Tag Archives: humour

Fanfare for the Arch and Monarchic Empyrean

For fanfaronnish, pharaonic, peerlessly peeraged personnages kitted, kilted, severely coiffed and balconic in presence, shod and booted in besotted opulence, blackamoorian brooched, got up in splendid headgear, lorded lads and ladied dames garbed in emblazoned berobement, none… For sherlockian, sherwoodian, … Continue reading

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Resistance Is Futile…

… when it comes to quoting Matthew McConaughey. “I’ve found that a good plan is to first recognize the problem, then stabilize the situation, organize the response, then respond.” “Knowin’ the truth, seein’ the truth and tellin’ the truth are … Continue reading

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‘Inter faeces et urinam nascimur’

“Between feces and urine we are born,” said Augustine in the 4th century. The bishop of Hippo’s take on parturition was that our mothers effectively defecate us from their feculent crannies. Doctrine on sex and love handed down by dour … Continue reading

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The ‘Open-(Ahem)’

The polite, socially acceptable name by which it’s currently known is the medlar. But for the best part of 900 years, the fruit was called the “open-arse” – thought to be a reference to the appearance of its own large … Continue reading

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Title Alert. Who Is Which?

The ear was pricked by news that the Duke of Edinburgh was in hospital. Her Majesty is being kept closely apprised. The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall are on the scene. (The Duke of York’s whereabouts is presently unreported.) The … Continue reading

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‘You Have No Authority Here, Jackie Weaver’

… I was momentarily stirred to hear there were some handbags between Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer in one of parliament’s corridors after prime minister’s questions on Wednesday… According to some reports, the Labour leader was “puce” and “rattled”… I … Continue reading

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Away with Wayward Words!

In a dispute with the EU, AstraZeneca’s CEO insists their contract requires only “best reasonable efforts” to meet delivery schedules. Lawyers disagreed over the language of the E.U. contract, which was only partly made public.(Steven Erlanger and Matina Stevis-Gridneff, “E.U. … Continue reading

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Transitioning

(c) 2020 JMN

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Tom, Dick, and Harry

There was a fun question in my daily Spanish Quora: ¿Existe en inglés el equivalente a “fulano, mengano y zutano”? The consensus in the answer thread was that “Tom, Dick and Harry” was the closest equivalent. I’m reminded of my … Continue reading

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Backages & Shortlogs

The Guardian reports a crisis fermenting in South Korea: cabbage for making kimchi has run short. Its link to the intrepid cowpoke fleshing street-level USA will not be obvious, but an old snatch from Finnegans Wake helps connect the dots: … Continue reading

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