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Scrumptious (truly)
In American English “scrumptious” means something delicious. It comes from regional dialects in England in the early 1800s, and originally it meant something quite different. Edward Moor’s 1823 “Suffolk Words and Phrases” includes this definition: “shrewing, stingy, in an avaricious sense.” When “scrumptious” crossed the Atlantic, it took on a new meaning, but still nothing Continue reading
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Louis the Stammerer
It’s high time we restored a naming convention for political leaders that was popular about 12 centuries ago — when Louis the Stammerer, the King of West Francia, was born on November 1. He was also the ruler of a place called Aquitaine after he succeeded his younger brother Charles the Child. But his father, Continue reading
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Hemming and Hawing
Most everybody is familiar with “hemming and hawing”, which means hesitating, dissembling, foot-shuffling indecision. If there’s something unpleasant that needs to be done, or a big mistake to be explained, you might encounter some hemming and hawing first. People have been hemming and hawing for a long time. Gervase Babington referred to it in 1588 Continue reading
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November 1
The moon is nearly full at the moment (it’s a very bright “waning Gibbous” moon to be precise) — it’s a nice coincidence that Ansel Adams made his most famous photo, “Moonrise, Hernandez, New Mexico” on November 1, 1941. At the time, Adams said “I think of it as a rather normal photograph of a Continue reading
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Disgruntled
One handy way to coin a new word in English — if the new word is meant to be a negative version of another word that already exists — is to add “dis-“ as a prefix. That’s how English got words like “dishonest,” “disconnect,” and “discontent.” But this is a relatively new practice in the Continue reading
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Born today: John Evelyn
Every once in a while a historical figure is remembered not because of any great invention, superior artistry, military prowess, or outstanding statesmanship, but simply because they kept a diary. Samuel Pepys is one of those , and another one, born October 31 in England in 1620, is John Evelyn. Evelyn’s diary is from about Continue reading
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Pinguescence
Thomas Watson, in 1847, published a book with at least one important lesson. The book was titled “Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Physic” — note that it doesn’t say “physics;” in 1847 “physic” meant what we’d call the practice of medicine. Watson’s lesson was quite simple: “Shut a healthy pig up in a Continue reading
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October 31
As everybody in the US, at least, knows, today is Halloween. But that’s not the whole story. If you live in Cornwall, England, it’s Allantide. Allantide continues into the next day, and locally they quite reasonably identify the difference as “Allan Night” and “Allan Day.” Cornish mothers don’t raise any dopes, evidently. The Allan in Continue reading
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Baseball or rounders?
“Baseball” has a long history in the US, and like most things with a long history, there are plenty of myths, legends, and commonly held beliefs. For instance, you can find references to baseball being invented in 1839 by Abner Doubleday. You can also learn that baseball was invented in 1845 by Alexander Cartwright. With Continue reading
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Orismology
Carl Linnaeus was a Swedish scientist in the 1700s who invented the modern system of classifying and naming organisms. It’s thanks to him that we can not only call a hedgehog a hedgehog, but also identify it as a mammal in the family “erinaceinae.” And likewise with virtually every plant and animal on earth. Linnaeus 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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