IGNORANCE: ITS ETYMOLOGY AND DISPLAY
“I AM largely ignorant of Latin.” “Ignorance is bliss.” “Tweeting it as ‘Marine Core’ displays more than a little ignorance.” Each of these sentences displays a nuance of “ignorance,” defined … Continue reading
THE AUTOMOBILE AND POETRY
ITALIAN FUTURISM evolved as a cult of the machine at the beginning of the 20th century. Filippo Marinetti’s poem “To My Pegasus,” 1908, is exemplary of the genre: “Vehement god … Continue reading
KOREAN LANGUAGE, FOR THE LIKES OF ME
WHAT WITH the PyeongChang Winter Olympics and all, I thought it’s about time that I learn some Korean. And, wouldn’t you know, there’s a book on my shelf titled Speak … Continue reading
CELEBRATING &
I WORKED 33 years at a magazine (R&T) carrying an ampersand, so I have an affinity with this symbol. And, guess what, it’s one of the things described in Keith … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: BELLWETHER
IT SEEMS immodest to quote one’s own comment, but I believe I may have originated “Satire is the bellwether of the body politic.” (Googled, this truism cites SimanaitisSays as its … Continue reading
A GENIUS? THINK AGAIN
I THOUGHT “genius” was a straightforward word, a person of super-high intelligence. However, my old friends Merriam and Webster offer more nuanced definitions and a particularly interesting etymology. For instance, … Continue reading
I AM EMBARRASSED
IN MY continuing series of Etymology for our Times, today I examine the word “embarrass.” Merriam-Webster defines its first meaning as “to cause to experience a state of self-conscious distress.” … Continue reading
A PAIR OF BLITTS, ONE WITH WINTER
BARRY BLITT is a wonderful political cartoonist whose work in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and other publications has earned him “adoration from critics and fans … Continue reading
HUZZAHS FOR PERLMAN, NASH, AND SAENT-SAËNS!
I’VE JUST heard the most marvelous Itzhak Perlman recording of Camille Saent-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals, and it has instantly risen high on my Christmas/Hanukkah list, both as gift and … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 