ON-LOAN WORDS IN JAPANESE
MAKIKO ITOH HAS the online food blog justhungry.com, subtitled “Japanese recipes & more.” And, indeed, Maki, as she has been known since 2003, writes about so much more than food. … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: CAITIFF, VARLET PART 2
YESTERDAY WAS CAITIFF’S day; today, varlet exhibits the same sort of linguistic switcheroo: What originally had an innocent meaning evolved into a word rather less complimentary. Varlet. Varlet’s original meaning … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: CAITIFF, VARLET PART 1
CAITIFFS! VARLETS! WHAT rare but appropriate words describing too many politicians these days. Merriam-Webster lists “caitiff” as an adjective meaning “cowardly, despicable.” It defines the noun ”varlet” as “attendant, menial; … Continue reading
NOSTALGIA? NOT!
A VINTAGE AD on Sirius XM’s “Radio Classics” reminds us of things not missed: The ad advised making sure we had enough flash bulbs for vacation. Flash Bulbs. What’s a … Continue reading
ON MANUAL DEXTERITY
EACH DAY I do tasks that the best of robots cannot yet accomplish: I grasp more than one object with one hand. In feeding our kitties, I manipulate cat bowl, … Continue reading
PULASKI ET AL.
I GREW UP on Pulaski Avenue, next to which were Sowinski and Kosciuszko Aveunes in Cleveland, Ohio. A fine ethnic neighborhood, that, with St. Casimir’s church and school just across … Continue reading
CONTRAIL HAZARDS
“AIRCRAFT CONTRAILS ARE actually government-dictated medications sprayed in the atmosphere to control people’s minds!” Whoa, are the wackos at it again? You don’t think so? Ha! Clearly, the chemtrail drugs … Continue reading
COMMUNICATION CADENCE
EACH LANGUAGE has a cadence. English, for example, has its noble example of classic iambic pentameter—five beats to a line, unstressed syllables followed by stressed ones. Consider Marlowe’s line from … Continue reading
SUNSPOT RESEARCH—FROM BASIC COUNTS TO DEEP WITHIN
EVERY 11 YEARS or so, our Sun churns itself into creating a wealth of spots and ejecting immense bursts of energy. These sunspots and solar storms have an effect on … Continue reading
OPERATIC DEATHS
OPERA IS DRAMATIC. There’s little reason to expect operatic deaths to be anything resembling natural causes. Here are tidbits of demise from several operas, the plots described in Sir Denis … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 