The Vodka of Literature

28 May 2007

"I like to say that dictionaries are the vodka of literature. We take the wheat and the rye and the potatoes; we take really meaty things and we make it into something that’s odorless, colorless, tasteless, but really powerful. And it goes great with Red Bull.”

Erin McKean, editor-in-chief of US dictionaries at Oxford University Press (and my editor for Word Myths) gives an engaging talk on dictionaries and lexicography.

LolPilgrims: I Can Hath Cheezburger

25 May 2007

I normally don’t go for cutesy things, but the lolcats phenomenon is pretty funny.

If you’re not familiar with lolcats, here is the Wikipedia article. There is even some marginal linguistic interest, as demonstrated on Language Log here, here, and here.

But I really got a chuckle when Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog took on the phenomenon with LolPilgrims.

Cincinnati Chili in the Clarion-Ledger

23 May 2007

The food column in today’s Jackson, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger features a short interview with me on some food words (and a recipe for the chili).

Balderdash and Piffle

11 May 2007

For those of you in the UK, the second season of Balderdash and Piffle starts this evening at 10 pm on BBC2. The show is a cooperative venture between the BBC and the Oxford English Dictionary and explores the histories of interesting words. It also invites the public to help contribute in filling in the gaps in words’ histories. The first episode, One Sandwich Short of a Picnic, explores words for madness. The eight-part series airs Fridays at 10 pm and repeats on Mondays at 11:20 pm, also on BBC2.

Ask The Pilot: Airline Glossary

4 May 2007

Every Friday, pilot Patrick Smith writes a column for Salon.com on commercial aviation. It’s a fascinating, insider’s look into the world of airlines. This week (and continuing next week) he is presenting a glossary of airline terms. If you’ve ever wondered the heck “cross check” was, click and find out.