Author Archives: Kathy

Mother’s Day Thoughts

Posted on May 14, 2023 by Kathy

I was hoping that my new book, A Grandmother’s ABC Book, would be available by Mother’s Day, but it’s becoming clear as the day passes that’s not going to happen. (That’s a joke.) The release date of June 6th is … Continue reading →

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A Little Skin

Posted on May 10, 2023 by Kathy

A diminutive (from Latin deminuere–to make small) is a cute-ified word that expresses fondness or describes something little and perhaps feminine. In English, suffixes such as -ette and -y create diminutives. A drum major is the big guy wearing the … Continue reading →

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Funny (Not Funny)

Posted on May 7, 2023 by Kathy

It’s disturbing to be writing about E. Jean Carroll’s 2019 memoir What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal the same weekend we attended a romantic family wedding. It was discomfiting reading the book in the Austin hotel room … Continue reading →

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Everything Old Is New Again

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Kathy

Latin offers nouns in three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter. As you may know, adjectives change their gender endings in order to agree with the noun they’re modifying: bonus puer (good boy), bona puella (good girl), and bonum consilium (good … Continue reading →

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Confronting Slavery

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Kathy

If you think you’ve already confronted America’s history with slavery, perhaps you should read Clint Smith’s How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America. Here are some things I learned from the book. Frenchman … Continue reading →

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Idiotic Idioms

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Kathy

Idioms are not really idiotic, but they don’t make a lot of sense when taken literally. The two words have a common etymology. Idios in Greek means “one’s own, private, unique.” A Greek idiotes was a private person, that is, … Continue reading →

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Getting at the Heart of Blood Pressure

Posted on April 19, 2023 by Kathy

Fortunately, when nurses take my husband’s or my blood pressure, they simply say it’s good. When the occasional nurse quotes the actual numbers at us instead, we don’t pay much attention. High blood pressure is not among our health concerns. … Continue reading →

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Next Time Won’t You Sing with Me

Posted on April 13, 2023 by Kathy

An abecedarium is an alphabet book, which we more commonly call an ABC book. The origin of the word, dating from the 17th century, is obvious from its spelling. It’s pronounced like the first three letters of the alphabet–ay, bee, … Continue reading →

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Sea Monsters on the Brain

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Kathy

Everybody knows that medical terms, including names for parts of the body, are frequently borrowed from ancient Greek and Latin. Often, the terms derive from what the body part looks like. The tibia, or shin bone, comes from the Latin … Continue reading →

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Embarrassment of Riches

Posted on March 26, 2023 by Kathy

As I’ve said before, sometimes people ask me how I choose what I’m reading. The easiest answer is to mention my book groups, which choose about eighteen titles a year for me. (One group meets every month, and one every … Continue reading →

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