NEW FROM THE NEWSLETTER THIS WEEK
Haute barnyard Foodies in New York were the first to encounter this term through the writings of restaurant critic Adam Platt in New York magazine. A play on haute cuisine, the traditional “high cookery” of ...
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Hwyl Welsh speakers may like to be reassured that hwyl is included here because of its un-English look, not because it’s thought intrinsically odd. It is, of course, a Welsh word, but one that has become widely enough known ...
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Kippers and curtains Thank you, and by extension Lindsay Gray, for reminding me of this British working-class expression. Alex Hannaford remembered it in an article about her childhood in the East End ...
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If you subscribed to the newsletter (by e-mail or RSS), you would be able to read every new piece a week earlier. Other features include comments from subscribers and notes on words in the news. The last year’s newsletters are available to sample in our backissue archive.
RANDOMLY CHOSEN
Umami It’s usually said that the human tongue can detect only four basic tastes: sweet, sour, bitter and salty, and that all tastes are combinations of these. Many specialists now believe that taste is actually more ...
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RECENTLY ADDED PAGES
Take the biscuit; Satisfactory; Enchiridion; Gnathonic; Piggyback; Bless your cotton socks; Pracademic; Geo-engineering; Mooreeffoc; Virosphere; Bespoke; Esurience; Indexes versus indices; Gossypiboma; Staycation; Dandiprat; Virtual water; Lukewarm; Skinny; Fescennine; Grawlix; Cleft stick; Know the ropes; Gonfalon; Tom; Waddle; Truepenny; Hyperborean; Faffing; Hoodwink; Pharology; Noggin; Chequered past; Slanging match.
THE NEXT WEB SITE UPDATE
The next update is due on 18 October 2008, when you may read about the rare and curious term Nympholepsy and about the origins of the expression Jay-walking for crossing the street illegally.
NEW COMPANION AFFIXES SITE
Oxford University Press has remaindered my dictionary of affixes, Ologies and Isms, after six years. As the copyright has reverted, I’ve put it on a Web site of its own, http://www.affixes.org, where anybody can consult it for nothing. Please visit. It’s currently under development — converting the code for 1,300 pages was a big job, even with most of it done programmatically, and there are bound to be residual mistakes. Do send me reports of any errors you find, using the e-mail address at the bottom of each page on that site.
TRY MY BOOKS ...
SIC!
• Joe Jordan reports that on 25 September the Sydney Morning Herald wrote about the New South Wales state premier who resigned earlier in the month: “Morris Iemma wants perks similar to those of his predecessor Bob Carr — including a driver, office and assistant worth up to $500,000 a year.” Almost worth his weight in gold.
• Remaining in Australia, Robert Young found this in the issue of the Geelong Advertiser for 24 September: “Sgt Allen said that during a search of Baggott’s car, police found a sawn-off shotgun on the back seat with a sock over the barrel. Closer inspection revealed the gun was loaded with a cartridge of packed glass, $3909.90 cash, a set of scales, two mobile phones and various drug paraphernalia.” What was it, a blunderbuss?
• It’s always good to have a sideline. Maurice Fox spotted a sign outside a New Orleans beauty salon: “Haircuts, styling, manicures and pedigrees”. Though, come to think about it, a pedigree helps with good grooming.
• William Newman communicated from Japan: “I found this biographical note about Andrew Malcolm on a Los Angeles Times Web page: ‘A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.’ I am left wondering which is the easier way to get a book out.”
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