From my subconscious this morning: Zez Confrey (definitely a memorable name), and then comfrey.
Archive for March, 2015
Morning names: Confrey, comfrey
March 23, 2015The perils of [sic]
March 22, 2015(From my enormous backlog of Things to Blog On.)
In The Atlantic of December 2013, a letter (p. 13) from Tom Bourne of Woodstock VT:
The word sic is used to indicate an incorrect word in a quote. Why, then, does Karl Greenfeld use it after a perfectly correct its? I can only assume someone thinks its should be it’s here: “We have also to read 79 pages of Angela’s Ashes and find ‘three important and powerful quotes for the section with 1-2 sentence analyses of its [sic] significance.’ ” The possessive its is fine just the way it is. I’ll bet both Greenfield and his daughter know that. How about your proofreader?
The Copy Desk disputed this in a reply; see if you can anticipate its content. And then we’ll talk a bit about the perils of [sic].
Lab mix
March 22, 2015Today’s One Big Happy:
If you don’t know the snowclonelet template X mix for dog hybrids (poodle mix, shepherd mix, etc.) and don’t know that Lab can be a clipping of Labrador Retriever, then you’re thrown back on things you do know and have to treat lab mix as a compound meaning something like ‘something mixed up, created, in a lab’. Cue Frankenstein.
Wiscahnsin
March 22, 2015In yesterday’s NYT, a piece by Patrick Healy, “For 2016 Run, Scott Walker Washes ‘Wiscahnsin’ Out of His Mouth”, beginning:
Columbia, S.C. — Out on the presidential campaign trail, Gov. Scott Walker has left “Wiscahnsin” back home in Wisconsin. He now wants to strengthen the economy, not the “ecahnahmy.” And while he once had the “ahnor” of meeting fellow Republicans, he told one group here this week that he simply enjoyed “talkin’ with y’all.”
The classic Upper Midwest accent — nasal and full of flat a’s — is one of several Walker trademarks to have fallen away this month after an intense period of strategizing and coaching designed to help Mr. Walker capitalize on his popularity in early polls and show that he is not some provincial politician out of his depth.
Although Healy leads with pronunciation matters, they are not the focus of the piece, which is about how Walker is being coached in general on ways to make himself attractive to a wide range of voters.
Now on the main dialect feature in question, the Upper Midwest “flat a”.
Chaitins
March 22, 2015This morning’s name was Gil Chaitin, and that led immediately to Gregory Chaitin. Both academics, but in very different fields.
to Birkenstock
March 21, 2015It seems to be Verbing Day; maybe it has to do with the vernal equinox, which was yesterday. Earlier: to glowstick. And now: to Birkenstock, in a 3/23 New Yorker piece by Rebecca Mead, “Sole Cycle: The homely Birkenstock gets a fashion makeover”, about sandals. Shearling-lined Birkenstocks:
From p. 48 of the piece:
[David Kahan, who runs Birkenstock’s American division] explained that the boots and shoes arriving in stores this fall would still be recognizable as Birkenstocks but would capitalize on other trends in the marketplace. “I use ‘Birkenstock’ as a verb,” he said. “We did a sneaker bottom for spring — sneakers are a hot trend in the market, so we Birkenstocked it. We Birkenstocked Doc Martens; we Birkenstocked a motorcycle boot.” There was even a Birkenstocked Ugg: a fur-lined bootie with a ridged sneaker bottom and two sandal-like leather straps across the foot.
Speed of speech, speed of thought
March 21, 2015Today’s Calvin and Hobbes:
Well, a lot of those thoughts are plans (below the level of consciousness) for the production of speech, so of course they come first. But Calvin is talking about somewhat more conscious thinking, weighing choices about the content of what you’re going to say — in which case, thinking before you speak might be good advice.
to glowstick
March 21, 2015A scene in an old Criminal Minds show, caught this morning on tv: college kids on spring break on South Padre Island, dancing with glow sticks: 
A glow stick is a self-contained, short-term light-source. It consists of a translucent plastic tube containing isolated substances that, when combined, make light through chemiluminescence, so it does not require an external energy source. The light cannot be turned off, and can be used only once. Glow sticks are often used for recreation, but may also be relied upon for light during military, police, fire, or EMS operations. (Wikipedia link)
The compound glow stick (or glowstick) has been verbed, with a full range of uses for the verb. (more…)
Ethelbert Nevin
March 21, 2015Today’s morning name, memorable because the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ethelbert is rare (and has been for centuries, though there apparently was a brief fashion for it in the 19th century) and now is seen as funny, even “dorky”.
Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (November 25, 1862 – February 17, 1901) was an American pianist and composer. … His best-remembered compositions are the piano piece Narcissus from Water Scenes and the songs “The Rosary” and “Mighty Lak’ a Rose” (Wikipedia).
The man at the piano:
Signifying
March 20, 2015Today’s Scenes From a Multiverse (on-line here):
They’re playing a game of the Dozens, which starts out promisingly in the first panel but then runs down and takes a strange turn.