WORK
“If I’m a guy who doesn’t seem so merry,
It’s just because I’m so misunderstood.
When I was young I ate a dictionary,
And that did not do me a bit of good.
For I’ve absorbed so many words and phrases—
They drive me dizzy when I want to speak.
I start explaining but each person gazes
As if I spoke in Latin or in Greek.”
—Ira Gershwin
—from “I Forgot What I Started to Say”
—found in The Complete Lyrics of Ira Gershwin
WORD(S)
nefandous /nə-FAN-dəs/. adjective. Unmentionable. Execrable. Too disturbing to be spoken of. Too terrible for words. From Latin nefandous (same meaning), from from ne- (not) + fandus (to be spoken).
“Witchcraft is the most nefandous high treason!” (Cotton Mather)
“He had been brought very close to that immane and nefandous Burke-and-Hare business which made the blood of civilization run cold in the year 1828, and told me, in a very calm way, with an occasional pinch from the mull, to refresh his memory, some of the details of those frightful murders, never rivalled in horror until the wretch Dumollard, who kept a private cemetery for his victims, was dragged into the light of day.” (Oliver Wendell Holmes)
“…the real purpose of the cCmndhd kids was to restore the past and lost glories of the family, who allegedly had been major wool brokers around the time of Shakespeare and well on their way to living in Kensington and spelling their name Smith before some combination of scrapie, long-term climatic change, nefandous conduct by jealous Outer Qwghlmians, and a worldwide shift in fashions away from funny-smelling thirty-pound sweaters…” (Neal Stephenson)
WEB
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“For six years, La Blogothèque has changed the way people experience music. We film beautiful, rare and intimate sessions with your favorite artists, and the ones you are soon to fall in love with.” → “La Blogothèque”
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“What might have Danny dreamt about? What was the question on his mind? And what was the answer? My personal theory of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining.” → ►Danny’s Dream, an animated short.
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A 19 question survey that helps identify your “circadian rhythm type” and advice for better sleep and rest. It was pretty accurate for me. → Welcome to the Automated Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire.
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“The 38 most amazing vulgar slang terms from colonial times”.
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Today in 1976, the U. S. Treasury Department reintroduces the $2 bill as a cost-savings measure: “About $75 million worth of bills of varying denominations are printed each day. The printing cost of any bill is 1.525 cents. ‘Ones’ now account for 55 to 60 percent of the number of pieces of currency in circulation. By replacing about half the ‘ones’ with an equivalent dollar volume of ‘twos’, thus decreasing the number of bills in circulation, the Federal Government will save about $27 million (in 1976 dollars) in printing, handling, storage, and shipping costs between 1976 and 1981. Similarly, individuals will need to carry fewer ‘ones’, thereby facilitating small cash transactions and reducing the number of pieces of currency retailers and banks must handle. Decreased handling, in turn, will help to lower business operating costs.” The redesigned 1976 $2 bill features John Trumbull’s famous drawing depicting the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Despite the government’s optimism, the $2 bill remains elusive in everyday use…so much so that there are blogs devoted to stories of using (or sometimes unsuccessfully trying to use) them.
WATCH/WITNESS
The Decayed Book is a fascinating video that shows Mark Cockram making a fine, leatherbound book, which is interesting enough, but then—well, the title is a tip…
REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES
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Reader J. (p)(f)unnies: “I always enjoy Katexic, but, I have to say, ”Suicide Food“ takes the cake (and eats it too).”
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Reader B. on Dorothy Sayers’ choice phrase: “‘to knock down time’? what an expression! ¶ It compares nicely to the typically homicidal American version, ‘to kill time’.”
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Reader K. puts recent WORDs to good use: "I’m having a bit of trouble with one of my employees and awkwardly penciled this out this morning:
Here I sit upon my curple
A business call two minutes hence
I grumpy text a string of grawlix
Does no one here have common sense?Since her hiring a year ago
The office ladies have gone tense
I sigh and give my mimp a moment
I text: Let the firings commence!"
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