Interesting Words
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No dessert for me, thanks
“‘He has got his deserts’, said Joconda.” Jaconda said that in an 1882 novel by someone with the pen name “Ouida.” Both the novel and the writer (whose real name was Maria Louise Ramé) are not much remembered now, but the phrase “got his deserts” or “got his just deserts” is still around. The phrase is Continue reading
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Indefinite Hyperbolic Numerology
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
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Galoot
The word has gotten a lot rarer since its peak, probably in the mid-20th century, but you’ll still occasionally see someone referred to as a “galoot.” Galoots are usually large, as in a “big galoot.” The “big” might be redundant though; there doesn’t seem to have been a galoot of any other size since the Continue reading
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Dracontology and more
If you’re a zoologist drawn to study animals that live (or supposedly live) in lakes, what you’re involved in is “dracontology.” It sounds like it ought to be the study of dragons, which is because it’s derived from the Greek word “drakon,” which means “serpent” and is also the root of “dragon.” By the way, Continue reading
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Something’s gone haywire
The more technically advanced machines we surround ourselves with, the more familiar we seem to get with one thing or another going haywire. But just hold on…”going haywire?” Before duct tape was a handy way to repair just about anything, there was hay wire. It was the wire used to hold bales of hay together, Continue reading
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Vril
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
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Valentine’s Day Prep
Valentine’s Day is coming up this week, and as an excellent representative of the American commercial holiday it has a logo, metric tons of merchandising, and a simple theme: love. But is it so simple? “Love” is one of the most discussed and written-about notions around, and if you count popular music in the last Continue reading
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The bailiwick that’s up your alley
If someone is asked a question about an area they know nothing about, they might reply that it’s “not in their bailiwick”. Nowadays, at least, it also carries the connotation that “it’s not my job”. For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be a corresponding phrase “yes, that’s right in my bailiwick” — maybe this Continue reading
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Runcible spoons and sporks and foons
It’s obvious to everyone in Western culture what forks and spoons are. There is also a combination implement that’s sort of a “serrated” spoon. It’s nowhere near as recent an invention as most people think, nor is it entirely settled that it should be called a “spork,” which is the most popular term for it. Continue reading
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A bill of bills
If you hear someone complain that they were “sold a bill of goods,” what they mean is they were conned or swindled. The phrase doesn’t really make a lot of sense on its face; the literal meaning of a bill of goods is simply that it’s a list of items — not even necessarily involved 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.