Category Archives: Uncategorized

A Passing

Posted on June 4, 2023 by Kathy

My school friend Lynn Hamilton passed away last week, succumbing to an aggressive pancreatic cancer. I knew Lynn in grade school and became friends in high school. We studied English, social studies, and Latin together and debated as part of … Continue reading →

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Juno’s Bustin’ Out

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Kathy

Wife of Jupiter and queen of the Roman gods, Juno gave her name to our brand-new month, Iunius Mensis, the Romans’ fourth month (with Martius as the first). Junio and Juin are two of her Romance language legacies. Juno is … Continue reading →

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A Fledgling Book

Posted on May 30, 2023 by Kathy

As of today, A Grandmother’s ABC is available for purchase, with text by me and photos by Margaret Ewing. Order it from Shanti Arts, the publisher, or from your local bookstore. Bookshop.org is another good option. Amazon is also an … Continue reading →

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Everythingology

Posted on May 24, 2023 by Kathy

Another book, another vocabulary word. Therapist Lori Gottlieb in her excellent book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed defines ultracrepidarianism as “the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of … Continue reading →

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No Right Way

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Kathy

Valerie Fridland’s new book Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English provides enough material for an eternity of Wednesday Word posts. Literally. Yep, Fridland takes on not only the non-literal sense of literally, but also um and … 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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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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