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Dumbledore
Just about everybody remembers the name “Albus Dumbledore;” Harry Potter’s headmaster in magic school. You’ll find his name in all of the Harry Potter books. But you’ll also find “dumbledore” in the dictionary. Maybe J. K. Rowling chose the name “Dumbledore” because she thought the word deserved more notice. Back in 1799 John Robberds certainly Continue reading
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March 6; more birthdays
March 6 Today is Michelangelo’s birthday. He’d be well over 500. If it were really possible to live to that kind of age, could anyone sustain their creative output over such a long period? Everybody knows him as simply Michelangelo, although his full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni. He’s known as one of Continue reading
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Michelangelo
Good morning! Some artists become so famous and their work so well known that it gets hard to still imagine them as real people. Like, with birthdays and everything. Nevertheless, today is Michelangelo’s birthday. His full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, and he was born in the Republic of Florence in 1475, in Continue reading
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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
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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