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Madame X
We should have a party — but keep it confidential, with a very carefully vetted guest list — because today is the anniversary of the birth of Madame X. Madame X was not her real name, of course. She was born Agnes Meyer in 1889, in a small town in Illinois in the US. Her… Continue reading
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Bigger than a puddle
One thing about English is that the number of words it includes has gotten completely out of hand. Although there isn’t any way to figure out what the actual total is (it’s not that easy to decide what counts as a word), there are probably at least 250,000. There are even estimates as high as… Continue reading
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The Scent of July 23
If you buy a popular product, at least in the US, there’s a chance that if it sounds like it’s named after someone (like Mrs. Butterworth’s maple syrup, or Francesco Rinaldi Italian foods), there was either no such person or sometimes a completely unrelated person. For example, the Dr. Pepper carbonated drink might be named… Continue reading
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July 24
Twenty-five dollars per month. That was all. It wasn’t an inconsequential sum; that provided a measure of reassurance. But now it was 1895, which made him 33 years old, and he was sure his friends would say to him “Bill! Bill Porter! You’re a family man now, and you’ve just moved to Houston. Will $25… Continue reading
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Don’t worry, be….
One of the bewilderingly many ways to form words in English is by prepending “be-.” That is, the syllable “be” is put in front of another word, which then becomes a new word. If English was read top to bottom instead of left to right, of course, the modified, bespoke word would be beneath the… Continue reading
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July 23
The New Jersey Turnpike isn’t just a single road; it’s a combination of toll highways running throughout the state. It took two years to build the 117-mile-long main part of the road, including rest areas. Each area is named after someone with some identifiable connection with New Jersey. The names on the rest areas are… Continue reading
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The waif waived
Here’s a pair of words that are occasionally confused: “waive” (to voluntarily give up the right to something) and “waif” (an orphaned child — this one is a bit archaic at this point). The interesting thing about this pair of words is that although their meanings are quite distinct, ithey’re pretty closely related. The words… Continue reading
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’tis but a puddle!
One thing about English is that the number of words it includes has gotten completely out of hand. Although there isn’t any way to figure out what the actual total is (it’s not that easy to decide what counts as a word), there are probably at least 250,000. There are even estimates as high as… Continue reading
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July, approximately π
As everybody knows, March 14 is Pi Day, because in month/day format the third month and fourteenth day make 3.14, the first three digits of pi. What not everybody knows is that today, July 22, is Pi Approximation Day, because in day/month format (which is used everywhere but the US) it’s 22/7, and that’s the… Continue reading
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Oh nonsense
Dictionaries are biased toward words they can find in print. When a word is in use, but mostly spoken rather than printed, it can fly under the dictionary radar. One such word is blatherskite, an “informal” word (in dictionary-speak that means it’s mostly spoken) that’s a regional Americanism. “Blatherskite” means both nonsense and a person… Continue reading
About Me
I’m Pete Harbeson, a writer (among other things) located near Boston, Massachusetts. In addition to writing my own content, I’ve learned to translate for my loquacious and opinionated pup Chocolate Bossypaws. No surprise, she mostly speaks in doggerel. You can find her contributions tagged with Chocolatiana.
Check out my newsletter, Artisanal Scribbles, where I’m grappling with writing, authentic human authorship, integrity, and the craft of beauty in the AI age. You can also find some of my old software projects at GitHub. Nothing very impressive. I mostly wrote tiny utilities in Python and shell scripts. I’m mostly retired from coding nowadays.
I find myself suddenly de-corporatized (their choice, not mine). To help keep the lights on, buy me a coffee!
Recent Posts
- Educational Trip
- Yeah but what about the Jewish Space Lasers?
- Happy Anniversary?
- Alleys
- Your pockets aren’t deep enough
Categories
Artificial Intelligence
Chocolatiana
Essays
History, sort of
Immorality
Incompetence
Quotations
Resistance
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Tales from the Forest
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Tragedy
Unanticipated Consequences
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Contact
peterharbeson@me.com