“ALRIGHT, MESSR. MERRIAM AND WEBSTER, I’M READY FOR MY CLOSEUP”
MOVIES GIVE RISE TO INTERESTING ETYMOLOGIES, as described May 12, 2023 at wordgenius.com. Here are tidbits about words originating “in Old Hollywood.” Not Mr. DeMille This Time. First, the title … Continue reading
FLOTSAM AND JETSAM—BUT WHAT ABOUT LAGAN, RES NULLIUS, WRECCUM MARIS, AND SURVIVING DOGS?
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE to learn new stuff, even about shipwrecks. Like, for instance, I knew that things floating were flotsam; things deliberately thrown overboard were jetsam. However, Tom Johnson … Continue reading
VIVE LES LOANWORDS FRANÇAIS!
WE HAVE LOTS OF WORDS inherited from the French, at least in part because of the 1066 Norman Conquest. A bunch have been added later as well: pococurante, from Voltaire’s … Continue reading
POCOCURANTE—THE CLASSICAL MEH
I SEEM TO BE ON A RUN with learning new words for familiar things: “amphibology” for ambiguous phrases and, today, “pococurante” for apathetic indifference, a classical “meh.” Word Genius describes … Continue reading
THE AMPHIBOLOGIST WILL SEE YOU NOW
THE WORD GENIUS website introduced me to a new word, amphibology, the meaning of which has given me much linguistic pleasure. “Amphibology” describes a phrase or sentence that is grammatically … Continue reading
THE O.S.S. AND RUBE GOLDBERG
NOT TO DISPARAGE THE HEROIC WORK of the Office of Strategic Services during World War II, but several of its false starts make for entertaining reading. My source of this … Continue reading
TOOT THAT YURUPARÍ, MAN!
NICOLAS SLONIMSKY SURE FOUND JOY in musicology. He has appeared several times here at SimanaitisSays. And I remember Nick fondly from the old days of Southern California classical radio KFAC, … Continue reading
THE FIRST BOOK IN ENGLISH
“CURIOUSLY,” LYDIA ZELDENRUST WRITES in BBC History, March 2023, the first book printed in English “was not the Bible, nor was it a text by a famous English author like … Continue reading
THE WIFE OF BATH—YOU GO, GRRL
WE TEND TO THINK OF FEMINISM having mid-20th-century origins with accelerated growth during MeToo emerging in 2006. However, Marion Turner writes of 600 years before in “The Voice of a … Continue reading
FROM B (Britannica) TO W (Wikipedia); A, X, Y, AND Z TOO.
RESEARCHING ONLINE SCIENCE, I USED TO seek out entries with .edu handles, all the more confident of their veracity. Over the years, especially here at SimanaitisSays with its more varied … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 