FUN WITH CLERIHEWS
“A CLERIHEW,” MATHEMATICIAN HOWARD EVES WROTE, “is a form of light verse, akin to the limerick, that became popular in England.” Edmund Clerihew, 1875–1956, English novelist and humorist, inventor of … Continue reading
MAY I SERVE YOU?
BILL LANCASTER IS A SOCIAL HISTORIAN, author, and reader of London Review of Books. “Are You Being Served?” is a recent contribution of his to the LRB Letters column, October … Continue reading
アンダーグラウンド辞典 The Underground Dictionary Part 2
THERE’S GOOD LINGUISTIC FUN to be had with vintage international slang, in this case a 1971 Japanese underground dictionary. We continue here in Part 2, beginning below Fourteenth Street. going … Continue reading
アンダーグラウンド辞典 The Underground Dictionary Part 1
CERTAIN POLITICAL DISCOURSE OF LATE would profit from an underground dictionary (not to say a mouth-washing). And wouldn’t you know, I have such a dictionary to offer: アンダーグラウンド辞典. It was … Continue reading
PORCINE MATTERS
“PIGS,” WIKIPEDIA DESCRIBES, “have been featured in human culture since Neolithic time, appearing in art and literature for children and adults….” BBC History magazine, October 2024, had a related article, … Continue reading
TRIPPIN’ THROUGH KEYBOARDS
I’VE BEEN ENJOYING Michael Arndt’s Snails & Monkey Tails: A Visual Guide to Punctuation & Symbols. One of its chapters is “Typography in the Digital Age,” which begins with that … Continue reading
THOMAS BOWDLER—AHEAD OF HIS TIME?
THE HYPOCRITICAL WHACKO CONSERVATIVES’ BANNING OF BOOKS got me thinking of Thomas Bowdler, whence the term “bowdlerize,” to expurgate; loosely, “to clean up.” That is, it’s ok for Trump to … Continue reading
HENRY J—A COMPACT CAR WITH HUGE HERITAGE PART 2
YESTERDAY WE LEFT OUR ROAD AND TRACK STAFFERS trippin’ to Reno in one of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser’s tidy little products. Today we pick up in Part 2 with their … Continue reading
HENRY J—A COMPACT CAR WITH HUGE HERITAGE PART 1
“FOR SOME MONTHS,” THE MAGAZINE ENTHUSED in January 1952, “Road and Track [the “&” came along in mid-1954] has been off-handedly touting the virtues of a much under-rated and (we … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 