We quite enjoyed the panel discussion and examples explored in the descriptive phenomenon also called Janus words of enantiosemy—that is when term carries multiple meanings and can be its own opposite in a sense.

We quite enjoyed the panel discussion and examples explored in the descriptive phenomenon also called Janus words of enantiosemy—that is when term carries multiple meanings and can be its own opposite in a sense.
We always enjoy—albeit too often only vicariously and not as active readers who’ve done the assignment beforehand—listening to episodes of the BBC World Book Club and are usually drawn in, intrigued to add a new title to the pile, by a thoroughgoing discussion that some might call spoilers but strike me more as insights from the author. A recent instalment featuring poet, lyricist and novella-writer Sigurjรณn “Sjรณn” Birgir Sigurรฐsson, sometimes collaborator with The Sugarcubes and Bjรถrk and his now very timely 2013 work Mรกnasteinn: drengurinn sem aldrei var til (Moonstone: The Boy Who Never Was) about identity, otherness and escapism through cinema in Reykjavรญk just as the nation is granted independence and the island is visited by the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. Visit the link up top to listen to the programme and learn what’s next on their reading list.
persons of the year: more Year End lists from Miss Cellania—see previously
75x75: seventy-five superlative photographs captured by as many photographers
mys: the Swedish word without an exact translation compliments hygge when it comes to coping with the prospect of a long, dark winterbenedict donald: more fine art work (see also)—suitable for framing
the twenty most powerless: the disenfranchised and estranged of the art world
she said see you later, boy: McSweeney‘s most read monologues, vignettes and confessionals of 2020
dance, dance revolution: a dance number from a trio of Boston Dynamics robots—see previously
refreshing your feed: fifty superlative podcasts according to The Atlantic—via Super Punch
As a long-standing tradition here at PfRC, here is our annual recap of this most extraordinairy year. We‘ve come all this way together and here‘s to us ploughing on. Thanks for visiting and be good to yourselves and one another.
january: Bushfires rage across Australia, taking the lives of an estimated billion animals. We had to bid farewell to historian and Monty Python member Terry Jones and veteran reporter and newscaster Jim Lehrer. Tragically basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna with seven others died during a helicopter accident. Trump signs a trade deal with Canada and Mรฉxico to replace NAFTA. The United Kingdom and Gibraltar formally announce their intention to leave the European Union, initiating an eleven-month transition period.the santaland diaries: a holiday classic from David Sedaris
by jove: more on the complex system of Jupiter and its moons—including Valetudo, which crosses between the prograde and retrograde orbitals—see previously
mimicry and mutualism: the monkey slug caterpillar (Phobetron pithecium, the larva of the hag moth) that evolved to resemble a tarantulawhere do i begin: Erich Segal’s Love Story at fifty
posse commmutatus: a fresh tranche of pardons (previously) from the outgoing and impeached Trump is an assault and insult on justice
tree fm: for those who can’t readily go forest bathing or hug a perennial friend, tune into the soundscape of woods around the world—via Things Magazine
pork-barrel politics: Trump frames riders in COVID aid bill as disgraceful after seven months of contentious negotiation, demands revision
suggested serving: wintry cocktail and hot toddy recipes from eastern Europe
don’t wait for me beneath the mistletoe: the Allusionettes compose a festive carol for 2020
extravehicular activity: a brilliant infographic of every spacewalk undertaken—from Voskhod 2 onward
your branches green delight us: a stunning abstract Christmas tree in Tokyo crafted from a thousand corded mizuhiki balls
solargraph: a forgotten pinhole camera took the longest exposure photograph on record
oinฤ: archiving images of a ubiquitous red ball with white polka dots in Romania’s recent past
disbarred: US attorney general to step down before Christmas
boughs of holly: a round-up of seasonal plants beyond the tree and trimmings
physiological colours both mixt and simple: a taxonomical table of hues and saturation that to facilitate unambiguous descriptions of the colours of natural bodies—see also
the next tuesday after the first monday in the month of november: though at least a term ahead, we could relate and appreciate this thoughtful election day essay and reflection by Kottke guest host Tim Carmody
telethot: a 1918 proposal for a hand-mirror like accessory that would allow telephone interlocutors to see one another—via Messy Nessy Chicrelithiation: targeted healing can potential rejuvenate batteries that would otherwise be scrapped
dna sequencing: the storied, celebrated San Francisco lounge and concert venue turns thirty-five
the max headroom signal interruption: a deep dive into the unsolved pirated television incident—see previously
sorkin, strunk and white: how good screenplays reflect the best elements of style—see previously
cyanometer: a colour wheel from 1789 to gauge the blueness of the sky
The call sign enunciated as above in the spelling alphabet of the day followed by “Writtle testing, Writtle testing,” was announced regularly starting on 14 February in 1922 by presenter and station manager Captain P. P. Eckerseley from a transmission tower near the Marconi laboratory outside of Chelmsford in Essex, marking the launch of the first British radio broadcaster, the first commercial station with entertainment programming. Its immediate popularity led to the establishment of its sister station—repairing from the exurbs into central London (Marconi House) as 2LO—which on 14 November 1922 became the BBC with Arthur Burrows (Uncle Arthur on the wireless) presenting news bulletins (see also). The original 2MT did not join (though its legacy lives on) the network and folding in January of 1923.
langue and parole: a poly-lingual whistle-stop tour illustrating what foreign languages sound like to non-speakers
a critical tourism map: whilst most visitors’ guides are irrepressibly positive about their attractions, this revealing map of the Norwegian capital hopes to make people think about the darker side of the past—via Big Think
test pilots: first human passengers take a ride in the experimental, levitating hyperloop (previously) in the desert of Nevada
ohrwurm: you’re welcome—see previously
mnemosyne: an iterative technique to vastly improve recall (see previously)—from the illustrious Mx van Hoorn’s curio cabinet
the ephemeralist: selecting random pages from archives of thousands of old publications, this bit of coding seems as good a substitute for social media as any—via Kicks Condor
the word rooster is an eighteenth century American invention to avoid saying the word ________: an educational and invigorating swear quiz from Helen Zaltzman
Though now more generalised to indicate an obsequious underling or someone who lavishes flattery unwarranted, we learn that etymologically the noun and adjective toady is a shortening of the job of the toad-eater—that is, the assistant (or supposed volunteer from the gathered crowd) to a quack doctor, a mountebank from the Italian montambanco for mounted-on-a-bench and positioned to hawk his tonics and curatives engaged to performatively eat a toad, which many considered to be poisonous at the time. Hamming it up and on the verge of death, the doctor would administer his potion thus restoring the patient. There’s a whole bevy of useful vocabulary terms for the insufferable below from Merriam-Webster (see previously)—though we agree that to call someone the above cumberworld is a bit too harsh to revive for general use and should really reserve it for the worst of us.
From the latest panel discussion of the Words Matter podcast (previously) we are acquainted with a grammatical voice—diathesis (from the Greek for disposition), the way to describe the relationship between the state or action that a verb denotes about the subjects and objects of sentences, with active and passive forms being the most familiar examples to English speakers, the use of the latter strangely discouraged possibly with the exception of delivering bad news (Mistakes were made)—which is neither, illustrating: the rather interesting way the language handles the reflexive form: the mediopassive.
Combining, blending the middle and passive voices, it shows a shift in verbal transience to what’s called an unaccusative case, as in the advertising slogan of the title, or in the examples the “sex sells,” “the alarm sounded,” “the car handles well,” or “the wine drinks smoothly.” Incidentally, Campbell’s usage is correct but might be interested in reading about a minor furore that erupted over another jingle, “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should,” in one of the podcast’s previous instalments, with the like being an intentionally ungrammatical provocation in the mid-1950s with the construction properly taking as. A simple rule of thumb to guide one is whether a verb or auxiliary comes afterward—then use as, otherwise like is correct for comparison. The marketing gimmick garnered a lot of attention for the brand and generated controversy: for example—Morning Show host Walter Cronkite refusing to say a word from their sponsors as written. Winston memorably also was one of the advertisers that appeared on The Flintstones (premiering on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC, network on this day in 1960) but withdrew once the pregnancy and birth of Peebles became part of the story.
Ibidem our previous source and another crucial reminder that what’s rare and delectable in language needs fostering and adoption to champion those words and keep them in circulation we come across the term that’s sadly dated and nearly moribund in ucalegon—an epitome derived from the name of one of the Elders of Troy and advisors of King Priam whose epithet somewhat ironically means Without Worries—ฮแฝฮบแพฐฮปฮญฮณฯฮฝ (see also). Mentioned in The Iliad with the incident again mentioned in The Aeneid, his home on the city wall was destroyed (along with countless others of course so there is also a bit of sardonic attention in making his loss an exhibit and exemplar) in the sack of the city, he has come to have an allusive use and mean a neighbour whose house is on fire or has burnt down, proximus ardet Ucalegon, implying also that yours might be next. The reprise of the anecdote in Virgil’s epic poem is thought to be a reflection on lessons-learned and heeding evacuation order—and avoid pitfalls or not building in a fire-trap, iam friula transfert Ucalegon.
catagories: ๐️, ๐ฌ, ๐, myth and monsters
From the editors of the Merriam-Webster dictionary, there is a new podcast series entitled Words Matter that features some serious logophile conversation about linguistics, usage, semantics and etymology that’s rather brilliant.
A recent episode presents us with a discussion, a treasury of “aggressive useless” obscure words—like the above, which means “producing geese” dating back to the strange idea that water fowl were generated out of barnacles—and in a more generous, wider sense suggestive of, as is the case with peristeronic. Do look up the episode and subscribe and foster some of these superannuated words. We also enjoyed the separate discussion of another word, jentacular, and a derived term, antejentacular—pertaining to breakfast generally, particularly one taken just upon getting up. The latter refers to something prior to said repast, as in “Would you care to have an antejentacular coffee with me?”In an exploration of how film informs our sympathies and limn the present through memory and reinterpretation over the years, couching the present of the movie-makers in our own, This America Life producer Sean Cole digs up an obscure title from 1968, which despite its all-star ensemble cast was singularly bad to have not garnered much attention or conservation heretofore though presently in the redemptive and consoling way that cinematic homeopathy can arise to, even if the inversion of current climate. With several points of resonance to today (that year was also a particularly tumultuous time) we cycle through distrust in science, mask-mandates, downplaying the contagion (the vector being instead of bats a toucan), negative implications for the economy, retreating to a bunker and the suggestion that the virus was manufactured in a laboratory for nefarious ends—though the infection and its attendant co-morbidities result in euphoria and an altered outlook that is particularly communicable.
Promoted and promulgated by English priest Titus Oates, born on this day in 1649 ( †1705), the ungrounded conspiracy theory gripped England and Scotland with an anti-Catholic hysteria from its 1678 circulation and was not easily dispelled despite, Oates’ eventual arrest and conviction of perjury for giving false testimony that led to the execution of twenty-two individuals. Capitalising on fear and suspicions—and guilt by affiliation, real or attributed—of the foiled Gunpowder Plot of 1605 and fuelled by the Thirty Years’ War, framed as a Hapsburg effort to stamp out German and British Protestantism, Oates’ sermons accused one hundred Jesuits and their supporters of plotting an assassination attempt against Charles II. Owing to the recent restoration of the monarchy, the government took any accusation with gravity and led to legislation excluding Catholics from the throne with the Act of Settlement of 1701, further giving rise to two political party factions, the Tories who were opposed and the Whigs in favour of prohibiting Catholics from rule.
catagories: ⚖️, ๐️, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ, ๐ง
Though I was hoping for this to take a fun and unexpected turn into Polari rhyming slang, Carlos Spartari’s 1930s contribution radiotelephony procedure (also known as on-air protocol, the standard for communication over two-way transmissions to optimise clarity and reception probably best exemplified in NATO call signs and spelling alphabets) strikes at the same time as both overly fussy and demanding and as work of sheer genius in the field of constructed languages.
Meant for international use, Spartari’s proposal required neither listener nor receiver to learn a special grammar or jargon with all messages encoded and decoded in seven musical notes plus an eighth punctuation tone like solfรจge and even the nineteenth century universal auxiliary language Sol-Re-Sol based on the same scale. Learn more from our faithful antiquarian, J.F. Ptak’s Science bookstore, at the link up top.
bouncing here and there and everywhere: a Finnish maths rocks band—via Things Magazine
wrr-fm: the strange and wonderful account of the first radio station in Texas—via Miss Cellania’s Links
infinity kisses: Carolee Schneemann (*1939 – †2019) experimental montage of her smooching her cats
smashedmouths: an all deep fake rendition of All Star using wav2lip subroutine—via Waxy
the medium is the message: hunting down the first mention of cybersex
eeo: Trump bans diversity training, citing them as divisive, engendering resentment and fundamentally un-American
recessive traits: heredity illustrated with gummy bears
Born on this day in 1920, with his family moving to Hollywood during his formative adolescent years—albeit personally and professionally, all were struggling with the Depression, Ray Bradbury (†2012, see previously this animated interview from 1972) with such seminal works as The Martian Chronicles, Something Wicked This Way Comes and Fahrenheit 451 and numerous other short stories is seen as being instrumental in bringing science fiction and science fantasy into mainstream entertainment. Experimenting with writing himself beginning at age eleven, his first paid work came at fourteen from comedian George Burns for a joke Bradbury had submitted for the variety programme he co-hosted, The Burns and Allen Show.