Definitions of terms used in this blog

I grow weary of the drudgery of constantly searching for convenient online definitions of foreign phrases or technical terms, so I’m going to start to define ’em myself when I don’t find one elsewhere

Since I find this problem so irritating, I imagine other bloggers do, too, so I figure I’ll provide an HTML pointer for people looking to mooch off me do the same.

Or you can just link directly to my page if you don’t care for monkeying with HTML.  The URL will look something like this:

http://akramsrazor.typepad.com/2007/02/
terms.html#[term]

Or you can rightclick the word link underneath each entry and choose "Copy Link Location".  This will put the URL in your clipboard so you can paste it in elsewhere. (At least in Windows.)

Note that the URL will never contain spaces, punctuation, diacritics, uppercase letters, or accent marks. 

For example,

<p>I thought he was being <i><a  href="http://akramsrazor.typepad.com/2007/02/terms.
html#pluscatholiquequelepape">plus catholique que le pape</a></i> in his zeal to prove himself.</p>

to your HTML. 

Which would appear as

I thought he was being plus catholique que le pape in his zeal to prove himself.

Also, if you understandably want to link to a definition without
sending the user away from your website, you can include code that
spawns an additional window by adding

target="_blank"

For example, if you wanted to link to the entry for plus catholique que le pape and open a separate window, you’d use the following:

<p>I thought he was being <a target="_blank"
href="http://akramsrazor.typepad.com/2007/02/terms.
html#pluscatholiquequelepape">plus
catholique que le pape</a> in his zeal.</p>
[Test it here.]

As time permits, I’m going to do this for all the specialized, foreign or just downright nerdy terms on my blog.

It’s doubly ironic that I recently got into a spat over use of Arabic vocab given that I actually try harder than, I think, most "ethnic" bloggers (yes, for these purposes being a Muslim is an ethnicity) to define things for the uninitiated.  But it’s often such a colossal pain in the tuchas to find convenient links that don’t require the user to dig through a site just to define a word.

Also, if you would like to set up a page like this on your own blog, the format is as follows: 

<a name="[term]">[term]</a>.

Remember to add half a screen of blank space to the end of your page for it to work properly.

—————————-

• Khaleej
  Arabic: "Gulf".  Refers to the Arabian Gulf.
  [Link for this term.]
• Plus catholique que le pape
  French: More Catholic than the Pope
  [Link for this term.]
   

.