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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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Ivan Andreyevich Krylov
You’ve heard of the great Russian writers Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Chekhov and Pushkin, but another one you may not know about was born February 13, 1769 in Moscow. Ivan Andreyevich Krylov was the son of a military officer, but his father died when Krylov was 10. Krylov and his mother were left in poverty, and moved Continue reading
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February 13
I’ve always liked the word “eldritch.” Since I’m not writing fantasy stories including elves and ancient, magical, “eldritch” powers, I’ve never had an opportunity to use it. But I looked it up, and counter to what I expected, it doesn’t necessarily imply anything ancient or magical. You can just use it as a synonym for 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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February 12
What’s the difference between science and engineering? If you listen to a lot of the talk about education lately, it doesn’t seem like that much. STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — is all the rage in the “you get an education in order to get a better job” contingent. Yesterday we celebrated Inventors’ Continue reading
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Charles and Abraham
Here’s a coincidence I didn’t know about until today: the scientist Charles Darwin and the US President Abraham Lincoln were born on the same day, February 12, 1809. Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, and introduced the theory of natural selection. he initially studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, but switched to natural science 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
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