July 2011
8 posts
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some peculiar adjectival forms of country names
on my flight back from wyoming, i was seated next to a woman who claimed to be a resident of the principality of monaco. obviously, this led to a conversation about the only (and perhaps stereotypical) items that i know about that particular micro-state: gambling, f1 racing, and grace kelly. at some point, i fumbled when trying to use the adjectival form of the country by muttering something like,...
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tokyo language drift
the word place comes from the latin word platea and originally meant “broad street.” over the ages, its meaning has drifted to “any particular position or point in space.” this natural process of language is called generalization and is slowly happening all the time.
as stewards of our language, is it our duty to stamp out generalization and other language shifting...
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my monday listicle
apparently, some whack-a-doo movie is coming out soon about shakespeare and how shakespeare didn’t really write shakespeare which reminds me of a line from the royal tenenbaums:
Well, everyone knows Custer died at Little Bighorn. What this book presupposes is… maybe he didn’t.
i figure i might as well hop on the shakespeare conspiracy bandwagon by positing that shakespeare is...
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fashion advice for the edwardian gentlemen
When is it correct to put on formal evenings clothes?
After six o’clock, though, if a man dresses for a function fixed for six o’clock that he must reach before that time, it is quite allowable to be seen around five or after in evening clothes.
How long may evening dress be worn?
Until dawn.
Is it good form to wear evening clothes on Sunday night?
Yes; just as correct as on...