Category Archives: word origins

  1. Jackanapes, Crambazzled, and So Long

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    May 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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    Category: dictionaries, word origins, words | Tags: , , , , , , ,

  2. Griffonage, Chins, and Satchmo

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    July 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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    Category: anatomy, animals, races, racism, spelling, vowells, word origins, words, writing | Tags: , , , , , , ,

  3. Stout, Seuss, and the Bible

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    April 23, 2022 by libroshombre

                In “A History of Reading,” Alberto Manguel wrote, “At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of …
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    Category: Bible, book banning, censorship, e-reader, etymology, language, reading, word origins, words, writers, writing | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

  4. Evites, N-grams, and Bloody Tubs

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    May 21, 2021 by libroshombre

                “Mutable” is a good word that means “prone to change, inconstant,” according to Merriam-Webster, and it also describes all …
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    Category: democracy, elections, engineering, fascism, libraries, plants, public libraries, republic, word origins, words | Tags: , , , , ,

  5. Mercenaries, Landmarks, and Marginalia

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    January 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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    Category: ancient history, history, librarians, word origins, writing | Tags: , , , , , , ,

  6. Cock, Sockeye, and Lady Mondregreen

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    December 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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    Category: accents, dictionaries, English language, language, Uncategorized, word origins, words | Tags: , , , , ,

  7. Publishers, Malarkey, and Project Gutenberg

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    March 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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    Category: publishing, sayings, Uncategorized, word origins | Tags: , , ,

  8. Anu, Noah, and Beverly

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    December 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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    Category: dictionaries, language, Uncategorized, word origins, words | Tags: , , , , , ,

  9. Deep Reading, Lizard Feet, and Tough Cookies

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    August 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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    Category: books, reading, reading well, Uncategorized, vocabulary, word origins, words, writing, writing well | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

  10. Synesthesia, Misophonia, and Argle-Bargle

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    June 30, 2016 by libroshombre

      A number of articles about synesthesia have cropped up lately. Reading Vladimir Nabakov’s wonderful memoir, “Speak Memory,” revealed his …
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    Category: behavior, brain, synesthesia, Uncategorized, word origins, words | Tags: , , , ,

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