Even if you find these discussions hebetating, isn’t it better than being kept in a state of inscience, particularly in regard to the frequently-mixed-up words “then” and “than”? “Then,” as you might already know, has to do with things that happen in sequence. First your nose itches, then you sneeze. “Than” is for comparisons, like… Continue reading

If you visit Yale University, you might view the portico of Davenport College, or even catch a glimpse of the official banner of the university’s president. If you do, you’ll see a yale. Not, mind you, a Yale — that would be a direct descendant of Elihu Yale, who was a governor of the British… Continue reading

Around the year 750, the Venerable Bede wrote about a woman named Ethelreda. She had been the daughter of King Anna, who in spite of his name, was a king, not a queen. He was the king of East Anglia, which was pretty small as kingdoms go — it was only the size of what’s… Continue reading

Shakespeare, as most people know, added a great number of words and phrases to English. The same is true of some other esteemed writers, including John Milton and others. By “others”, of course, you’ll probably have guessed that I mean people like Billy De Beck. He was active in the first half of the 20th… Continue reading

People win Nobel prizes every year. There’s a world champion in most organized sports, mostly annually. Even Olympic medals, handed out only every four years, are not all that rare, really. But only two people in the history of the world are PEGOT recipients, and only 15 have achieved the nearly-as-difficult EGOT.  The problem, of… Continue reading

When you want to talk about a whole lot of something, but not an actual, specific number, or even an actual range, you might use a word like “zillion,” or “umpteen,” “skillion,” or “jillion.” Nowadays these “indefinite hyperbolic numerals” are used pretty much interchangeably and there isn’t much variation in which ones you tend to… Continue reading

There’s a story about Germany in the 1930s that may or may not be true, although it’s pretty unlikely that anybody is ever going to find out which it is. The story goes that there was an organization called the “Vril Society” (“society” was probably in German) that was involved in — or maybe responsible… Continue reading

The Latin word “fossilis” means to dig up. You’re probably already thinking of the English word “fossil,” which came from “fossilis” for obvious reasons: fossils are dug up. But there’s another, much more obscure English word also derived from “fossilis”: refossion. “Refossion” is the act of digging up, and specifically the act of digging something… Continue reading

The year nineteen hundred and twenty-five is interesting for a few reasons. In the world of art, 1925 was the year that the Paris exposition “Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes” opened, which nowadays is agreed to have been the beginnings of Art Deco. Literature saw the publication of Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby.”… Continue reading