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Dora Marsden
Dora Marsden was born March 5, 1882 in Yorkshire, England. Her family was relatively poor, and her father and eldest brother emigrated to the US in 1890 to seek better economic fortunes. But Marsden and her mother stayed in England. She was able to attend school, mostly thanks to an 1870 English law that provided Continue reading
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Lipogram
“This is a lipogram – a book, paragraph or similar thing in writing that lacks a symbol, particularly (but not always) that symbol fifth in rank out of our 26 script-signs (found amidst ‘d’ and ‘f’), which stands for a sound such as that in ‘kiwi’. I won’t bring it up right now, to avoid Continue reading
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Mango that mango
According to some people, if you travel to the midwestern US, point to a bell pepper, and ask a local resident what it is, they’re likely to tell you that it’s a “mango.” Then if you point to a mango, the same resident will call it… a “mango.” This odd situation, which is evidently true, Continue reading
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March 5
It’s a mysterious thing, how people can so easily understand maps. You can unfold a map, show it to a very small child, and it won’t take them long to “get it.” They’ll even understand the limitations of maps (or possibly the limitations of paper); if you try to tell them they can peer very Continue reading
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How about ANTEpropreantepenultimate?
In English we already know that the initial three items in a sequence: first, second, and “third, are identified in a different way than then next however-many (fourth, fifth, and so on). But what about the other end of a sequence? Other than last, next to last, second from last, and the rest, can English Continue reading
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Not a culverin
“Slang” is nonstandard language. In some circles slang is considered worse than just nonstandard; the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “A species of cannon; a serpentine or culverin.” Oops, no, that’s what “slang” meant in the 1500s. I should have used this: “A long narrow strip of land.” Oh, drat; not that one either. Continue reading
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Maria Branyas
If you’re anywhere near Catalonia, in Spain, you might think about stopping by today to wish Maria Branyas a happy birthday. She’s 117 today. Really. She’s the oldest person in the world. Although she’s Spanish, she was born in San Francisco, California in — get this — 1907! Her family had moved there from Catalonia Continue reading
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March 4
March is Women’s History Month, so I think it’s a good time to have a brief look at some of the women in the history of March 4, specifically. It was March 4, 1917 that Jeannette Rankin became the first female member of the US House of Representatives. She was actually the first woman to Continue reading
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The Argues
The next time Dog met Flash the Barn Cat was in Hare’s meadow. Flash was sitting on a stump talking to Magpie. “I’ve heard about something like that,” Magpie was saying. “The last time Coriolus passed this way he mentioned something about it. He said he and his vee…that’s Lucky, Spruce, and Bruce…they saw some 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.
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peterharbeson@me.com