eucalyptus and hell are cognates
The other day, Jim and I were looking at a eucalyptus tree, and I realized that although the eu- part was obvious, I had no idea what the -calyptus part...
Secret Service code names
TIME magazine provides a list of 11 Great Secret Service Code Names. I don't love their discussions and presentation of the names, but I like the names themselves, from Paul...
assortative
A couple weeks ago, I came across the phrase assortative mating in an article about autism: Judith Warner explores a provocative theory about why rates of autism, particularly the mild...
If the minstrel boy to the war had gone
A few weeks back, I re-listened to the Clancy Brothers' rendition of “The Minstrel Boy,” and it's been running through my head intermittently ever since. Stirring and patriotic in an...
Rooftop kerning
It struck me a while back that every time there's any text on any sign, someone had to choose a font and a size for it, among other design choices....
LPT
LPT, I recently learned, stands for Life Pro Tip: a tip about how to do something in real life (as opposed to on a computer). My understanding is that, as...
liberty and freedom and circular definitions for all
MW11's definition 1b for free is: enjoying civil and political liberty Definition 1 for liberty is: the quality or state of being free Of course, there are other definitions for...
muggy
Mary Anne noted in passing recently that it was muggy in Chicago, and I realized that though I've known the word all my life, I didn't know where it came...
craic
In May, I saw the following line in an article about bicycling, socializing, and social networks in Dublin: “We just want to show how cycling is a social thing to...
Gellerese
Back in March, I watched an episode of the original Mission: Impossible TV series, which led me to look the show up on Wikipedia. I was amused by the paragraph...