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How soothing
If you visit a “soothsayer”, what you’re looking for is a prediction of the future. You might or might not find the prediction soothing — a word that comes from the same origins. “Sooth” is an ancient word meaning truth. It was originally Old English, and by the 1700s it was already archaic and obsolete. Continue reading
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John Stewart (Jack) Williamson
Have you noticed that there’s a certain cycle of “technological dangers” that for a while are probably going to end life as we know it — then something else comes along and the first one is mostly forgotten. Nuclear winter was one, nanotechnology was another, and the current existential threat and generator of countless essays Continue reading
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“Distress, dat dress, I’m distraught”
To be “canny” means being prudent or knowing about something. It originated in Scottish and in northern English dialects as a modification of the word “can,” as in “able to.” The word entered literary English in the 1600s and at first tended to be applied to Scots themselves. The common stereotype of Scottish people even Continue reading
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Not a beadle
A “beadle” used to be a minor official, particularly in England. The word has been around for centuries, although by now it’s mostly obsolete. In all that time it’s been used in various ways, from a “herald” — sort of a town crier who shouted out the latest news or proclamations — to a person Continue reading
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Charles Farrar Browne
If you enjoy comedy clubs, humor in general, and standup comedians in particular, you’ll be ready to celebrate today. It’s the 190th anniversary of Charles Farrar Browne, who’s considered to be the first standup comedian and was a well-known humorist in the 1800s. He was born Charles Brown, without the “e,” in a small town Continue reading
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No muttering
Here’s an English-language oddity; you can utter words, and the words you utter can be utter nonsense! That’s right, “utter” and “utter” are utterly different words. Well, maybe not utterly different. They are different words, but they come from the same source: the Old English word “uttera,” which was the adjective form of “ut” (by Continue reading
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Widows in the hood
A few centuries ago you probably would have worn weeds. Not that people were wandering around wrapped in thistle leaves — “weed” used to mean a garment, like this reference from the 1400s: “I am wrappyd in a wurthy weed.” It’s a very old word that came from the predecessors to Old English: Old Frisian, Old 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