Wednesday, February 14

Words, writing, weblogs (and more)

+ Pyrrhic victory was the Word of the Day recently. Embarrassing to learn that it doesn't refer to anything or one about the Trojan War, like I thought. (I think I was thinking of both Paris and Priam, vaguely, neither of whom is Pyrrhus ;-)

+ Embarrassing that I need spell check to spell 'embarrassing' ;-)

+ Did you know:

Bucolic derives from Greek boukolikos , "rustic; pastoral," from boukolos, "a cowherd; a herdsman" from bous, "a cow; an ox."

And also from the Indo-European gwou, the Latin root is bos which we get bovine from.

+ David Shenk is posting the research for his next book on a weblog, interacting with those who care to. I'm convinced this is a good model of future publishing.

+ Another name I like from Hype Machine: Yo Majesty. Right up there with Yo Mama and Not Yo Cheese.

+ Neat way to wrap your earphones so they don't tangle. Must try.

2 comments:

j streed said...

That's a fun grab-bag post.

David Shenk's method looks like madness to a waffler and procrastinator like me. But I bet it'll work well for smart people who use that kind of interaction to make, rather than put off, decisions about what will go on the page.

Did you see Language Log's recent post on the fake controversy over the origin of Barack Obama's first name?

Since I know how much you love political punditry ;-)

Sean Meade said...

thanks, J :-)

i hadn't seen the LL post, but i had subconsciously made the connection b/t Barack/Hebrew BRK/blessed.

death to pundits! (except for my buddy, ZenPundit (which i hope is an intentional non sequitur ;-))