Pylimitics

If you’re shopping for clothes, one option might be something made of “gabardine.” The dictionary says it’s a “firm, tightly woven fabric of worsted, cotton, polyester, or other fiber, with a twill weave,” which unfortunately does absolutely nothing to ensure that I’d be able to look at a coat and say “oh, that’s made of… Continue reading

Most people, at least in western cultures, have something in common with super heroes. No, it’s not the obvious thing you’re thinking (you immediately focused on your ability to deliver a wry quip while vanquishing a super villain, I assume). It’s all in your name. In the English tradition — or I suppose the tradition… Continue reading

English has loads and loads of pretentious, stuffy, and even bureaucratic words. But it also has some nifty ones. Like “nifty.” “Nifty” is a casual word for casual use, and it tends to be used in close connection with other casual words. According to the corpus of contemporary American English, the words most often found… Continue reading

Nautical affairs have contributed a huge number of words to English over the centuries. If you define “nautical affairs” broadly enough, that would include ships, sailors’ jargon, and even books and stories set in seagoing contexts.  Patrick O’Brian wrote historical novels set on 18th century British naval ships, so his works certainly qualify. The books… Continue reading

Make no bones about it; the expression make no bones about it comes from soup. Sort of.  Saying “make no bones” about something, nowadays, generally means to talk about something clearly and openly. It’s most recently derived from its opposite: “to make bones,” which is an obsolete expression meaning “to have objections to or difficulty… Continue reading

Strategies for avoiding military services have been around as long as military service. In the 1960s in the US, hiding in Canada was popular, as was (among wealthy families) getting “deferrals” for anything from trumped-up physical ailments like bone spurs to academic responsibilities among some decidedly lacking in real scholarly ambitions. Centuries ago, when military… Continue reading