Posts tagged as What Are Words For?
How Sarah Palin Tortures the Bible
With her usual vacuous brio, Sarah Palin has seized another news cycle, using an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network to attack the Obama administration for failing to do, well, something she’d vaguely like to be done about the political crisis in Egypt. The half-term former Alaska governor assailed White House diplomacy hands for withholding reliable information about the nature of the protests and for their inability to clearly telegraph the next moves the United States will pursue in the suddenly unstable Middle East. The potential risks, she warned, are dire indeed. Washington urgently needs to determine just “who it will be that fills now the void in the government” in Egypt, she explained: "Is it going to be the Muslim Brotherhood? We should not stand for that, or with that or by that. Any radical Islamists, no, that is not who we should be supporting and standing by, so we need to find out who was behind all of the turmoil and the revolt and the protests." READ MORE
Very Recent History: The "Slush Pile"
According to the OED, the first occurrence of "slush pile" was not in reference to what we commonly now know as unsolicited manuscripts from unheard-of (and often insane) aspiring authors. It appeared in January 1907, when the Washington Post published an article accusing J.H. Seward & Co. "of fraudulently obtaining refunds of customs on fruits imported into this country." Apparently, when government inspected the piles of "waste fruit"-or "slush"-they found.... READ MORE
Study Says: "Many English Speakers Cannot Understand Basic Grammar"
In shocking news to anyone that hasn't read a YouTube comment before, a new study on grammar out of Northumbria University reveals that most people have absolutely zero idea on how to formulate a sentence. On the results of the study Dr. Dabrowska writes: "These findings are ground breaking, because for decades the theoretical and educational consensus has been solid. Regardless of educational attainment or dialect we are all supposed to be equally good at grammar, in the sense of being able to use grammatical cues to understand the meaning of sentences." Don't be too alarmed: the study took place in England.
Classy Conflict, with Cord Jefferson
In Tucson, Arizona, people-novice hunters mostly-kill wild, stinky, tusked pigs that roam the Sonoran Desert in small packs. The name for these beasts is "javelina" (pronounced have-uh-lee-nah), and it's my favorite example of a beautiful word for an ugly thing. A girlfriend of mine once told me that, were it not a violent hog, she'd consider naming a daughter Javelina, and I didn't disagree. READ MORE
A Very Christmas Listicle Without Commentary: The Best 85 Words Ending In -icle, In Order
85. listicle
84. cubicle
83. charticle
82. bernicle
81. funicle
80. reticle
79. appendicle
78. cornicle
77. follicle
76. caulicle
75. bursicle
74. article
73. fairnyticle
72. sicle
71. conventicle
70. radicle
69. lenticle
68. isicle
67. fascicle
66. fairniticle
65. disconventicle
64. adminicle
63. fernyticle
62. fernticle
61. pedicle
60. curricle
59. ridicle
58. verticle
57. sanicle
56. auricle
55. cuticle
54. vernicle
53. particle
52. versicle
51. caudicle
50. thesicle
49. pneumoventricle
48. panicle
47. infraclavicle
46. silicle
45. pannicle
44. calicle
43. ferniticle
42. proventricle
41. monticle
40. clavicle
39. perpendicle
38. pendicle
37. sphericle
36. tunicle
35. subarticle
34. ossicle
33. cicatricle
32. microparticle
31. rusticle
30. interparticle
29. spiricle
28. denticle
27. utricle
26. postclavicle
25. chronicle
24. pellicle
23. cementicle
22. vesicle
21. orbicle
20. microvesicle
19. ventricle
18. interclavicle
17. antiparticle
16. vitellicle
15. multiparticle
14. wavicle
13. planticle
12. vehicle
11. bipedicle
10. quasiparticle
9. epicuticle
8. papulovesicle
7. pseudoventricle
6. icicle
5. canticle
4. testicle
3. supraclavicle
2. chicle
1. popsicle
