Things I learned while looking up other things, 2021.7.11
Dear friends,
Well, because things fall apart, center: status: not holding, and so on, what would have been "Free Slurpee Day" today is now some privatopia for those who have made the cost/benefit tradeoff of marketing harassment vs. intermittent free ice-cold high-fructose corn syrup and acquiesced to the 7-11 rewards app. (This day had ONE JOB, etc.)
This week I spent multiple hours debugging something that turned out to be a missing '/' in a config file, so I consoled myself with looking for instances of more egregious typos. At least I didn't have to blow up a rocket.
One of the great pleasures in life (in my opinion) is learning the name for something you've observed but not named—this past month, I learned that the "taking control of a situation by behaving officiously, especially when you're trying to do something you shouldn't be" trope is called a "Bavarian Fire Drill".
"She wants the hand of St. Vincent" is a way to say that a woman is plain-featured. (Unsurprisingly, I couldn't turn up a similar proverbial saying for plain men ...)
I can't remember who sent me down the path that led to this poem [CW: uh, dismemberment] but if you are a fan of certain kinds of British mysteries, you will probably enjoy it. (Related: obituary of the writer of one of the contenders for greatest headline of all time.)
"The rebellious city of Bristol was one of the last to agree to standardized time: The main town clock on the Corn Exchange building kept a third hand to denote “Bristol time” for the local population who refused to adjust. It remains there to this day."
A deontic expression "indicates that the state of the world ... does not meet some standard or ideal".
I was surprised to learn (and then surprised at my surprise) that the Bible wasn't divided into chapters until the twelfth century (and that versification came even later). (This came via the excellent book A Place for Everything.)
One last link: I'm looking for folks who might be interested in doing little one-off data projects with Wordnik. Is that you? Here's our job posting.
Stay well! (I really don't want to be reminded of the order of the Greek alphabet, so please get vaccinated if you can!)
Your friend,
Erin
Well, because things fall apart, center: status: not holding, and so on, what would have been "Free Slurpee Day" today is now some privatopia for those who have made the cost/benefit tradeoff of marketing harassment vs. intermittent free ice-cold high-fructose corn syrup and acquiesced to the 7-11 rewards app. (This day had ONE JOB, etc.)
This week I spent multiple hours debugging something that turned out to be a missing '/' in a config file, so I consoled myself with looking for instances of more egregious typos. At least I didn't have to blow up a rocket.
One of the great pleasures in life (in my opinion) is learning the name for something you've observed but not named—this past month, I learned that the "taking control of a situation by behaving officiously, especially when you're trying to do something you shouldn't be" trope is called a "Bavarian Fire Drill".
"She wants the hand of St. Vincent" is a way to say that a woman is plain-featured. (Unsurprisingly, I couldn't turn up a similar proverbial saying for plain men ...)
I can't remember who sent me down the path that led to this poem [CW: uh, dismemberment] but if you are a fan of certain kinds of British mysteries, you will probably enjoy it. (Related: obituary of the writer of one of the contenders for greatest headline of all time.)
"The rebellious city of Bristol was one of the last to agree to standardized time: The main town clock on the Corn Exchange building kept a third hand to denote “Bristol time” for the local population who refused to adjust. It remains there to this day."
A deontic expression "indicates that the state of the world ... does not meet some standard or ideal".
I was surprised to learn (and then surprised at my surprise) that the Bible wasn't divided into chapters until the twelfth century (and that versification came even later). (This came via the excellent book A Place for Everything.)
One last link: I'm looking for folks who might be interested in doing little one-off data projects with Wordnik. Is that you? Here's our job posting.
Stay well! (I really don't want to be reminded of the order of the Greek alphabet, so please get vaccinated if you can!)
Your friend,
Erin
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