CAN THAT BE PRESIDENTIAL‽
THE INTERROBANG, a combined ! + ? = ‽, has a well defined origin, several interesting stories, and even an official association. What’s more, given that it expresses combined questioning … Continue reading
A CONNIVING, DECEITFUL, MURDEROUS OKLAHOMAN
THIS IS a tale of an Oklahoman who was entrusted with preserving environment and culture. Alas, he turned out to be conniving, deceitful, and, in time, murderous. A memo to … Continue reading
UNEARTHING THE WEANS
IT’S THE year 7859 and archeologists have unearthed a civilization lost for more than 5000 years. Who are these “Weans” from the Great West Continent? Researchers at Kenya’s Ruwenzori University … Continue reading
ELIZABETH CHUDLEIGH—A GENUINE PIECE OF WORK
EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY Englishwoman Elizabeth Chudleigh was a duchess, countess, bigamist, and exhibitionist. But then Georgians were always ones to talk, weren’t they? I encountered her a few days ago while researching … Continue reading
YOU WANT FAKE? I’LL GIVE YOU FAKE—PART 2
WRITING A novel isn’t usually a team activity. But when several writers share the work, the result can be fine satire. Add in the fun of a literary hoax, and … Continue reading
YOU WANT FAKE? I’LL GIVE YOU FAKE—PART 1
THESE ARE high times to celebrate satire. And in fact there’s a specialized branch of this genre: satirical novels. Taken one step further, there are satirical novels that satirize the … Continue reading
BUFFOON, BUFFOONISH, BUFFA
NOT ONLY does the word “buffoon” belong in my Etymology for our Times, there’s an operatic connection as well: Opera buffa is literally “comic opera” as opposed to opera seria, … Continue reading
ON THE KINGDOM OF NAMBY-PAMBY
I OFFER today’s SimanaitisSays as amelioration of the U.S. President’s U.N. covfefeing of two African nations, Namibia and Zambia, into “Nambia.” Nambia? I researched this illusive place. The earlier kingdom … Continue reading
ČAPEK’S ROBOTS
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE is a controversial topic these days. Will its advancement be to mankind’s good or detriment? Czech author Karel Čapek’s play R.U.R. predicted the latter in 1920, though, in … Continue reading
COMPARATIVE MENDACITY 101
THE ENGLISH language is so amply endowed that there’s comparative mendacity. I never thought of this scale of dishonesty until I looked up “to equivocate,” the next in my ever-expanding … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 