Interesting Words
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(Lack of) Radio Silence
One characteristic of English that makes word games possible is the typical patterns of letter combinations. For instance, there are combinations like “st” and “pr” that you run into all the time. On the other hand, you hardly ever see “kf” or “jp” in combination. When you find a word that includes a rare combination, Continue reading
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A pine how-do-you-do
“Pining away” is something one does when exhausted by emotional suffering. Like when you’re a dog, and your human goes to work without you. Or when you’re the heroine of a romance novel and your prince charming is called away by the king to go into battle against the bad guys. Nowadays it’s considered a Continue reading
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A nickel for a knucker
Beowulf, a long poem written sometime around 1000 CE (give or take a century or so), at one point mentions a monster named Nickera, who lives in a lake. In the poem it appears that “Nickera” is the monster’s name, but actually “nicker” (or nicor) was an Old English word for any sort of imaginary Continue reading
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One Swell Foop
Probably because I’m so fell, it fell to me in one fell swoop, as I worked a fell on my loom in my home in the fell, clothed in fells of sheep, to recount the odd history of “fell.” “Fell” is a perfectly common, modern word. And it’s also rare. And it’s also obsolete and Continue reading
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Sferics
One characteristic of English that makes word games possible is the typical patterns of letter combinations. For instance, there are combinations like “st” and “pr” that you run into all the time. On the other hand, you hardly ever see “kf” or “jp” in combination. When you find a word that includes a rare combination, Continue reading
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The steam versions had the best whistles
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
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Tin Pan Alley
When you hear the phrase “tin pan alley,” if you think of anything at all, you probably think of the US music business. The term began to be used around the turn of the 20th Century, and at the time referred to a specific location: 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue. That was where Continue reading
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Honk!
Sometimes you hear a performance called the performer’s “swan song.” It’s supposed to mean that it’s a last performance. The final speech of an ousted politician is sometimes called the same thing. But what do swans have to do with it, and why a song? Swans don’t sing — different kinds of swans make different Continue reading
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Not Exactly Eli
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
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Tawdry
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
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 Bossypaws. I shouldn’t be surprised, but she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my other blog, Techlimitics, where I’m grappling with the nature of simplicity.