Pylimitics

In 1863, the Lady’s Newspaper of London printed a letter that’s gone down in the annals of insulting texts as a classic. It was from somebody called “J. Hooker,” and although it’s not really known who that might have been, there’s some speculation that it was Joseph Dalton Hooker, who was a well-known biologist of… Continue reading

If you find yourself on a desert island without a boat, what you are is “stranded.” On the face of it, that seems like an unusual term to use for that situation; why not “trapped” or something? By the way, if your pirate crew got tired of always having to let you win at Scrabble… Continue reading

Here’s a sentence you’d be unlikely to encounter nowadays. “It was noscible in the village that the oporopolist’s stall was often closed because of his fondness for riviation.” You’d be unlikely to encounter it because “noscible,” “oporopolist,” and “riviation” are all words that were once in general use in English, but haven’t been heard from… Continue reading

To ”ferment” something means to institute a biochemical process where carbon dioxide and alcohol are synthesized. Fermentation is a step in the creation of wine, vodka, whiskey, and the like. On the other hand, to ”foment” has to do with people; you might ”foment a dispute” or even ”foment rebellion” — that latter phrase is… Continue reading