Word of the day: coolth
In a parallel universe, people might be listening to Miles Davis’s The Birth of the Coolth.
“London particular”
Dickens traded one particular for another, turning wine into fog.
Word of the day: snitty
William Barr on Robert Mueller‘s letter: “The letter’s a bit snitty, and I think it was written by one of his staff people.“ Merriam-Webster has a nice entry for snitty, a word now trending.
“What’s a parvenu?”
A nice bit of dialogue from Stan & Ollie (dir. Jon S. Baird, 2018).
Word of the day: fantod
“‘The U.S.A. fantods are meaning fear, confusion, standing hair.’”
“After you,” “Go ahead”
Is there much difference between saying “After you” and and saying “Go ahead”? Is one more appropriate than the other?
“Water of life”
Whiskey and aquavit.
FATZ and THASTY
License plates.
Word of the day: cloakroom
It means several things.
“Regional Terms for Carbonated Beverages”
“Kid’s coffee.” From xkcd.
Sharpied
Kellyanne Conway, as heard on CNN a little while ago, talking about Donald Trump’s preparation for his State of the Union address: “He Sharpied up a lot of the passages.”
Recently updated
Words of the year, now with Me Too.
Recently updated
Another word of the year.
Recently updated
Another word of the year: justice.
Recently updated
Words of the year, now with Canberra bubble.
Fingers or numbers
Which meaning of digit came first, finger, or number?
Recently updated
Another word of the year: “single-use.”
Recently updated
Another word of the year.
Words of the year
From the dictionaries.
Word of the day: preceptor
As a preceptor, I was precepting all the time. But I never thought of my work in that way, and I don’t think that I ever thought about my title.
P Is for Pterodactyl
Good clean fun for the nerdish young: P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever.
“Hi” vs. “hello”
From Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon.
Hedges
Kinda, sorta, and more, in the comic strip Zits.
Secret, secretary
Ammon Shea: “When I learned that secretary meant “one privy to a secret” during the fourteenth century I was utterly delighted.”
Practicing
At a debate, a political candidate uses appallingly dated language.
Words of the day: apricity, apricot
Does “apricot” have anything to do with “apricity”? No and yes.
Scene from an Eye-talian restaurant
The owners had thought of almost everything.
Word of the day: úhtcearu
From the Anglo-Saxon: “care that comes in the early morning,” especially appropriate today.
Dreaming of autumn and fall
Precognitive dreaming? Autumn, fall, Mutts, and synonymity.
Word of the day: panoply
A word I can live without. But gosh, is its origin surprising.