Category Archives: dictionaries
-
Obscure Sorrows, Crosswords, and Amyloids
Leave a commentJuly 28, 2016 by libroshombre
A child of mine recently passed along the online Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows of neologisms, newly coined words, created …
Continue reading -
Gobblefunk, Gold Cards, and Blind Boy Groot
Leave a commentJune 15, 2016 by libroshombre
Roald Dahl, creator of Willie Wonka and James and the Giant Peach, liked naming things so much that the …
Continue reading -
Obnubilate Zinio, Y’all
Leave a commentJune 7, 2016 by libroshombre
The words from TheAtlantic.com fell on my ears like manna in the desert: “How y’all doing? A greeting as …
Continue reading -
Flowers, Fireflies, and Frequentatives
Leave a commentJune 3, 2016 by libroshombre
A recent visit to central Texas revealed that sensible rains have returned there after a half-decade of severe drought. The …
Continue reading -
Admiral Wrangell, Word-Lists, and Venery
Leave a commentAugust 24, 2015 by libroshombre
Fishing in Alaska with Outside college buddies can be challenging for librarians, whom many people believe contain all knowledge when …
Continue reading -
Prisoners, Language Disrupters, and the Beach Boys
Leave a commentAugust 20, 2015 by libroshombre
“Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary,” according to Khalil Gibran. …
Continue reading -
Torturous Aphibologies, Poor Webster, and Scrooge McDuck’s Taxes
Leave a commentFebruary 3, 2015 by libroshombre
Judging by our national debate over the subject, “torture” is one of those terms whose meaning seems to depend on …
Continue reading -
Old Wives Tales, Malarkey, and the OED
Leave a commentSeptember 25, 2014 by libroshombre
“Do Blue Sheets Bring Babies? The Truth Behind Old Wives’ Tales,” by Thomas Craughwell, was a Gulliver’s used-book purchase I …
Continue reading
