LRB TIDBITS
I’M ENJOYING MY most recent semi-monthly London Review of Books, July 30, 2020. Though having read only the first five of its tabloid-size pages, I’ve gleaned several tidbits worth sharing … Continue reading
JAMAICAN ENGLISH, FROM “A” TO…
ANY LANGUAGE IS living and evolving. Hence, I cannot expect my 1967 Dictionary of Jamaican English to be entirely au courant. Nonetheless, it makes for entertaining reading. The book’s dedication … Continue reading
ON BILINGUAL BRAINS
I ENJOYED READING Michael Hofmann’s “Not in Spanish,” in London Review of Books, May 21, 2020. This article is a review of The Bilingual Brain, by Albert Costa, Catalan cognitive … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: JINGOISTIC, JINGOISM
THE WORD “JINGOISTIC” came to mind, even before Trump’s trumped-up photo op at the West Point commencement on June 13, 2020. It might have been my memory of him standing … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: I AM APPALLED
BACK IN JANUARY 2018, I examined the word “embarrassed” in my series of Etymologies for our Times. Today, I add the word “appalled.” Indeed, as in “I am Embarrassed,” the … Continue reading
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
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