Icons and eye cons – Calmgrove
2nd-century CE funeral portrait of a Roman Egyptian officer wearing a gold wreath (detail). Faiyum, Egypt. Wandering among Words 10: Pupil What’s the link between a celebrity and a chrysalis,…| Calmgrove
Wandering among Words 13: Incongruity incongruous (adj.)from Latin incongruus, inconsistent, not agreeing, misfit, unsuitable. Call me sad if you like but I’ve always liked puns, Christmas cracker riddles and dad jokes, however groanworthy they indubitably are. For instance, ‘What do you get when you cross a policeman with a skunk?’ – ‘Law and odour.’ Okay, … Continue reading Lexical paradoxes| Calmgrove
Wandering among Words 12: the 1948 show Normally in this ‘Wandering among Words’ feature I explore a group of words or phrases related through meaning, sense and/or etymology. This time, however, I’m going to resort to a gimmick, by examining words and phrases which first appeared in print seventy-five years ago – in 1948. (Not … Continue reading Gimmickry| Calmgrove
Wandering among Words 11: Bookworm bookworm (n.)1590s, “person devoted to study;” by 1713 in reference to the larvae of certain insects that eat holes in the bindings and paper of old books. etymonline.com We all know the term bookworm, don’t we, and doubtless judge ourselves each to be a representative of that particular genus. Forget … Continue reading Bibliophages, unite!| Calmgrove
2nd-century CE funeral portrait of a Roman Egyptian officer wearing a gold wreath (detail). Faiyum, Egypt. Wandering among Words 10: Pupil What’s the link between a celebrity and a chrysalis,…| Calmgrove
Wandering Among Words No 9: Exclamation! I came across an interesting neologism the other day which, as usual, had me musing — and I thought, again as usual, I would share them with you. Here it is, courtesy of the popular BBC TV panel show QI and its busy QI elves on Twitter: Bangorrhea. Hint: … Continue reading Warning!| Calmgrove
