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December 22
December 22 In case you haven’t noticed, politics and politicians all around the world have recently been pretty obviously making poor decisions, screwing things up, and being generally incompetent. But wait, it’s December 22, which means there’s a long list of similarly idiotic actions taken by politicians, going back a long, long time. Not as… Continue reading
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The elements of style
Chemical elements are named for all sorts of reasons. Americium was named because it was discovered in the United States — there’s also Europium, named because it was discovered in Europe. Gallium is named after France (Gaul). Hassium is named after the German state Hesse, where it was discovered. There are loads of other examples,… Continue reading
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December 20
December 20 has for a long time been a day of expansion, especially for nation-states. The United States finalized the Louisiana Purchase from France on this day in 1803. On the one hand, it was quite a bargain at just $15 million for what looks like, on a map, to virtually double the size of… Continue reading
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Here is my lovely assistant
Calling a magician a “prestidigitator” is not unusual — in fact, depending on the stage persona of the magician in question, “prestidigitator” might even be part of their act. It means “quick fingers,” as in “the hand is quicker than the eye,” and it comes from French, where it was the nearly-identical “prestidigitateur.” I bet… Continue reading
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Tradeoff
I dislike rain falling on my neckbut after it’s done I like the effect.‘Specially when there’s piles of leaves,The sniffs are better! You wouldn’t believe. So I’ll allow the rain, I s’pose,Because it’s better for my nose.I stay inside until it stopsand then I’ll venture on my walks. -Chocolate Continue reading
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Don’t (b)link
An updated retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life. The best(?) version of Carol of the Bells. Even pseudo-political figures are described as “brands” now. But the question remains, at least for me, why media-based branding works so damned well on so many people. Interesting but incomplete and not fully considered notes about, of all things,… Continue reading
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The favorable dataset
Annnnd…here’s the next installment! You’ll remember the Acrasy List, and that will, I’m sure, bring to mind its contrapositive companion, the erstwhile Nice List. But just a bit of scrutiny shows that “nice” has not always been a suitable sobriquet to apply to anyone you hold in the slightest esteem. “Nice” arrived in English from… Continue reading
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The undesirable dataset
Nowadays we talk about Santa’s two lists; the Naughty and the Nice. But it hasn’t always been that way. It’s not easy to find the clues, but The Truth Is Out There. Let’s start with “naughty.” “Naughty” comes from naught — no, that’s not quite right; it didn’t really pop up out of nothing. What… Continue reading
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Nope, that’s not it
During the 1600s in England, a great many negative words were coined by adding the prefix “mis-.” That is, if you acknowledged someone or something, but then discovered you’d made a mistake, in those days you’d say you “misacknowledged.” There was also “missadd” in 1657 for summing poorly, misalter in 1641 for making an error… Continue reading
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Poor slobs
In 1699 Abel Boyer published a dictionary with the unusual characteristic of a three-sentence title: The royal dictionary. In two parts. First, French and English. Secondly, English and French. In that dictionary you can find this entry: “Pill-garlick: a pitiful sneaking Fellow out of Countenance.” It wasn’t long before “pill-garlick” became the word “pilgarlic.” It… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
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Now Read This
This list includes only “artisanal” sites, by which I mean they’re all authored by individuals. While there are some worthwhile sites created by organizations, this is the kind I prefer to support.
[citation needed] by Molly White
Bedlam Farm Journal by Jon Katz
Full Moon Fiber Art by Maria Wulf
Daring Fireball by John Gruber
Garbagetown by Catherynne M. Valente