Things I learned while looking up other things, 2020.9.11
Friends, already bound by a sincere bond of affection, Erin, follower of the profession of lexicographer, wishes to be bound further to you by a mutual chain of affection and to be disturbed by no hostility, wishes you to live forever and to abound in all good things, to live always honorably and never to cease in your affection, to possess always wisely a happy life, and to hold always more firmly to the rightful ways.
(That salutation is recommended by Anonymous of Bologna, in Rationes dictandi [The Principles of Letter Writing], c1135, translation here.) (Here are some Gutenberg books by Anonymous, not of Bologna.)
Next time someone forwards you that article "proving" that we don't need our words to have their letters in the expected order to understand them, you can say "oh, yes, that's called typoglycemia, sadly it's not quite true ..."
Speaking of things not quite true, it turns out that each sign of the Zodiac is composed of smaller Zodiacs, called dodecatemoria (or, more boringly, microzodiacs).
A stick is a measure of eels, usually two dozen or 25 (can we call this an eeler's thrave? I believe we can). "Without any financial aid, if you were paying [your tuition] in sticks of eels, the total cost would run you between 4,264 and 8,528 sticks, or 106,612 – 213,024 eels (either of which represents a number of eels that the Cornell Bursar’s Office is ill-prepared to handle)."
Roller-skating has always brought me joy; I hope this nice JSTOR Daily article on the subject does the same for you. (If I 1) regularly drank hot beverages or 2) didn't already have enough mugs to outfit a slightly twee café I'd probably buy this one.)
I'm not much of a gamer, but I'm playing this game every day without fail.
(That salutation is recommended by Anonymous of Bologna, in Rationes dictandi [The Principles of Letter Writing], c1135, translation here.) (Here are some Gutenberg books by Anonymous, not of Bologna.)
Next time someone forwards you that article "proving" that we don't need our words to have their letters in the expected order to understand them, you can say "oh, yes, that's called typoglycemia, sadly it's not quite true ..."
Speaking of things not quite true, it turns out that each sign of the Zodiac is composed of smaller Zodiacs, called dodecatemoria (or, more boringly, microzodiacs).
A stick is a measure of eels, usually two dozen or 25 (can we call this an eeler's thrave? I believe we can). "Without any financial aid, if you were paying [your tuition] in sticks of eels, the total cost would run you between 4,264 and 8,528 sticks, or 106,612 – 213,024 eels (either of which represents a number of eels that the Cornell Bursar’s Office is ill-prepared to handle)."
Roller-skating has always brought me joy; I hope this nice JSTOR Daily article on the subject does the same for you. (If I 1) regularly drank hot beverages or 2) didn't already have enough mugs to outfit a slightly twee café I'd probably buy this one.)
I'm not much of a gamer, but I'm playing this game every day without fail.
I'm sure there's a corner of the internet (or YouTube?) where people are spending their pandemic mastering these bonkers napkin folding techniques. I'm not there, though.Words are not just beasts of burden, made only to carry thoughts. They have their own life, rich memories, and while seeming to be only playful, they can lead one in directions one would never have found without them. —Theodore Zeldin
Stay well, friends—
Erin
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