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Prestidigitation (see what I did there?)
Calling a magician a “prestidigitator” is not unusual — in fact, depending on the stage persona of the magician in question, “prestidigitator” might even be part of their act. It means “quick fingers,” as in “the hand is quicker than the eye,” and it comes from French, where it was the nearly-identical “prestidigitateur.” In fact, Continue reading
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The jussulent cauldron
“Gathered around the jussulent cauldron, bubbling over the campfire, the rustling of kexy leaves alerted them to some large presence nearby, and they scattered, each seeking a private latibule.” What we have here is a collection of lost words; terms that were in common use but then for some reason were just forgotten. There’s nothing Continue reading
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Born today: F.A.O. Swarz
Toy stores are always pretty happy places, and some of them manage to survive for ages. The oldest toy store in the US (as far as anybody knows; these things aren’t really studied) is F.A.O. Schwarz in New York City. It was opened in 1862 from the man who gave it its name: Frederick August Continue reading
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October 18
The small group of people who see themselves as in charge of larger groups of people — bosses of workers, say — generally don’t like the idea of the people who are supposed to be “under their control” getting more ability to control things for themselves. One way workers can achieve more agency is through Continue reading
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A party in October
Magpie surveyed the meadow from her perch on a branch on Hare’s tree. Beaver and Raccoon were just finishing the decorations, the Deer family were trimming the grass here and there, and Hare was loading up tables with all manner of snacks. Dog trotted in from the path with Ferret riding on her back. “Hello, Continue reading
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Scombroid scobberlochers
If you read Thomas Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow”, an accomplishment for which you deserve congratulations (Pynchon novels are not the easiest books to read), you’ll encounter this passage: “‘Here then,’ the kindly scombroid face scanning Eventyr, quick as a fire-control dish antenna and even less mercy.” “Scombroid” sounds like it could be quite the insult; it Continue reading
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Misdefining
During the 1600s in England, a great many negative words were coined by adding the prefix “mis-.” That is, if you acknowledged someone or something, but then discovered you’d made a mistake, in those days you’d say you “misacknowledged.” There was also “missadd” in 1657 for summing poorly, misalter in 1641 for making an error Continue reading
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Born today: Violet Milstead
If you’ve ever piloted an airplane, you may know that the controls and systems differ from one plane to another far more than, say, the controls of modern automobiles. Particularly decades ago, the pre-flight inspection, takeoff procedure, and landing process for every type of aircraft is unique to that airframe. So a single pilot flying Continue reading
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October 17
October 17 has been a bad day to be in London. In 1091, of all things, a tornado touched down. The city was a great deal less impressive in 1091 than it is now, but it did have a London Bridge — which the tornado demolished. It also destroyed the St. Mary-le-Bow church and about Continue reading
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Football by any other…rules
In the late 1800s, at the Rugby School in England (the school is specifically in Warwickshire, but on the other hand I haven’t the faintest idea where Warwickshire might be), students for some reason started to form new slang words by adding “-er” to the end of a root word. They created “ekker” for exercise 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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