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
ANGLOPHILIC COMMENTARIES PART 1
ENGLISH, AFTER ALL, IS LANGUAGE OF THE BRITS; we only inherited it fair and square at Yorktown in ’81. So it’s not surprising that from time to time my favorite … Continue reading
A GENTLEMAN AND A THIEF—THIS ONE, FOR REAL
I’VE RECENTLY (RE)ENJOYED To Catch a Thief, that wonderful Cary Grant/Grace Kelly flick in which he portrays the consummate gentleman/thief. Not to say a nervous passenger in a Sunbeam Alpine‘s … Continue reading
ACRONYMS FYI PART 2
THIS CONTINUES YESTERDAY’S ACRONYMS from Sarah Anne Lloyd’s collection at the Interesting Facts website. OU. Sarah Anne corrects my misunderstanding about this identification of a kosher food item. She explains: … Continue reading
ACRONYMS FYI PART 1
SARAH ANNE LLOYD OF THE INTERESTING FACTS website assembles a list of familiar acronyms—though not necessarily familiar to all of us (er… IMHO, me). She writes, “From markings on your … Continue reading
RUPERT MURDOCH COWERS FROM NEW COMPETITOR
IT’S A SUBTEXT OF BENJAMIN MULLIN’S New York Times article, August 16, 2024, “No Joke: The Onion Thinks Print is the Future of Media” that has Murdoch’s Fox Corp fearing … Continue reading
WORDS GONE POLITICALLY AWRY
WE USED TO HAVE SPECIAL WORDS: “MUGWUMPS,” for example, were politicos who needlessly wavered, a marvelously illustrative word. These days, the MAGAs have been less imaginative lexicographically: They’ve taken words … Continue reading
I WAS READING WITTGENSTEIN THE OTHER DAY….
WELL, YES, SO MUCH FOR that boastful opening. What I mean to say is that I was reading an article about Austrian philosopher Ludvig Wittgenstein in the London Review of … Continue reading
GETTING A COLD CAPON IN 1911
THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY was known for sumptuous dining, even ordinary folks feasting on soup to nuts and a’plenty more. And Atlas Obscura recalls an especially significant feast: “Remembering the … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 
ANGLOPHILIC COMMENTARIES PART 2
YESTERDAY WE SHARED ENGLISH QUOTES from the likes of Noel Coward, Dorothy Sayers, W. Somerset Maugham, and even Irishman George Bernard Shaw. Today in Part 2, two extended commentaries follow, … Continue reading →