WORK
At the end of the bough—its uttermost end,
Missed by the harvesters, ripens the apple,
Nay, not overlooked, but far out of reach,
So with all best things.
—Sappho (c630-c570 BC; translated by Edwin Marion Cox)
—from The Poems of Sappho (1925)
[Note: the “sweetapple” referred to in the transliterated version of this fragment was likely the result of grafting an apple and a quince]
WORD(S)
humble pie. noun. Metaphorically, the dish we eat when we have to admit we were wrong or retract a statement in humiliating fashion. I assumed the origin was humble as in not proud or of low origin, but it’s not! In fact, the humble in humble pie comes from umble pie, with umbles being the innards of an animal, usually a deer. In other words, a low-class food, allowing the punny humble pie to emerge. Umbles itself comes from the Middle English numbles (offal).
“…I came home just as Dodger was serving up a massive humble pie, stuffed with livers and heart and tripes in a simmering, rich brown gravy that was as thick as custard.” (Cory Doctorow)
WEB
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From Linkmeister B., two great links: the surreal (phantom sheep! goats that are dogs!) and the surrealer (watch some of the ‘Director of Behavio’ videos).
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Literally found in a cardboard box underneath some old bed sheets: parts of a draft slang dictionary for A Clockwork Orange.
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Barbra Streisand’s dog Samantha died last year. So she had her cloned. Three times. The rich really aren’t like you and me.
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A few weeks ago we went inside one of the last American pencil factories. On the other side of the pond, even holding a pencil is becoming a challenge.
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While indulging my Anglophilia, I have to note that the Royal Mint is releasing a Quintessentially British A to Z Silver Proof Coin Series. Some of the entries—‘S’ - Stonehenge and ‘K’ - King Arthur—are obvious. But I admire the playful entries for ‘B’, ‘F’ and ‘Q’…
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Future Fonts is a marketplace where type designers sell works in progress. The price goes up with each successive release/revision. And at the opposite end of the typography times, see some of the fascinating collection of historical printing artifacts, particularly steel type, in Britain’s St. Bride church: Part 1 and Part 2
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Like many, Michael Harris is convinced that new media has made him forget how to read. Is there anything to our traditional notion of reading being an aberration? See also: the Gutenberg Parenthesis.
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Say what you will about books, but dating sites aren’t going anyplace. If you’re in that particular circle of purgatory (or enjoy some wordy schadenfreude), you might want to read From ‘Bae’ To ‘Submarining,’ The Lingo Of Online Dating.
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Target is selling an exclusive Oregon Trail handheld game. Now you can die if dysentery on your own couch! The floppy-disk style power button is a nice touch.
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Today is National Grammar Day in the U.S. Expect a parliament of pedants (though I prefer a ‘quibble of pedants’ or, even better, an ‘actually’) to use this opportunity to try to foist their almost uniformly baseless rules and preferences on you. Just say no…unless you filled with generosity and can lovingly try to help such wayward souls figure out what they are really afraid of. Or, celebrate by reading a fun book like Ammon Shea’s Bad English.
WATCH/WITNESS
A map of Language Difficulty Rankings in Europe according to the Foreign Service Institute. The full FSI list includes more than just European languages. See also: a well-done infographic on the topic.
WHAT!?
Tatsuo Horiuchi creates intricate digital landscapes using…Microsoft Excel.
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
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