What we mean when we say “anti-Mormon”
The term "anti-Mormon" is tossed around too lightly. A few months back, a video appeared online in which...
LanguageA collection of 20 posts
The last time
I wrote this poem to read at last night's Tuesday Funk—the 64th episode in the series, and my final night as host. Bless the English language for its charming, maddening ambiguity. Will I...
The future of English (as of 1904)
Here's the last of the excerpts I'll bring you from the book I've just finished reading, 1904's The Making of English by Henry Bradley. This is the passage...
How the prediction transpired
Last week I told you a bit about my recent bedtime reading, The Making of English by Henry Bradley. The book was published in 1904, and one of the peculiar delights of reading it more than...
Riddle me this
My light bedtime reading lately has been from a fascinating little book called The Making of English, by Henry Bradley. Bradley was a mostly self-taught linguist and lexicographer who would eventually become editor of the Oxford...
Quorum of the Twelve Apostates
I have my breakfast stop to thank for another little gem this morning. The 31-year-old father at the booth next to mine (I know his age because it came up in his conversation) was summarizing news...