Category Archives: language
-
Dominant Languages, Oldest Libraries, and the Brain Atlas
Leave a commentMay 31, 2016 by libroshombre
“One does not inhabit a country,” the Romanian philosopher Emile Cioran once pointed out, “one inhabits a language. That is …
Continue reading -
Flirting, Swearing, and Classy Curses
Leave a commentMay 3, 2016 by libroshombre
A chapter immediately piqued my interest in “From the Ballroom to Hell: Grace and Folly in Nineteenth Century Dance,” …
Continue reading -
Stimulations, Contraction, and Boney-eared Assfish
Leave a commentApril 11, 2016 by libroshombre
Some periodicals provide close to the same serendipial stimulation browsing the shelves as a well-stocked library. But where the library’s …
Continue reading -
Extremes, Restraint, and Mae West
Leave a commentMarch 30, 2016 by libroshombre
Extreme language constantly assaults us these days, and last week an Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) colleague and I …
Continue reading -
Fat Ladies, Receipts, Recipes, and Love Talk
Leave a commentNovember 10, 2015 by libroshombre
“Two Fat Ladies” is a delightful BBC cooking show featuring a couple of chubby upper-crust cooks who cruise around on …
Continue reading -
Unfortunate Headlines, Strange Swords, and Blue-Backed Spellers
Leave a commentSeptember 26, 2015 by libroshombre
A friend recently gave me a delightful collection of “flubs from the nation’s press” titled “Squad Helps Dog Bite Victim.” …
Continue reading -
Poor Judgment, Nasty Metaphors, and Intolerance
Leave a commentSeptember 20, 2015 by libroshombre
Let’s consider “visa” and “vis-a-vis.” According to the Inline Etymology Dictionary, the word “visa” comes from the Latin “charta visa,” …
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 -
Shakespeare’s Tongue, Dog Listeners, and Gregarious Cockroaches
Leave a commentFebruary 17, 2015 by libroshombre
David Crystal’s book, “Think on My Words: Exploring Shakespeare’s Language,” has been on my reading table lately. The section on …
Continue reading -
Paronomasiacs, Oxt, and Other Honkerbonkers
Leave a commentJanuary 15, 2015 by libroshombre
James Boswell, famed as the autobiographer and companion of Samuel “Dictionary” Johnson in the 1700s, was a thorough-going scamp. However, …
Continue reading
Hill of Books 