Tag Archives: language

Plaited Thorns

Posted on April 13, 2020 by JMN

Before reading the article I scanned this painting as a king and courtier munching a corona-bat monster that has been spitted and roasted. The courtier picks his teeth and licks his fingers while the king gnaws a bone ruminatively and … Continue reading →

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Aerosolized Precarity

Posted on April 10, 2020 by JMN

Having been involved with languages, both natural and programming, for a time, I always experience a moment of pleasurable surprise when I meet a word I feel I should have met before. Today’s new friend is “precariat.” It comes to … Continue reading →

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¡Viva el pinche Franglaisismo!

Posted on April 9, 2020 by JMN

Mixing English and French with artistic abandon “irks some purists.” The irking of purists is always and never a good sign for those who straddle irkdom. FouKi, a popular Quebec rapper whose real name is Léo Fougères, observed that Franglais … Continue reading →

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A Sober Voice

Posted on April 9, 2020 by JMN

“And that man’s a doctor!” as the endearing old refrain of the vouching Jewish mother goes. A recurring thread in recent news is how in a decapitated republic certain U.S. governors are stepping up to provide badly needed leadership in … Continue reading →

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Africa Felt Better

Posted on April 8, 2020 by JMN

With the United States now leading the world in Covid-19 cases, the health care system fraying and the economy faltering, some American citizens — especially those living abroad — are starting to see their country in a new, unsettling light. … Continue reading →

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Poisonous Language Travels (Like a Virus)

Posted on April 8, 2020 by JMN

As news filtered from the Joaquín Rosillo nursing home on the outskirts of Seville that a few residents had tested positive for coronavirus, worried families scrambled for information. But amid a nationwide lockdown, with their movements limited, there were no … Continue reading →

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Neck-Broken

Posted on April 6, 2020 by JMN

A photo of Henry Adams helped draw me into a review by George F. Will of an anthology of conservative thinkers (“American Conservatism: Reclaiming an Intellectual Tradition,” Edited by Andrew J. Bacevich). In “The Education of Henry Adams (1907),” Adams … Continue reading →

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Sauerkraut Ice Cream

Posted on April 6, 2020 by JMN

George Will reviews “American Conservatism: Reclaiming an Intellectual Tradition,” Edited by Andrew J. Bacevich. Being susceptible to typography-based graphics I was drawn in by the illustration. Will’s opening statement added enticement. When assembling an anthology of writings representative of a … Continue reading →

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If There’s a Heaven, It’s Parody

Posted on April 5, 2020 by JMN

Your neologismic servant, a spastic parodic — or is it “parodian” —, speaks his title. For one crowning moment, the Gray Lady really was “fake news.” An October surprise, so to speak. In September 1978, a strike by pressmen had … Continue reading →

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Rare and Pastel

Posted on April 5, 2020 by JMN

A friend likes birds and will see this. I like them too. This amazing bird will brighten the day of all of us who like birds. It impresses me how its young simply “rocket away” from the nest when ready … Continue reading →

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