What is a Funion?
Idris Goodwin poses an excellent questions, “What is they feeding our kids?”
August 2007
Friday procrastination: link love – medicine, mindsets, and Arthur Miller
What Rebecca has been reading this week.
When Languages Die: Science and Sentiment
An excerpt from K. David Harrison’s book.
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedalianism!
One question I often field in my capacity as OUP’s editor for American dictionaries is, ‘What’s the longest word in the dictionary?’ I don’t hear it as often as ‘How do I get a new word in the dictionary?’ but it still comes up from time to time. My stock answer isn’t very interesting: ‘It depends…’
Meeting People: The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations
Quotations dictionary editor Elizabeth Knowles talks about the new edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Modern Quotations.
Confronting the Conflict between Fact-Based Judgments and Moral Values
Robert Cherry, author of Welfare Transformed reflects on the show Chasing Amy.
Wilhelm Oehl and the butterfly
When I was growing up, I read Paul de Kruif’s book Microbe Hunters so many times that I still remember some pages by heart. Two chapters in the book are devoted to Pasteur. The second is called “Pasteur and the Mad Dog.” A book about great word hunters would similarly enthral the young and the old.
Sitou Forest, Taiwan
Ben’s Place of the Week is Sitou Forest, Taiwan.
The Perverse Effects of Transparency?
Adrian Vermeule looks at the effects of transparency in Congress.
Learning from Willy Loman: The Loss Of Sadness
An excerpt from The Loss of Sadness.
A Few Questions For Allan Horwitz
Allan Horwitz, co-author of The Loss of Sadness answers some questions for OUP.
On This Day In History: Gail Borden and Condensed Milk
On August 19, 1856 Gail Borden patented Condensed Milk.
Friday procrastination: link love – biofuels, bars, and books
What Rebecca has been reading.
“Mob” Mentality, from Jonathan Swift to Karl Rove
Ben Zimmer looks at the origin of the word “mob.”
Scotland: A Turbulent Century
An exceprt from ‘Scotland: A History’, edited by Jenny Wormald
Crime in the City: American Revolution
Carp looks at violence in Revolutionary America.