languages

Languages are fun.  Though it can be really difficult to learn sometimes (aka all the time), Ancient Greek is kind of cool.  I just finished my first bit of translation.  It took forever, since I've never actually translated anything before, but still.
Though the paragraph they were having us translate was kind of boring.  It was about a farmer.  The farmer worked hard.  Then the farmer was like, "O Zeus, I work hard, but I don't have a lot of food."  And then he worked and then he rejoiced because he was free and everything was beautiful and he loved life.  The end.
In all, though, I'm ready to do more.
Tomorrow.

alpha
beta
gamma
delta
epsilon
zeta
eta
theta
iota
kappa
lambda
mu
nu
xi
omicron
pi
rho
sigma
tau
umicron
phi
chi
psi
omega

Yes, I DID just recite the entire Greek alphabet, in case you were wondering.  I needed the practice because I have a quiz on it on Friday.  I need to keep up to date on this stuff, you know.

Anyhow, languages are important in writing, especially if you have a multinational fantasy novel on your hands.  You could go the Tolkien route and set up two complete languages, right down to grammar, syntax, genitive verb tenses, and a complete vocabulary, AND set up a few others but less complex, but most people don't opt for this route.  This is why people can write their dissertations on Tolkien languages and not any other fictional languages (seriously, my Elvish grammar book is, I think, the author's final Ph.D. thing for linguistics or something).
Anyway, the point is, keep language in mind.  It's an important part of a culture, and you can have your characters cuss in whatever words they want.  Just remember consistency - you can't have your character say Argana and have it mean 'poop' one time, and then have ganega mean 'poop' the next time.  (that also means that argana and ganega should also always have their own assigned meanings, too, and not mean 'poop' one time and 'procreate' another time).
And that's where I leave you, because sleep is something I have been lacking.  Farewell!