Taboo

A taboo is a vehement prohibition of an action based on the belief that such behavior is either too sacred or too accursed for ordinary individuals to undertake, under threat of supernatural punishment. Such prohibitions are present in virtually all societies. The word has been somewhat expanded in the social sciences to strong prohibitions relating to any area of human activity or custom that is sacred or forbidden based on moral judgment and religious beliefs. "Breaking a taboo" is usually considered objectionable by society in general, not merely a subset of a culture.

Etymology

The term "taboo" comes from the Tongan tapu or Fijian tabu ("prohibited", "disallowed", "forbidden"), related among others to the Maori tapu, Hawaiian kapu, Malagasy fady. Its English use dates to 1777 when the British explorer James Cook visited Tonga. Describing the cultural practices of the Tongans, he wrote:

The term was translated to him as "consecrated, inviolable, forbidden, unclean or cursed".Tabu itself has been derived from alleged Tongan morphemes ta ("mark") and bu ("especially"), but this may be a folk etymology (note that Tongan does not actually have a phoneme /b/), and tapu is usually treated as a unitary, non-compound word inherited from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, in turn inherited from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, with the reconstructed meaning "sacred, forbidden". In its current use on Tonga, the word tapu means "sacred" or "holy", often in the sense of being restricted or protected by custom or law. On the main island, the word is often appended to the end of "Tonga" as Tongatapu, here meaning "Sacred South" rather than "Forbidden South".

Taboo (Don Omar song)

"Taboo" is the second single from Don Omar's collaborative album Meet the Orphans released in January 24, 2011 through Universal Latino. The song is re-adapted version from Los Kjarkas's song "Llorando se fue" most commonly known for its use in Kaoma's 1989 hit single "Lambada" fused with Latin beats. The song peaked at number one on the Billboard Latin Songs, becoming his third number one single on the chart.

Background

A low-quality preview of the song was posted on October 19, 2009 planned to be included on the now-unreleased album iDon 2.0, the re-release of his 2009 album iDon. The album was never released, and in 2010 the song was mastered and included on Meet the Orphans.

Critical reception

Brian Voerding from Aol Radio Blog said that the song "It's a down-and-dirty dance number that melds traditional island rhythms with a techno-friendly undercurrent and bright synthesizer melodies. [...]" Omar, along with Daddy Yankee and others, is one of the primary faces and souls of Reggaeton, a relatively new term for music that blends reggae with contemporary hip-hop and electronic elements. received and award for "Urban Song of the Year" at the 2012 ASCAP Awards, which are awarded annually by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers in the United States.

Taboo (game)

Taboo is a word, guessing, and party game published by Parker Brothers in 1989 (subsequently purchased by Hasbro). The objective of the game is for a player to have their partners guess the word on the player's card without using the word itself or five additional words listed on the card.

The game is similar to Catch Phrase, also from Hasbro, in which a player tries to get his or her teammates to guess words using verbal clues. Taboo was later the basis for a 2002 game show of the same name on TNN (now Spike), hosted by comedian Chris Wylde.

Equipment

Some early editions include a board to track progress (as shown in the photo on this page), but current editions do not.

The second edition of the game, produced in 1994, has a round, pink squeaker, or hooter, instead of a buzzer, as do the 1993 and 1990 editions.

Nylon (band)

Nylon (now The Charlies) is an Icelandic girl group composed of members Alma Goodman (born Alma Guðmundsdóttir), Camilla Stones (born Steinunn Þóra Camilla Sigurðardóttir) and Klara Elias (born Klara Ósk Elíasdóttir). They are Iceland's most successful singer/songwriter girl-band, producing ten number one singles, three number one studio albums, one number one compilation and one number one DVD in Iceland.

History

2004-2005: 100% Nylon and Góðir Hlutir

The group was formed after auditions in Iceland, which Alma, Camilla and Klara attended. A few weeks after the auditions, Emilia was asked whether she would like to be in the band, and after meeting them, she accepted the offer. The group sings pop music in English and Icelandic. Their first single, "Lög Unga Fólksins" (which means "The Young People's Song" in English), was released in April 2004 and went straight to number one. The group have had huge success in their native country of Iceland: achieving a total of 13 Number 1 singles to date, a TV show about their first summer as a girlband, three chart topping albums, and a book entitled "100% Nylon" (which instantly became a best seller). They have also released a DVD entitled "Nylon Allstaðar", which contained their smash hit TV show as well as other bonus features.

Nylon 12

Nylon 12 is a polymer with the formula [(CH₂)₁₁C(O)NH]_n. It is made from ω-aminolauric acid or laurolactam monomers that each have 12 carbons, hence the name ‘Nylon 12’. It is one of several nylon polymers.

Synthesis

Nylon 12 can be produced through two routes. The first being polycondensation of ω-aminolauric acid, a bifunctional monomer with one amine and one carboxylic acid group.

n H₂N(CH₂)₁₁CO₂H → [(CH₂)₁₁CONH]_n + n H₂O

The second route is ring-opening polymerization of laurolactam at 260-300˚C. Ring opening can be carried out by cationic or anionic initiators, although cationic initiators have not been used commercially due to the product being less stable and oxidized relatively quickly in comparison to those produced by activated anionic polymerization (monomer casting). Ring-opening polymerization is the preferred route for commercial production.

Properties

Nylon 12 exhibits properties between short chain aliphatic nylons (e.g., nylon 6 and nylon 66) and polyolefins. At 178-180 °C, the melting point of nylon 12 is the lowest among the important polyamides. Its mechanical properties, such as hardness, tensile strength, and resistance to abrasion, are similar to those of nylon 6 and nylon 66. Low water absorption and density, 1.01 g/mL, result from its relatively long hydrocarbon chain length, which also confers it dimensional stability and an almost paraffin-like structure. Nylon 12 is also chemical resistant and insensitive to stress cracking.