Category Archives: word origins
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Baseball, Xenophobia, and Optimism
Leave a commentFebruary 14, 2025 by libroshombre
The Sage of Baltimore, H.L. Mencken, is largely forgotten these days, but as a magazine journalist writer, editor, and …
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Jackanapes, Crambazzled, and So Long
Leave a commentMay 3, 2023 by libroshombre
There are several reasons I like the Online Etymology website: it’s accurate, thorough, and often entertaining. For example, consider …
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Griffonage, Chins, and Satchmo
Leave a commentJuly 9, 2022 by libroshombre
There’s plenty that you and I don’t know. As expressed by Donald Rumsfeld in his typically tortured manner, “As …
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Mercenaries, Landmarks, and Marginalia
Leave a commentJanuary 2, 2021 by libroshombre
LIBRARIAN COLUMN Contact Greg Hill, 479-4344 December 31, 2020 Xenophon, the Greek mercenary and historian, left a fascinating account …
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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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Publishers, Malarkey, and Project Gutenberg
Leave a commentMarch 24, 2017 by libroshombre
“Malarky!” was one of my father’s favorite epithets for things he deemed phony or exaggerated. I heard it all …
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Anu, Noah, and Beverly
Leave a commentDecember 2, 2016 by libroshombre
The term “culprit” has been on my mind since I lost most of a recent powerpoint presentation due to …
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Deep Reading, Lizard Feet, and Tough Cookies
Leave a commentAugust 30, 2016 by libroshombre
Those immersed in the reading life know an engrossing dance of words and concepts can induced by good writing, …
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