May 2011
12 posts
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victorian f-slang
did you know that there is a dictionary of slang dictionaries? and that it is not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 volumes long and costs $500? i knew this and was withholding it from you because i have been secretly reading over each volume for the last 2 years on the prowl for the hawtest, newest (oldest) dictionaries in which to extract f-words.
in the third volume, i came across passing english of the...
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yesterday in intriguing greek words
tascodrugian • a nose-picker
according to epiphanius:
They are called Tascodrugians for the followin reason. Their word for “peg” is “tascus,” and “drungus” is their word for “nostril” or “snout.” And since they put their licking finger, as we call it, on their nostril when they pray…some people have given them the name of...
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if cleopatra were a scent, what scent would she...
according to basenotes.net, the online social network for people who love smells, here are some possible candidates for cleopatra in odor form:
l’occitane’s eau d’iparie
jasmine and sandalwood
pink pepper + wormwood + clove + french labdanum + oak moss + styrax + leather
hermès’ eau de nil
papyrus reed
oil of lily
a blend of cinnamon, myrrh, cardamom, saffron,...
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today in intriguing german loanwords:
der lachende erbe • a relative distant enough to not feel grief upon your death but close enough to benefit from your will
the literal translation, a “laughing heir,” (ie. an heir that laughs all the way to the bank upon learning of your gruesome death-journey through the gastrointestinal tract of the loch ness monster) has become a recognized term in the law of inheritance as...
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relative durability of various kinds of wood
A square piece of each variety, 1½ inches square and two feet in length, was driven into the ground to within one-half inch of its entire length. At the end of five years, these pieces were taken up and examined, and their condition was found to be, respectively, as follows:
Ash, elm, fir, oak, soft mahogany and every variety of soft pine were found to be entirely decayed.
Hard pine, larch and...
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words wholly related
robinson (crusoe) & (the swiss family) robinson
back when i was just a small fry named “raynor the small fry” i was obsessed with the desert island genre*. my wet nurse (after performing her other duties) would read to me every night from the adventures of robinson crusoe. when i turned six and was able to pour my own milk, i began reading the swiss family robinson, and was like:...
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today in intriguing german loanwords
torschlusspanik • fear of being left out
literally: “door-shutting panic.”
this was my state of emotion back when my father’s company was giving away free zeppelin rides at a corporate picnic and i went to climb aboard the dirigible (with the secret intention of zeppelin-jacking it and piloting it to my himalayan library castle) when the captain (the hungarian uncle of my...
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