Monthly Gleanings
Anatoly answers this month’s questions and explains the intriguing history of the words element and hocus pocus.
October 2007
Halloween: The Sugar-Coated Holiday
Andrew Smith helps us learn about Halloween.
Patagonia, Argentina
Ben’s Place of the Week is Patagonia, Argentina.
A Few Questions for Laura Pappano
Pappano talks about Playing With The Boys.
Lupus: Marriage, Family, and Sexuality
An excerpt from The Lupus Book.
An Oxford Centenary – 100 Years of Medical Publishing
A celebration of medical publishing.
Sermon on the Page Count
Lindsay pays homage to Tanenhaus.
Friday procrastination: link love – Australia, Updike and Schlesinger
What Rebecca has been reading.
Extending the History of Words: The Case of “Ms.”
Ben Zimmer introduces us to the sport of antedating.
What is your Word of the Century so far?
Can any word sum up the 21st century so far? You tell us in our new poll.
Prophecies: Right Here, Right Now
John Brehm shares a poem on the blog.
The Oxford Etymologist goes Trick-or-Treating
Anatoly prepares for Halloween with the origins of witch.
Inle Lake, Burma
Houseboats and floating homes may be relatively familiar concepts to many, but entire floating villages remain unusual—at least unless sea levels rise with global warming. An exception exists however. Not far from the Thai border in Eastern Burma, the Intha people live in the middle of fresh water.
Longtail Wars
Evan Schnittman explains how publishing is winning the Longtail War.
The Second Coming of Christ: October 22nd
Daniel Walker Howe looks at the day Christ did not come.
When Doctors Become Patients: Researching One’s Own Disease
An excerpt from Robert Klitzman’s When Doctors Become Patients.