Thanks to all who sent best wishes and shared Katexic last week! Today’s WORD comes at the request of Reader C., who asked if I would share more “figures of speech, literary devices, and rhetorical figures.”
“I had heard ever since I could remember, and believed, that adult life was to be an unremitting struggle in which the best I could hope for was to avoid the workhouse by extreme exertion. My father’s highly coloured statements on such matters had sunk deeply into my mind; and I never thought to check them by the very obvious fact that most of the adults I actually knew seemed to be living very comfortable lives. I remember summing up what I took to be our destiny, in conversation with my best friend at Chartres, by the formula, ‘Term, holidays, term, holidays, till we leave school, and then work, work, work till we die.’ Even if I had been free from this delusion, I think I should still have seen grounds for pessimism. One’s views, even at that age, are not wholly determined by one’s own momentary situation; even a boy can recognise that there is desert all round him though he, for the nonce, sits in an oasis.”
—C.S. Lewis
—from Surprised by Joy
diacope /diy-AK-ə-pee/. noun. A literary device in which the repetition of a word or phrase is separated by a word or two. From Ancient Greek diakopē (gash, cleft) > dia (through) + kopē (cutting). See also: next week’s WORD.
“Company, villainous company, hath been the spoil of me.” (William Shakespeare)
Kill, Baby, Kill (American release title of Mario Bava’s 1966 horror film Operazione paura)
“Drill, baby, drill!” (2008 Republican campaign slogan used by Michael Steele, later immortalized by Sarah Palin)
“(burn, baby, burn) disco inferno! (burn baby burn) burn that mother down!” (Leroy Green & Ron Kersey)
“My name’s Felix Leiter,” said the American. “Glad to meet you.” ¶ “Mine’s Bond – James Bond.” (Ian Fleming)
Before book v. ebook there was scroll v. codex. → The mysterious ancient origins of the book
Pollin’ dirty! With elections nearly upon some of us, ProPublica’s examination of bad ballot design (and simple fixes) is all the more interesting. → Disenfranchised by Bad Design
You don’t have to be a chemist to enjoy the “Things I Won’t Work With” series by Derek Lowe. A great name, a scary compound and a Twain reference…how can you go wrong? → Things I Won’t Work With: Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane
“The Festival of Bad Ad Hoc Hypotheses (BAHFest) is a celebration of well-argued and thoroughly researched but completely incorrect evolutionary theory.” → Bahfest | THE ONE AND ONLY Festival of Bad ad Hoc Hypotheses
In the continual font fascination department → More than 800 languages in a single typeface: creating Noto for Google
I’m sure some will claim that it’s only gotten really bad in the last ten years… → “Students in first-year composition classes [in 2006] are, on average, writing longer essays, using more complex rhetorical techniques, and making no more errors than those committed by freshman in 1917.”
Westworld is full of Shakespeare quotations, but it’s using them all wrong. [Thanks, Reader C.!]
The ellipsis in medieval manuscripts: How subpuncting in the Middle Ages give the modern era its strangest punctuation mark. And, from within, Unfinished story … how the ellipsis arrived in English literature.
For just $2850 USD, you too can line the pockets of both Karl Lagerfeld and Faber-Castell and own the KARLBOX. The description veers into J. Peterman territory.
Today, the day before Halloween, is Mischief Night (also known as Devil’s Night or Beggar’s Night) in many parts of Canada and the United States, celebrating a night of trickery before a night of treats. Whatever happened to good old Halloween Eve?
“A father and son work collaboratively to understand each other in drawings and photographs thru the filter of the Autistic spectrum.” View photos online. Check out the book.
Jesus Jara’s short film ►Mortal Rent claims, I suspect rightly, to be the first Spanish film made entirely using the (failed 1987 toy turned contemporary cult/hipster tool) Fischer-Price PXL–2000 camera.
Reader B. asks: “Have you thought about doing a purely Canadian issue? I am reading Madeleine Thien’s Do Not Say We Have Nothing (which I am loving) and as happens each time I read a less-than-superstar Canadian writer, I feel frustrated by the challenge, even just a few miles south of the border, of getting my hands on contemporary Canadian writing. When I do, I sense that I am missing out on a world of delights and discoveries.” — Challenge accepted! Not sure when I'll get to it. In the meantime, do any of you Clamorites have suggestions?
Reader M., in appreciation: “Bill Bryson is so eloquent on–everything. He’s probably pilloried by the experts, as all my favorite writers seem to be, but somehow I don’t care.”
Reader K., in tears: “Stutterer was fantastic. I teared up. And I never do that! Thanks for sharing it.”
Reader C., with an addition: “I was moled over to see Mole Day featured today. Other readers might like to know that every Mole Day has a theme. This year’s was ‘The Periodic Table of the EleMOLEments,’ which is even more lame than my own pun. But some of the past themes have been fun.”
I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you. Just press ‘Reply’ or email to: clippings@katexic.com.
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