Category Archives: language
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Righting Wrongs, Writing Wrong, and the Power of Mistakes
Leave a commentMarch 18, 2019 by libroshombre
Martial arts maestro Bruce Lee wrote in his book, “Striking Thoughts,” that “Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the …
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Pronouns, John Wayne, and Opposites
Leave a commentNovember 26, 2018 by libroshombre
Did you celebrate International Pronoun Day on October 17? Perhaps consideration of pronouns is beneath your dignity, but even the …
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Pogo, Podiums, and Pharaohs
Leave a commentOctober 16, 2018 by libroshombre
“Polyphiloprogenitive” was a good descriptor for Walt Kelly, the Pogo comic strip creator, poet, and political satirist, especially when it …
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Guys, Dudes, and Brodies
Leave a commentAugust 26, 2018 by libroshombre
A decade ago the New York Post ran an article by Jasmine Williams titled “Steve Brodie – Daredevil or …
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Cock, Sockeye, and Lady Mondregreen
Leave a commentDecember 21, 2017 by libroshombre
Pliny the Elder could have been describing current times when he declared, “The only certainty is that nothing is certain.” …
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Swearing, Cursing, and Lying to Librarians
Leave a commentAugust 13, 2017 by libroshombre
You might not be surprised to learn that the famed Bodleian Library at Oxford University has a Twitter feed …
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Whores, Chops, and Measles
Leave a commentAugust 7, 2017 by libroshombre
In his “Histories,” Herodotus told of Psammetichus, an Egyptian king ruling around 650 BCE, who wondered what was the …
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Explicating Cussing and Cussing Book Tieves
Leave a commentAugust 1, 2017 by libroshombre
“Cussin’” arose the other day while discussing the differences between the terms “expletive” and explicative,” and this triggered a …
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Scunners, Squeamishness, and Biting Wax Tadpoles
Leave a commentJuly 4, 2017 by libroshombre
LIBRARIAN COLUMN Contact Greg Hill, 4790-4344 June 8, 2017 The public library’s such an endless source of unexpectedly interesting factoids. …
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Humpty, Pied, and Krazy
2May 9, 2017 by libroshombre
Some words seem made to go together, and the ones that actually do become “portmanteaus.” A portmanteau’s a large, stiff-sided …
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