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For centuries, one of the most powerful weapons available to anyone was some kind of sword. Swords appeared in various forms in all sorts of cultures, and the skill of using a sword for fighting was developed to quite a high level. You’d think, in all those years and among all those experts, that the Continue reading
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Be it ever so humble
Consider the humble “humble.” “Humble” is a word that’s been part of English since about the 1200s, which is a pretty long time. And in those centuries, “humble” has meant some very different things compared to how we use it now. In a sense, it’s the opposite of “proud.” That meaning is one of a Continue reading
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Jasper Ford
Imagine that you’re back in 1985, but if you remember 1985, this is not that one. In this 1985, the Crimean War between England and Russia is a century old and still happening, cloning technology has progressed to the point where you can buy a kit and clone your own pet dodo at home (and Continue reading
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Another Otter?
Oscar T. Thompson — Otter, to his friends — grinned over at his friend as he drove his pickup toward the zoo. “I’m telling you, Musky, they have no idea. We didn’t leave a single clue. And we’re gonna do the same thing next time, soon as we pick out which one to rescue.” “We’ll Continue reading
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A zany with a madcap
Up until about the 1970s, a movie that was a goofy, possibly slapstick comedy would be advertised as “zany” and “madcap.” Both of those words are less common in recent decades, but still around. By coincidence, both words appeared in English around the 1500s, even though that century isn’t generally remembered as a golden era Continue reading
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He wishes us a happy -1+(2/.3)456.78-9
Today is Donald Knuth’s 86th birthday. If you stop by Stanford University, where he’s professor emeritus, you might even see him around. I don’t know whether he’s still active there, but he probably is — but he spends most of his time working at home on his huge writing project. Knuth is the author of Continue reading
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Curses, foiled again!
I love it when a plan comes together People have been planning and scheming for a very long time, and for just as long there have been events, circumstances, and other people who have been thwarting those plans. “Thwart” is an extremely old word — one way to tell is that you find versions of Continue reading
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Tabloid
You hear — usually in competing media — about “tabloid journalism” and “the tabloids.” But doesn’t “tabloid” seem like a weird word for a kind of newspaper? It is — and it originally meant something very different. It all started back in 1880 in London. Henry Wellcome started a business with Silas Burroughs: Burroughs Wellcome 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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