Category Archives: humanities

the former future prime minister

Posted on Tuesday, 2004 May 18 by Anton

I’ve often mocked The Media for saying “former Italian prime minister” (what kind of prime minister is he now?) and so it is mildly disappointing that I won’t get to apply the phrase to Mrs Gandhi. The Agonist (cited by … Continue reading →

Posted in language, politics, religion | Leave a comment

in the Hellenistic age, savage warfare— no, that’s not it

Posted on Sunday, 2004 May 09 by Anton

Bill Poser at Language Log agrees with me: Greek, not Latin, ought to have been spoken in The Passion. (Cited by Prentiss Riddle in a comment at languagehat.)

Posted in history, language | Leave a comment

the guilt industry

Posted on Sunday, 2004 May 09 by Anton

Heather Mac Donald: The Diversity Taboo (cited indirectly by Eric Rasmusen)

Posted in humanities, race | Leave a comment

serial or parallel?

Posted on Friday, 2004 May 07 by Anton

Shiny! (before Firefly)

Posted in cartoons, language | Leave a comment

morbid

Posted on Monday, 2004 May 03 by Anton

Did anyone mark the occasion when Tom Lehrer’s joke about Mozart reached a certain age?

Posted in history, music+verse | Leave a comment

QotD

Posted on Wednesday, 2004 April 28 by Anton

Miss Froy in The Lady Vanishes (1938) I never think you should judge any country by its politics. After all, we English are quite honest by nature, aren’t we?

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words

Posted on Wednesday, 2004 April 28 by Anton

One often hears mention of “the greater Boston area”. So how come you never hear of “the lesser Boston area”? In unrelated news, I misread the headline “Satire is dead” as “[William] Safire is dead” and wondered why Charlie would … Continue reading →

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