Tag Archives: language
cloud fluffers
Up the feed (or down it, whatever) comes an item from the Register which announces Moab maker Cluster Resources welcomes cloud fluffers — and I’m like, “…cloud fluffers?” The press release – for such it turns out to be – … more…
Stanley Unwin’s Deepest Joys. Oh yes.
I’ve been picking up audio clips by Stanley Unwin (1911-2002), at long last — the stimulus being listening again to certain morsels used as interstitial material in a mix I picked up from Tom Raworth’s blog, many moons ago. I … more…
Essentialist Explanations, 13th edition
English is essentially a language in which up has forty-seven dictionary definitions, but antidisestablishmentarianism is considered a “hard word.” –John M. Ford Essentialist Explanations comprises a list of 901 “essentialist explanations” of the form “Language X is essentially language Y … more…
links for 2007-12-11: inshallah
The American Scholar – Inshallah – By Cullen Murphy “The phrase ‘inshallah,’ or ‘God willing,’ has permeated all ranks of the Army. When you talk to U.S. soldiers about the possible success of ‘the surge,’ you’d be surprised how many … more…
links for 2007-11-21: is there a word
Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | A bitch for president Grauniad ponders the B word aVernon asks: Is there a word for a woman who supports a war in Iraq, supports civil war in Palestine…Lebanon…Afghanistan…Pakistan and mulls over starting … more…
meh, a word whose time has come
It being a sleepy sort of Saturday, I notice that no less than two recent visitors came in search of “yiddish lorem ipsum“(Google). Enthusiasm fluked into the results. Anyway one thing led to another, and better still, to the discussion … more…
Noooo!!! They Be Steamin’ Mah Punk! — Desultory Notes on Steampunk
This post was originally just going to be about this beautiful book cover, which appears to be a nautical chart overlaid with hinged brass doodads, posted by its maker, special effects and model maker Tim Baker on LiveJournal’s handmadebooks community. … more…
Textual web apps
Another couple of “Web 2.0″ apps which may turn out to be of some use: Chris Locke, in his capacity as Chief Blogging Officer, points to LibraryThing, where we are offered the opportunity to catalogue our books, and to network … more…
Return of the MacGuffin: Iran and Nuclear Weapons
A similar curiosity to the one about “short shrift” similarly affected me on the subject of The McGuffin. The results brought me into more topical waters: Subject-Barred: Return of the MacGuffin: Iran and Nuclear Weapons A MacGuffin (sometimes spelt McGuffin … more…