Blog Archives
I don’t exactly know why, but this has been bothering me for about a week. It has something to do with this article, I think. Anyhow, just so you know… Sledge: British word for “sleigh,” also “a strong, heavy sled.” Sleigh: “an open usually horse-drawn vehicle with runners for use on snow or ice.” Sled: […]
It’s always bothered me that we have English words for foreign place names. It seemed so unnecessary- I always wondered why not just sorta anglicize them rather than come up with something new altogether. I never think or talk much about Germany, but I’d prefer to call the country Deutschland, Munich Munchen, Cologne Koln, etc.I […]
Since it’s been so long since I’ve done more than upload stupid photos or Twitter updates, I thought I should tackle a very important issue. Why do people spell “duchess” as “dutchess”? A few years ago, Fergie from the Black Eyes Peas (I can’t believe I’m writing about her!) released an album called “The Dutchess.” […]
Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve made a legit post. Sorry, that’s lame. I’ve been doing a lot of work on the house, including my big move from the second floor to the “garden” unit. I’m about to redo all the electric on the second floor, then I’ll give it a good, neutral […]
Last week I read a book and an essay, though the essay was printed and bound as if it were a book, so we’re going to count it…
I’m trying to get back in the habit. Last week I read Adam’s Tongue, by Derek Bickerton. It’d been awhile since I read a language-related book, but Bickerton wrote a guest-post on Language Log that seemed interesting so I thought I’d check it out. (FTR, I don’t recommend doing a google image search for “Adam’s […]
I was pretty proud of myself for keeping up with my book blogging, so I’m a li9ttle disappointed now that it’s been 6 weeks and I haven’t added a thing. Really, I’ve hardly added anything other than dumb Twitter updates and blurry photos. That said, I’ve read a handful of good books, but I’m not […]
A few weeks ago, at my local St. Knut’s day festivities, we got to talking about “allspice” and whether it’s a legit thing or if it was like curry powder, ie an idea, an institution, a set of rules, but not actually.. a thing. I recall thinking I had a jar of allspice “berries” in […]
I recalled this so fully that I saw the cats, one with a Hitler mustache, at the window. When I came across this bit while reading Humboldt’s Gift, I put a little note in the margin because I thought it was funny. Today, unfortunately, I had some time on my hands while waiting for my […]
This week’s leisure time was spent in hot pursuit of the last page of Saul Bellow’s Pulitzer Prize winning Humboldt’s Gift. Why bother mentioning the prize? Not because I care much for it- the only literary award I’m interested in is the Caldecott medal, but because the eponymous character says this on the third page: […]