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Perpend
When you’re considering a choice involving different alternatives, you can be said to be “weighing your options.” “Weighing” in this context means pondering or thinking over carefully. If you take that idea, that “weighing” is “considering,” and you go back a few centuries to when English took a look at Latin and saw a vulnerable Continue reading
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Going to the dogs
“That neighborhood is going to the dogs” means that it’s deteriorating. It doesn’t have anything to do with real dogs; it’s the equivalent of saying “that neighborhood is going to rack and ruin,” which, again, doesn’t have anything to do with an actual rack. In the case of “rack and ruin,” though, “rack” is really Continue reading
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Born Today: Preston Sturges
—fade in on a restaurant in Hollywood in 1957. Two men in business suits are having lunch together— Lane: Say, you remember that guy? Lasky: I remember a lotta guys. Lane: I’m talking about the great one, something about McGinty. Lasky: Yeah, I know the one. I didn’t know him when McGinty did though. Lane: Continue reading
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August 29
Today is the anniversary of the Mount Washington Cog Railway’s opening — it was the first “rack railroad” in the world that used gears to make it possible to climb such a steep grade. The whole thing was a tourist attraction right from the start; there’s really no reason to be on the top of Continue reading
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No, no. No?
“I am not going to no town,” said Squirrel firmly. “You mean you are not going to ANY town,” said Hare. “If you’re not going to NO town, Squirrel, that means you ARE going.” “That’s ridiculous,” said Squirrel. “You’ve gotten mixed up, Hare.” “Up is what I most certainly have not gotten mixed,” sniffed Hare. Continue reading
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Ventriloquism
The Ancient Greeks had some ideas that have not, to say the least, held up well over the centuries. One of their strangest was “eggastimuthos.” That’s the belief that the sounds from someone’s belly (as they digest a meal, for example) could both mean something and be coming from “somewhere else.” Specifically, they could be Continue reading
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(Deipno)Sophistry
In ancient Greece, a “sophist” was a teacher for hire. The word’s literal meaning is “I am wise”, but its usage went beyond that. The reason the term is part of modern English goes back to Socrates and Plato, who didn’t think much of the sophists. The sophists were well educated, but instead of turning Continue reading
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Born Today: Satoshi Tajiri
I had hoped to get one of the creations of today’s birthday celebrant to narrate this piece, but unfortunately, even after running it through Google Translate, all I got was “Pika! Pika! Pika!” (and so forth). So I’ll have to do it myself. Today is the 58th birthday of the creator of Pokémon: Satoshi Tajiri. Continue reading
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August 28
Humans have existed for tens of thousands of years, and have been able to count, at least to some extent, for (probably) most of that time. So with all that experience, particularly once writing was invented in various places and experiences could be widely shared, it’s natural to expect that people would gradually converge on Continue reading
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Badgering
Hare was less than pleased to see Badger on his doorstep. Badger lived alone on the outskirts of the forest and only visited occasionally. Nearly everyone in the forest agreed that Badger really wasn’t very nice, and they were glad he preferred his own company. “Hello, Badger,” sighed Hare. “What brings you to the forest?” 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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peterharbeson@me.com