I WAS READING WITTGENSTEIN THE OTHER DAY….
WELL, YES, SO MUCH FOR that boastful opening. What I mean to say is that I was reading an article about Austrian philosopher Ludvig Wittgenstein in the London Review of … Continue reading
GETTING A COLD CAPON IN 1911
THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY was known for sumptuous dining, even ordinary folks feasting on soup to nuts and a’plenty more. And Atlas Obscura recalls an especially significant feast: “Remembering the … Continue reading
ON AMERICAN MYTHS PART 2
YESTERDAY WE SHARED TIDBITS from two professors, London Review of Books contributor Eric Foner reviewing Richard Slotkin’s A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America. Today in Part … Continue reading
ON AMERICAN MYTHS PART 1
“IN NEED OF A NEW MYTH” is the title of Professor Eric Foner’s review of Richard Slotkin’s A Great Disorder: National Myth and the Battle for America, published in London … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: SYNCRETIZE
THE WORD GENIUS WEBSITE offers an interesting word in “syncretize.” It’s a verb, originating from Latin in the 17th century, meaning “an attempt to amalgamate or reconcile (differing things, especially … Continue reading
THE CASE OF THE KERNLESS “f” AND MISFIT “?”
SOME BOOK REVIEWS ARE JUST AS MUCH as I want to know. Others, like Gill Partington’s “Every Watermark and Stain,” London Review of Books, June 20, 2024, encourage me to … Continue reading
[sic] [sic]
NO DOUBT YOU RECOGNIZE THE BRACKETED “[sic],” the citer stressing that the word, even though exactly as cited, is incorrect: “My county [sic], ’tis of thee.” It’s a good way … Continue reading
AS NOTEWORTHY AS “SEE ALSO”
I WAS RESEARCHING “AS THE BISHOP SAID to the actress” only to find that SimanaitisSays had already cited this thought-provoking phrase. However, one source for it was Brewer’s Dictionary of … Continue reading
HUMPTY DUMPTY—LINGUIST EXTRAORDINAIRE
EXPLAINING WORDS LIKE “SLITHY” AND “MIMSY” to Alice, Humpty Dumpty says, “You see it’s like a portmanteau—there are two meanings packed up into one word.” And, of course, Alice would … Continue reading
A NEW PARLOUR GAME (AT LEAST TO ME)
A FRIEND IN ANACORTES INTRODUCES me to a new parlour game (or for any other locale one has these days): Take a well-known expression in a foreign language, change a … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 