MAY I “QUOTE” YOU ON THAT?
HERE’S ANOTHER of my tidbits on punctuation, today concerning quote marks. This is part of a continuing series here at SimanaitisSays, most recently with “☞Hurrah for the Manicule.☜” Encouragement for both … Continue reading
A PALAEOGRAPHER’S ADVENTURE PART 2
IN PART 1 yesterday, manuscript specialist Christopher de Hamel introduced us to the earliest surviving book known to have been in medieval England, The Gospels of Saint Augustine. Today in … Continue reading
A PALAEOGRAPHER’S ADVENTURE PART 1
RESEARCHING OLD MANUSCRIPTS is anything but musty and mundane. Palaeographer Christopher de Hamel is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and former Fellow Librarian at the university’s Parker Library. … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: SNARKY
THESE ARE SNARKY times, at least as witnessed by our national leader’s pronouncements. Thus, the word “snarky” is included in my Etymology for Our Times series. According to Merriam-Webster, “snarky” … Continue reading
ENJOYING THE HUMOR OF FRAN LEBOWITZ
CULTURAL SATIRIST Fran Lebowitz has been called a latter-day Dorothy Parker. Here are some of my favorite examples of Lebowitz’s wit gleaned from here and there. Lebowitz and Algebra. According … Continue reading
TALE OF THE CHEROKEE PHOENIX
THE CHEROKEE PHOENIX was the first Native American newspaper printed in its own language. Its story begins with the Cherokee polymath Sequoyah in 1821 and, with a lamentable hiatus, continues … Continue reading
ETIMOLOGIA PER I NOSTRI TEMPI
A REPORT FROM coronavirus-stricken Northern Italy contains a plea to eschew the time-honored Italian tradition of furbizia, the artful evasion of government directives of everything from income tax to traffic … Continue reading
AN AERO ENGINEER PHILOSOPHER PART 2
THERE WAS APPARENTLY a time when philosopher-to-be Ludvig Wittgenstein had nary a thought on existential propositions. Mechanical engineering diploma in hand, Wittgenstein had an immediate goal of earning a doctorate … Continue reading
AN AERO ENGINEER PHILOSOPHER PART 1
WERE IT NOT for London Review of Books, I wouldn’t have known that philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein had the “childhood dream of becoming the greatest aviator since Orville and Wilber Wright.” … Continue reading
THE SCOTTISH PLAY PART 2
NEVER, EVER utter the word “Macbeth” in a theater. Unless, of course, you’re acting a role in the play of that name. Tidbits yesterday in Part 1 suggested the origin … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 