian oligarch, left).

Mr Putin might find it hard again to trust others after his recent experience with Mr Prigozhin.  The president probably thinks he’s entitled to feel betrayed because Mr Prigozhin, as a billionaire oligarch and CEO of Mr Putin’s private army really was a thing of his creation and in sending a military convoy along the highway to threaten Moscow (a revolt, mutiny or insurrection depending on one’s interpretation), Mr Prigozhin was showing at least ingratitude.  Also not very trusting is likely to be Mr Prigozhin who may have little faith in the deal he agreed to: political exile in Russia’s neighboring vassal state of Belarus and an indemnity from prosecution in exchange for ending his quixotic revolt.  It’s certainly plausible he’ll avoid a Russian courtroom but his thoughts have probably turned to things such as accidents like falling from a tall building, being run over by several trucks, inadvertently ingesting poison or being exposed to a nerve agent like Novichok.  As Ernst Röhm (1887–1934; chief of the Nazi Sturmabteilung (the stormtroopers (the SA)) discovered in 1934, there can be consequences even for the things one hasn’t done but people think one might and as Mr Prigozhin probably impressed on Wagner’s troops more than once: “For everything you do there’s a price to be paid.”

Sanpaku

Sanpaku (pronounced san-pach-ew)

The presence of visible white space (sclera) above or below the iris of the human eye.

Pre 1800s: A borrowing from the Japanese 三白 (sanpaku) (three whites) or 三白眼 (sanpaku gan) (three-white eyes).  Sanpaku is a noun and sanpakuish is an adjective; the noun plural is sanpakus.

Sanpaku (三白) (three whites) & Sanpaku gan (三白眼) (three-white eyes) are Japanese terms from traditional Chinese & Japanese medicine and they describe the “condition” in which the white of the eye is visible either above or below the iris when looking straight ahead.  Although the word was popularized by Japanese educator and nutritionist Nyoichi “George” Ohsawa (1893–1966) when he published the book You Are All Sanpaku in 1965, the idea had existed in Oriental medicine probably for centuries although it’s impossible accurately to determine its origin.  It was mentioned in the diaries of at least one nineteenth century US Navy physician but attracted no interest in the West until the release of hsawa san’s book.  In Western medicine the phenomenon is described as “lower scleral show” or “inferior scleral show”, terms which are merely descriptive because (1) it’s something thought within the range of normality, (2) in indicative of no other mental or physical states and thus (3) is not considered a medical condition requiring treatment, the state either genetic or induced by aging, trauma or clinical and aesthetic dermatology procedures.  In short, the medicalization of sanpaku is thought a superstition thus, predictably, on social media ,“sanpaku eyes” seems to have a cult following.

In You Are All Sanpaku, Ohsawa san described Sanpaku as a condition which indicated physical and mental imbalances and discussed its significance in relation to diet and overall well-being.  Historically, sanpaku is believed to have entered oriental medicine from the Japanese practice of “face-reading” and those with eyes observed thus were considered ill-fated and destined for a life filled with misfortune, culminating often with an early demise.  It gained a following on social media by the usual means: celebrity association.  Diana, Princess of Wales, President John Kennedy & Marilyn Munroe, all of whom died young, were all sanpakus and as Ohsawa san warned in You Are All Sanpaku: the eyes indicate someone's fate, signifying imminent danger or an “early and tragic end.”

Early and tragic ends: John Kennedy (JFK, 1917–1963, left), Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997, centre) and Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962, right)

The original basis of “face reading” isn’t known but as a diagnostic tool it focused on the matter of “balance”, something important also to the physicians of Antiquity who identified the “four humors”: flegmat (phlegm), sanguin (blood), coleric (yellow bile) & melanc (black bile) which were the causative against of the four personality types, the phlegmatic, the sanguine, the choleric & the melancholic.  In the East, signs of sanpaku meant a man’s whole system (physical, physiological and spiritual) was out of balance, something caused by sins committed against the order of the universe, accounting for his sickness, unhappiness or insanity.  Ohsawa san noted that in the West such folk had come to be called “accident prone” and they were the ones who should take note of the warning from sanpaku, nature’s tap on the shoulder.  A practical author of self-help texts, Ohsawa san recommended sanpaku eyes should be treated with a macrobiotic diet, focusing on brown rice and soybeans, something on which he had real expertise as the founder of the macrobiotic diet.

By their sanpaku you shall know them: Adolf Hitler (1889-1945, left), crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947, centre) and Charles Manson (1934-2017, right).

Interestingly, the beliefs about sanpaku are culturally variable although universally it’s held the condition determines one's fate.  In the Japanese tradition those consequences are ill fate and misfortune while the Chinese associate sanpaku with good luck and wealth and this divergence has interested cultural anthropologists who study the symbolism and mythologies of different societies.  The tradition divides the eyes into yin sanpaku and yang sanpaku, the roots of this the ancient Chinese concept of yin and yang, representing the duality of opposing yet complementary forces in the universe.  Yin and Yang are fundamental concepts in Chinese philosophy and represent complementary and interconnected aspects of the universe. Yin is associated with qualities such as darkness, femininity, passivity, and coldness, while Yang is associated with light, masculinity, activity, and warmth. They’re seen as opposing forces that are in a constant state of dynamic balance and they exist within all phenomena, including human physiology, nature and society.  In this they differ from the (wholly un-related) concept in particle physics of matter and anti-matter.  Matter is the familiar stuff which is much of the physical universe (particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons) while anti-matter consists of particles with the same mass as their matter counterparts but carrying an opposite charges.  When matter and anti-matter particles come into contact, they can annihilate each other, releasing energy.  Ying and Yang, mutually dependent, live in peaceful co-existence.

A quadrilateral meeting to discuss German war guilt reparations and allied debts accumulated during World War I (1914-1918): Raymond Poincaré (1860–1934; President of France 1913-1920, left), Andrew Bonar Law (1858–1923; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom 1922-1923. centre-left), Benito Mussolini (1883-1945; Duce (leader) & Prime-Minister of Italy 1922-1943, centre right) and Georges Theunis (1873–1966; Prime Minister of Belgium 1921-1925 & 1934-1935, right), 10 Downing Street, London, December 1922.

Before it became a meme, this was an obscure photograph which until the twenty-first century had appeared only in some specialist history texts but as the internet achieved critical mass, memes became a thing and Mussolini’s sanpaku eyes were a gift for the meme-makers, most captions suggesting the duce may have had a sudden premonition of his own unfortunate end although others offered: “I feel naked without a moustache”, “I think I have imposter syndrome”, “Oh God, I just pooped my pants”, “I know one of these men is a Freemason but I don't know which” and “I wonder if they can tell I've smoked some weed”.  However, although not noted as a mystic, he may have sensed another's impending death, “sitteth at the right hand”, Andrew Bonar Law then having only months to live.

Princess Beatrice, Mrs Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi (b 1988).  Until she appeared at a royal wedding in a fascinator she made famous, she was most noted for her sanpaku eyes.

In Japanese face reading, yang sanpaku eyes (white part visible above the iris) reveal a person's dark and sinister nature, the eyes indicating the unstable mental state suffered by individuals exhibiting uncontrollable aggression, such as psychopathic murderers or serial killers.  Yin Sanpaku Eyes (white part visible below the iris) signify a different physical or mental imbalance, one caused by the abuse of drugs, alcohol, and sugar which disrupt the body's equilibrium.  Sanpaku eyes are far from rare, half of the population estimated to have sanpaku eyes, with at least 0.25-millimeter space between the iris and the upper and lower eyelids while some 20% show a separation with 1 millimeter or more.  However, the more celebrated of the species, those with a gap of 2 millimeters or more are fewer than 1% of the total.  Although discouraged by all in the profession except the odd, entrepreneurial cosmetic surgeon, treatment options are available to “correct” scleral show and the most effect treatment is aesthetic plastic surgery, specifically the procedure called blepharoplasty, which can correct the appearance of the eyes.  The construct of blepharoplasty was blepharo- +‎ -plasty.  Blepharo- was from the New Latin, from the Ancient Greek βλέφαρον (blépharon) (eyelid; a feature resembling an eyelid) and -plasty was from the Ancient Greek πλαστός (plastós) (molded, formed) which now has the special meaning in medicine meaning "repair, restoration or re-shaping of part of the body with a surgical procedure".

The Mean Girls (2004) crew demonstrate the range:  Rachel McAdams (b 1978, far left) & Lindsay Lohan (b 1986, centre-left) are in the half of the population who are either not sanpakus or the effect is imperceptible.  Lacey Chabert (b 1982, centre-right) is in the 20% of the population with a separation around 1mm while Amanda Seyfried (b 1985, far right) is a one-percenter who displays up to 2mm depending on her expression.

That humans even have white scleras has interested linguistic anthropologists, evolutionary biologists and other researchers and some have offered the Cooperative Eye Hypothesis which suggest the distinctive appearance evolved as a mechanism with which to enhance non-verbal communication.  According to this hypothesis, the high visibility of the iris & pupil against the white background allows an interlocutor more easily to track eye movements, helping individuals to understand where others are looking during interactions.  Observational studies revealed the way humans and other great apes move their heads and eyes in different ways, humans relying more on eye movements than head movements to see where someone else is looking.  Apes, without the white component in their eyes, tend more to move the whole head.  Not all support the cooperative eye hypothesis but it’s an interesting approach to understanding the evolutionary significance of the human eye's appearance and the sophistication of communication is certainly a noted difference between humans and apes.

Mean Girls (2004) four-way phone call: Eye-rolls (top right) don't count.  A sanpaku is defined only by separation maintained when looking straight ahead.