Pylimitics

Orlando was a Medieval literary character. Also known as Roland, he was a paladin (knight) in Europe around 700 to 800 CE. That was the time that Charlemagne was founding his empire and battling the Saracens. The term “saracen” comes from Greek and Roman writing, where it referred to people who lived in the Arabian… Continue reading

In the mid 1800s, Samuel Beeton was a successful publisher in England. He published the first version of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” in the UK, and he also created several successful periodicals, including the “Boy’s Own Magazine” and “Beeton’s Christmas Annual” — which was the first magazine to publish one of Arthur Conan Doyles Sherlock Holmes… Continue reading

A “lodge” is a number of things, from a shelter to a hut to a seasonal house to an inn. If it’s an inn, that implies an innkeeper. But unless the quality of service in past centuries was particularly abysmal, why, when we have complaints, is it customary to “lodge” them? “Lodge” appeared in English… Continue reading

For an old North American colloquial word that started showing up in the 1800s, “foofaraw” has a surprisingly robust entry in the Oxford English Dictionary. “Foofaraw” originated in the western US, and at first meant fussy, vain, or gaudy. It was carried back to England and appeared in “Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine” in 1848: “Them white… Continue reading