A couple of thousand years ago, while some Romans were debating in Senate proceedings, others were busily conquering whatever nation they stumbled into, and still others were creating a form of concrete that’s vastly more durable than anything we know how to make today (Roman concrete — no steel reinforcement involved — has withstood seawater Continue reading

Some people think that a text — a book of fiction, for example, or the script for a play — is one complete thing, and that each constituent part, whether it’s a passage or just a single word, must be left as-is or the message and nature of the whole is changed. Others think of Continue reading

In the 1300s there were people who called themselves “physicians” who had some ideas we consider somewhat strange today. They knew about the brain, for example, and at least had a better idea than the ancient Egyptians did about its function (the Egyptians considered the brain unimportant; thinking, to them, occurred in the heart). The Continue reading

The first word in an English dictionary is often “aardvark”. But what about the last one? That depends on the dictionary. In many cases it’s “zymurgy,” which is fermentation such as in making beer or wine. In fact the American Homebrewers Association, which is “dedicated to empowering home brewers to make the best beer in Continue reading

When someone is seized by an intense romantic yearning — particularly when that someone happens to be a character in a romantic novel written around, say, 1885 — they might be described as “pining over” their wished-for paramour. That generally implies that they’re moping around, unable to do much of anything. If this state of Continue reading

It’s high time to review some words in the “obsolete” pile to see if we should bring them back and start using them again.   Here’s a word we could make use of: teterrimous. Back in the 1700s and 1800s when it was in use it meant “most foul,” as in “beware the teterrimous monster Continue reading

At one time, using words like “soporific” or “annihilate” in a missive like this might have been called “splurging.” “Splurge” appeared in English in the middle of the 1800s and originally meant “to make an ostentatious, showy display; to show off.” It might, for example, involve the same sort of behavior that in the 1500s Continue reading

People remember how their neighbors act toward them and others. Particularly if you live in a village, you know who’s generous and kind, and you also know who’s a tightwad. In the case of the scrooge, you might also call them a nithing, a shut-purse, a chinch, a hayne, a nigon, or a pinchbeck.  Well, Continue reading

There was once a wealthy man, Shakashik, who lost all his money and was forced to beg for help at a great mansion. The owner welcomed him into the house but then began to act a bit strangely: he presented Shakashik with a wonderful feast, praising and describing each dish in detail. At one point Continue reading

In 1693, Thomas Urquhart and Peter Motteux translated a work by François Rabelais into English, and quite possibly confused everyone with this line: “I find my Brains…metagrabolized and confounded.”  On January 20, 1991, the Sunday Star-News of Wilmington, North Carolina, mystified its readers with: “You don’t need to have your brains metagrobolized by his inscrutable statements Continue reading