ETYMOLOGY—KAKISTOCRACY, KLEPTOCRACY
ALAS, WHAT an optimist I was back in April 2016! In what turned out to be the first of my Etymology for our Times series, the topic was ”Governing by … Continue reading
AMMONIA FROM A REVERSE FUEL CELL
AMMONIA, NH3, is used primarily as fertilizer, at an annual expenditure of $60 billion worldwide. It’s estimated that at least half the nitrogen in the human body today is traceable … Continue reading
ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY
WE SEEM to be burdened at the moment with the least historically informed leader in U.S. history. I offer our president’s misdating the career of Andrew Jackson (“I mean, had … Continue reading
HOLMES AND RUGBY (MOSTLY RUGBY) PART 2
Yesterday at SimanaitisSays, we encountered the challenge of understanding rugby jargon, part of “The Adventure of the Missing Three-Quarter.” Here in Part 2, we profit from editor Leslie S. Klinger’s … Continue reading
HOLMES AND RUGBY (MOSTLY RUGBY) PART 1
IN HIS YOUTH, Dr. John H. Watson played rugby, or rugger, as it was also called at the time. He mentions this in chronicling “The Sussex Vampire,” a Holmes adventure … Continue reading
CELEBRATING SIR FRANCIS BEAUFORT
THIS SUMMER has had a lot of hot air, everywhere from Washington, D.C., to Helsinki, and back. This got me thinking of how we measure its forceful expenditures. Add to … Continue reading
ADA LOVELACE REDUX
AN ARTICLE in the London Review of Books, June 21, 2018, taught me a new word and more about Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer. Indeed, Ada invented the … Continue reading
CELEBRATING RUSSELL BROCKBANK
I WAS recently recalling the old days of Formula 1 in reading the R&T August 1967 report of the 25eme Grand Prix Automobile de Monaco. Henry N. Manney provided the … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY—TREASON, TRAITOR
RECENT HAPPENINGS in Helsinki have added the words “treason” and “traitor” to the SimanaitisSays Etymology for our Times. What follows here focuses on the words’ English language usage and origin, … Continue reading
NEW ZEALAND REVISITED—50 YEARS ON
OLD GUIDEBOOKS can function as time capsules, especially for places visited well after the book’s publication. I recall using old Baedekers to get around Europe in early-retirement adventures following business … Continue reading
Simanaitis Says 