PETROGRAD NIGHTS—AND DAYS
IN THE long view of history, St. Petersburg, Russia, was called Petrograd for only the briefest of periods, 1914 to 1924. During that decade, though, it was central in a … Continue reading
HOW TO SAY “HEY YOU!” IN JAPANESE
ENGLISH HAS “you” and, though rarely used these days, “thee.” German has Sie and du. French has vous and tu. I’ve talked about these in “Doest Thou Know?” with a … Continue reading
THE BEST OF LINES
“I WISH I HAD said that,” Oscar Wilde remarked. “You will, Oscar, you will,” responded James McNeill Whistler. I’ve often shared Oscar Wilde’s wish, though the fear of stumbling into … Continue reading
“THAT GOES THERE?” SAID THE GUARD EMPHATICALLY
FRANK BRUNI is a writer I enjoy. And, in this opening sentence, I’ve purposely left out any “who,” “that” or whatever after the word “writer.” I’m confident this omission confuses … Continue reading
ON HEARING ONESELF, AND OTHERS
AS A KID in Cleveland, I worked occasionally at WBOE, a pioneer public radio station operated by that city’s Board of Education. I suspect I was identified early on as … Continue reading
ARISTOPHANES—ANCIENT GREECE’S S.N.L.
SATIRE WAS AS important to ancient Greeks as it is to those of us living through today’s muddle. Think of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes as that era’s combination of … Continue reading
A PHONY BARD
THIS IS A TALE of deception. It involves a collector of English artifacts; his talented, if unscrupulous, son; the greatest of playwrights, William Shakespeare; and a passel of people capable … Continue reading
RIDING ON THE RED? THE GREEN? JUST THE RODS?
HERE’S HOW TO know when you’re a hep-ghee (sophisticated individual) and counter the lamentable trend of 140-character missives, all through a study of English language usage from the 1950 Dictionary … Continue reading
UTOPIA REVISITED
“UTOPIA IN TEXAS” by Glen Newey in the London Review of Books, January 19, 2017, provides counterpoint to my recent review of four dystopian novels here at SimanaitisSays. Not that … Continue reading
THE ETYMOLOGIST WILL SEE YOU NOW…
RECENT BROUHAHAS of executive orders bring to mind the terms “slapdash,” “going off half-cocked” and their cousins “haphazard” and “slipshod. In the interest of keeping myself etymologically hep, I arranged … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 