The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus is a delightful (splendid, delectable, diverting, satisfying) volume that goes beyond mere synonyms to include word spectrums, usage advice and little jewels of notes from a variety of great authors. I might have switched to Mac sooner if I’d known Apple was smart enough to build it into their operating system. But I recently bought the paper version for the sheer sensual pleasure of browsing it.

WORK

‘As an adjective, myriad means ‘an indefinitely large number [of something]’ (the Local Group comprises myriad galaxies) or ‘made up of a great many diverse elements’ (the myriad plant life of Amazonia). As a noun, it’s used with an article and of to mean ‘a large number’ (the new CFO faced a myriad of cash-flow problems). What’s odd is that some authorities consider only the adjectival myriad correct—there’s about a 50–50 chance that a given copyeditor will query a myriad of—even though the noun usage has a much longer and more distinguished history. It’s really only in nineteenth-century poetry that myriad starts showing up as an adjective. So myriad’s situation right now is confusing. It’s tempting simply to recommend avoiding the noun usage so that there’s no chance a reader will be bugged. The truth, though, is that any reader who’s bugged by a myriad of is both persnickety and wrong—and you can usually rebut sniffy teachers, copyeditors, et al. by directing them to Coleridge’s “Myriad myriads of lives teemed forth ….”’

—David Foster Wallace (from the Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus)

WORD

gonfalon /GONE-ful-on/. noun. A banner, made of or ending in several tails or streamers, hanging from a crossbar.

“Ten thousand thousand ensigns high advanced
Standards and gonfalons, ’twixt van and rear
Stream in the air…”
(John Milton)

“More than a few large homes around Franklin Park or out on the east side even have enormous multistory flags hanging gonfalon-style down over their facades.” (David Foster Wallace)

WEB

• Speaking of thesauri, the free book English Synonyms and Antonyms goes into detail of the spectrum of meanings of the synonyms presented. For example, look for the great explanation of the difference between “each” and “every.” Much joyful pedantry.

• Finding interesting, even inspiring art on the web isn’t hard. But it’s much rarer to find something that is actually unique. I think Ben Young’s layered glass sculptures qualify.

• Samantha Decker juxtaposes present and past using photos, but opposite the manner of other “now and then” projects I’ve seen before.

• Two David Foster Wallace items that stunned me for different reasons. First, an interview unearthed after 18 years in the vaults. And then I find out they are making a movie of David Lipsky’s biography…starring Jason Segel and Jesse Eisenberg? Apparently Radio Open Source will be posting much more DFW material in coming weeks, starting rerunning a great piece on DFW’s Boston.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

Yesterday it was fish taking over an abandoned mall. Today it’s hippos taking over Pablo Escobar’s abandoned estate.

Reader G notes that Lucyna Kolendo’s photos remind him of David Hamilton’s ’70s and ’80s photos. Some browsing and I agree, given photos like the one on this book cover or this 1971 photo. His later stuff is, well, at least NSFW…

As always, I welcome comments, suggestions, thoughts, feedback and all manner of what-have-you. Just press ‘Reply’ or send to: clippings@katexic.com