ON AMERICAN MYTHS PART 2
YESTERDAY WE SHARED TIDBITS from two professors, London Review of Books contributor Eric Foner reviewing Richard Slotkin’s A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America. Today in Part … Continue reading
ON AMERICAN MYTHS PART 1
“IN NEED OF A NEW MYTH” is the title of Professor Eric Foner’s review of Richard Slotkin’s A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America, published in London … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: SYNCRETIZE
THE WORD GENIUS WEBSITE offers an interesting word in “syncretize.” It’s a verb, originating from Latin in the 17th century, meaning “an attempt to amalgamate or reconcile (differing things, especially … Continue reading
THE CASE OF THE KERNLESS “f” AND MISFIT “?”
SOME BOOK REVIEWS ARE JUST AS MUCH as I want to know. Others, like Gill Partington’s “Every Watermark and Stain,” London Review of Books, June 20, 2024, encourage me to … Continue reading
[sic] [sic]
NO DOUBT YOU RECOGNIZE THE BRACKETED “[sic],” the citer stressing that the word, even though exactly as cited, is incorrect: “My county [sic], ’tis of thee.” It’s a good way … Continue reading
AS NOTEWORTHY AS “SEE ALSO”
I WAS RESEARCHING “AS THE BISHOP SAID to the actress” only to find that SimanaitisSays had already cited this thought-provoking phrase. However, one source for it was Brewer’s Dictionary of … Continue reading
HUMPTY DUMPTY—LINGUIST EXTRAORDINAIRE
EXPLAINING WORDS LIKE “SLITHY” AND “MIMSY” to Alice, Humpty Dumpty says, “You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.” And, of course, Alice would … Continue reading
A NEW PARLOUR GAME (AT LEAST TO ME)
A FRIEND IN ANACORTES INTRODUCES me to a new parlour game (or for any other locale one has these days): Take a well-known expression in a foreign language, change a … Continue reading
LRB LETTER WRITERS—AN ARTICULATE GROUP
THE LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS IS EVIDENTLY WELL COMPOSED, and articulate as well are its “Letters” column respondents. To me they serve a double purpose: reminding me of something previously … Continue reading
ALOHA, HOALOHA
HAWAIIAN IS AN OFFICIAL LANGUAGE of our 50th state; so is English. (The only other U.S. states with multiple official languages are Alaska including 20 Alaska Native tongues and South … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 