CELEBRATING OSCAR WILDE ANNOTATIONS PART 1
I HAVE LONG SAVORED THE WIT, ERUDITION, AND STYLE of Oscar Wilde. See “In Praise of Annotated Editions,” November 22, 2013; “The Best of Lines,” April 21, 2017; “In the … Continue reading
NEET TEENS WORLDROUND PART 2
YESTERDAY, WE STARTED ETYMOLOGICAL FUN WITH NEET, “Not in Employment, Education or Training,” encouraged by William Davies’ “Young People Are Different,” London Review of Books. Today in Part 2, we … Continue reading
NEET TEENS—WORLDROUND PART 1
“THE TEENAGER WAS BORN, IT’S SOMETIMES SAID, IN AMERICA IN THE MID-1950S, when Little Richard released ‘Tutti Frutti’ and Elvis appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show.” And so begins William … Continue reading
EAST/WEST GERMAN DECRIMINALIZATION, DANIEL DEFOE’S PILLORYING, AND THE MISUNDERSTOOD MOLE
MY FREQUENT VISITS TO LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS are encouraged by a simple truism: Its writing is so blessedly good! Even to the literary quality of its readers. Here are … Continue reading
MERRIAM-WEBSTER; TIME TRAVELER PART 2
YESTERDAY WE BEGAN ETYMOLOGICAL TIME TRAVEL encouraged by Merriam-Webster. Today in Part 2, we continue with my second and third categories, “Now You Know” and “Er… Ah…” of its examples … Continue reading
MERRIAM-WEBSTER TIME TRAVELER PART 1
MY USUAL ONLINE DICTIONARY, MERRIAM-WEBSTER, has a new feature: Its Time Traveler. “The First Known Date,” M-W describes, “will appear in one of three styles: For the Old English period (700-1099), … Continue reading
THE HERRING IS RED! PART 2
THAT THIS ETYMOLOGICAL RESEARCH emanates from a Sam Spade adventure that’s 78 years old suggests my questionable priorities of time allotment. In any case, here in Part 2 we brings … Continue reading
EINSTEIN’S ANNUS MIRACULOSUS PART 2
RAY MONK’S “EINSTEIN’S MIRACLE YEAR” encouraged our celebrating relativity theory and its fascinating implications in reviewing three recent books: Free Creations of the Human Mind: The Worlds of Albert Einstein; The … Continue reading
EINSTEIN’S ANNUS MIRACULOSUS PART 1
“NEW THEORY OF THE UNIVERSE, NEWTONIAN IDEAS OVERTHROWN” ANNOUNCED THE TIMES of London, November 7, 1919. Yet it could have been even more astonishing: “GRAVITY BENDS LIGHT!” This thought came … Continue reading
PUNCTUATION, LOUD AND CLEAR
IN A REVIEW OF FLORENCE HAZRAT’S On the Mark: From Periods to Interrobangs, How Punctuation Remade the World, Judith Shulevitz writes “Punctuation: A Generational Divide,” The Atlantic, August 2026. Indeed, … Continue reading
