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Born today: Anne of Cleves
Many people have heard of King Henry VIII of England, one of the biggest blowhards of history. His many, um, adventures, include starting a whole religion because the Pope wouldn’t let him end one marriage and start another, and (once he was in charge of his own church) getting married six times back when that Continue reading
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September 22
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” That was Hamlet pointing out to Horatio that even the most educated people can’t explain everything. Sometimes the quote reads “our philosophy,” which is the way Shakespeare’s first folio read before he changed it to “your.” Hamlet was talking Continue reading
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If it’s not a living room, it’s a…
Magpie was so excited she couldn’t sit still, fluttering around Hare’s living room. “Magpie, you’re going to knock everything over,” said Hare, steadying one of his lamps. “Why do you have things like lamps anyway?” asked Raccoon. “It’s not like they work.” “Work?” said Hare blankly. “What do you mean ‘work’? They’re just lamps.” “Ah,” Continue reading
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Pardon me for expunging
You can delete, you can erase, you can remove, but to really, really get rid of something, you “expunge” it. “Expunge” connotes complete and total obliteration. But oddly enough, it began as possibly the mildest version of erasure there was. “Expunge” comes from the Latin “expungere,” which had a very specific meaning. When a Roman Continue reading
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Inenerrable
Some English words exist only as what sound like negative forms, like “incognito.” You never hear about anyone going around “cognito,” after all. But there are also some that were originally positive words, then gained a negative form, then the positive form faded out of use leaving us with only…for example…”ineffable.” Something that’s “ineffable” can’t Continue reading
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Born today: Chuck Jones
What’s up, doc? Today is the day Chuck Jones was born in 1912 — he’s the creator of Bugs Bunny, not to mention the Road Runner and his would-be nemesis Wile E. Coyote, Porky Pig, Marvin the Martian, and Pepé Le Pew. When Jones was a boy, his father was a serial entrepreneur, and not Continue reading
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September 21
One of the things we have to thank September 21 for is the future. Maybe not the future we actually inhabit, but at least the one with time travel, invisible men, and invaders from Mars — H.G. Wells was born today in 1866. Although he’s mostly remembered for “The Time Machine,” “War of the Worlds,” Continue reading
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Sommelier
Even though a fairly large proportion of English is derived from French (thanks mostly to the Norman invasion over a thousand years ago), one pretty reliable way to boost the snob-value of something in English is to give it a name that, if it isn’t legitimately French, at least sounds French. If you know someone Continue reading
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Agisters and Verderers
In Hampshire, England, there’s a park called the New Forest that’s not very new at all. It goes back to William the Conqueror (who was in charge 1066-1087), and was a “royal forest.” In the Domesday Book in 1086, it was called “Nova Foresta.” It was used for royal hunts — of deer, for example Continue reading
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Born today: George R. R. Martin
Watch your back. Watch the skies. Watch out for…well, just about everybody. That seems to be the main lesson from A Song of Ice and Fire. That’s the book series that inspired the Game of Thrones series, and it was written by George R. R. Martin, whose 75th birthday is today. Martin, whose “Rs” stand 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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