|k| clippings: 2016-03-31 — a grunt of gluttons

WORK

“That I can read and by happy while I am reading, is a great blessing. Could I have remembered, as some men do, what I read, I should have been able to call myself an educated man. But that power I have never possessed. Something is always left, – something dim and inaccurate, – but still something to preserve the taste for more. I am inclined to think that it is so with most readers.”

—Anthony Trollope
—from An Autobiography

WORD(S)

gulosity /gyoo-LOS-i-tee/. noun. Gluttony, voracity, greed. From Latin gulosus (gluttonous). See also: esurience and gulous.

“Yet I have heard him, upon other occasions, talk with great contempt of people who were anxious to gratify their palates; and the 206th number of his Rambler is a masterly essay against gulosity.” (James Boswell)

“‘Gulosity’ is a fine neologism, and the character is an amusing moral invention. But it is clear that when the great lexicographer looked into his mirror he [Samuel Johnson] did not see Dr Samuel Gulosulus.” (John Sutherland)

“Sure he’s in danger. Gulosity. Forget it. What the dickens is that thing?” (Rex Stout)

“And what about the writing on the villa wall? The word ‘pig’—is that some comment on Purdy’s gulosity?”

WEB

1. What do you call a group of pixies, trolls, incubi or griffins? All these and more in The Stoakes-Whitley Natural Index of Supernatural Collective Nouns.

2. Lead ink from scrolls may unlock library destroyed by Vesuvius

3. “The linguist discusses how technology shapes culture and culture shapes words.” → Language Leakage: An Interview with Sarah Thomason

4. Fascinating to watch a bunch of smart folks at MetaFilter answer a simple question. → What is the critical book for your hobby/passion? [and what is yours?]

5. Today in 1917, the United States takes possession of the “Danish West Indies,” since renamed the Virgin Islands. The US bought the islands—the prominent Saint Croix, Saint John and Saint Thomas along with 50 smaller islets—for $25 million in gold, primarily for the strategic value of their location near the Panama Canal. Though two other groups inhabited the islands historically, by the mid–15th century the Carib people, who originated from the Orinoco River in South America, had decimated the earlier populations. The Caribbean Islands derive their name from these people from whom we also get the word cannibal, derived from Caribal, the name given to them by the Spanish. Though it must be noted that despite being known as fierce warriors, there’s little evidence that the Carib warriors ever ate their victims.

WATCH/WITNESS

An intriguing, sometimes disturbing, photoset of nearly 100 vintage postcards (the apostrophe catastrophe in the title notwithstanding) of historical “beauties.” Some of the shots are glamour, some boudoir, some probably considered erotica. Warning: a few are somewhat NSFW.

REPRISES/RESPONSES/REJOINDERS/RIPOSTES

• Reader F. advises the Clamor: “I bet many of your readers will skip today’s poem [James Reidel’s “Miley Cyrus or Manatee?”] because of the title. They really shouldn’t. What a great poem!”

• Reader D. writes in: “Thank you for the global version of Stand by Me. I did not know of the site or the movement, but I do now. I’ve been listening to the other songs, too.”

• Reader S. has misgivings: “Jeremy May’s book jewelry is, as you say, stunning. But am I the only one that has a hard time getting past the destruction of old books in service of their new decorative purpose?”

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

Enjoy the WORD(S) section? Check out my other little project: concīs » http://concis.io/

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