tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33373656072341810282024-03-18T08:29:03.620-07:00Back of the Cereal Boxkidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.comBlogger624125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-42327196204732964632016-08-12T12:17:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:46:53.945-07:00“Why Don't You Tell Us How Your Really Feel?”There’s a sort of person who, upon hearing someone else speak passionately about a given subject, will respond with a certain stock phrase: “Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?” And when they do, they hit the “really” Chandler Bing-style to emphasize their point. They might smile. They might feel very satisfied for having said this.<br /><br />Here is some information about that person.<br /><br />That person is the worst. That person thinks it’s okay to use a cliched, straight-from-a-bad-sitcom phrase to tell you (or maybe sometimes me) not to speak your mind—or at least not to speak it in such a decisive manner. That person wants you to hedge your statements in softeners like “maybe” and “it’s possible” and may even want you to apologize before you offer your opinion, as if you didn’t get the proper permission before you talk.<br /><br />It may be that you have overstepped in talking. Sometimes you get heated and your words take a tone that is inappropriate for a given situation. You may need a reminder to check yourself. That’s entirely fair. But with respect to that, here is the worst quality of the person who speaks the phrase “Why don’t you tell us how you really feel?” or some variant: They don’t actually want you to realize you’re violating some conversational rule. They want to make you feel bad, to be embarrassed for having participated. They’re trying to make you stop talking. And they’re not attempting to go about this directly or even by inventing their own turn of phrase. Instead, they pick this garbage saying—a chunk of words that verges on “Smooth move, Ex-Lax” in terms of datedness and triteness, a phrase that approaches sarcasm but somehow even falls short of even that. It’s this cowardly form of indirect communication in which this person conveys a message but hides behind words that superficially would seem to mean the opposite. It’s a reprimand form of “Gosh, it’s really hot in here” when you actually mean “Would you mind opening the windows?” but you’re not willing to actually make that request. <br /><br />This is a person you should make an effort to avoid talking to them in the future.<br /><br />In closing, here is a picture of a baby duck sitting in a ladle.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDGHNZkN8gt0SB90ECAfCtexOzJzZUcc5tZyA0-GjwDuIeExhME22e9BmUUM3RM4IR0NBKavJHhW_P5eKn0Bo18F4mCz5SHcSDD3X-kTZvLkfLpAI4NnvOZw4BY-byXN_i9dW5lQT39g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-08-12+at+2.35.42+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="404" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDGHNZkN8gt0SB90ECAfCtexOzJzZUcc5tZyA0-GjwDuIeExhME22e9BmUUM3RM4IR0NBKavJHhW_P5eKn0Bo18F4mCz5SHcSDD3X-kTZvLkfLpAI4NnvOZw4BY-byXN_i9dW5lQT39g/s640/Screen+Shot+2016-08-12+at+2.35.42+PM.png" width="640" /></a></div>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-61819573318522852102015-07-30T11:12:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:06.981-07:00A List of Words That Can Be Rendered Hilarious With One Errant KeystrokeI’m talking beyond <em>public</em>, whose comedic possibilities have already been thoroughly explored.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWCsBit98Cs4_FqIv7IUpO479mBolc0sZQL3Ei-c7AKWsOyTet8xu30ahOVWNi7HdPixENropj_g5RnRExTpXdlQcmBb-xfv-NTLLOoWXE2DgRMXJbNKDW6YW74be-irgkqzARFCLYrNo/s1600/peeface-tyop.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWCsBit98Cs4_FqIv7IUpO479mBolc0sZQL3Ei-c7AKWsOyTet8xu30ahOVWNi7HdPixENropj_g5RnRExTpXdlQcmBb-xfv-NTLLOoWXE2DgRMXJbNKDW6YW74be-irgkqzARFCLYrNo/s640/peeface-tyop.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />And yes, for most of these, I learned the hard way, and yes, the first one just yesterday.<br /><ul><li><i>faces</i></li><li><i>genial</i></li><li><i>trust</i></li><li><i>tuckered</i></li><li><i>named</i></li><li><i>Scotch tape</i></li><li><i>exotic</i></li><li><i>wore</i></li><li><i>ditties</i></li><li><i>wonton</i></li><li><i>hose</i></li><li><i>curt</i></li><li><i>shot</i></li><li><i>shirt</i></li><li><i>snitty</i></li><li><i>shift</i></li><li><i>trump</i>, as a verb or a proper noun</li><li><i>discount</i>, which can be tragically but wonderfully turned into <em>discocunt</em></li><li>and of course, <i>superheroes</i>, which becomes the obscure but nonetheless evocative word <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2014/02/superheroes-superherpes.html"><em>superherpes</em></a> when you type just one letter incorrectly</li></ul><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2014/02/superheroes-superherpes.html" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFWbvn3uGm-ZZbfpOcAlCSPcyHdTdlJv3kgqYj8PvPJV22m2Q_lH5ULWvaz2fR0ugC1lddRdpJwGFwJC3oH7oXMDa_fTAjnfIR4O3NW1qeiJTmAlIQ3yDtcmESAO3Y6i85eLhZT5N0YJ0/s640/superheroes-superherpes-typo.jpg" width="628" /></a></div><br />On a related note, the adjectival form of the word <em>pus</em> must be avoided in written form at all costs. Also, true story: Once I typed <i>Josie and the Pussycars</i> in a headline. It wasn’t more obscene, strictly speaking, just more surreal in a way that made me wish pussycars were a thing. kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-55148563864795371052015-01-12T17:51:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:47:24.632-07:00Boops boops in a BucketWay back when, I made the mistake of listing off all the species I could think of <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/nine-animals-that-got-screwed-when.html">whose genus names are the same as their species names</a>. In short, their scientific name is the same word repeated: <em>Bison bison</em>, <em>Chinchilla chinchilla</em>, <em>Iguana iguana</em>, as well as the more exotic-sounding ones such as <em>Bubo bubo</em> (the Eurasian eagle-owl) and <em>Mephitis mephitis</em> (the striped skunk). <br /><br />I call the post a mistake because it’s subsequently only given some people the opportunity to point out how I’m an idiot for omitting their favorite same-name scientific creatures. Among those I skipped were <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolverine">Gulo gulo</a> — </em>the common wolverine, which I’ve just found out is called “skunk bear” in some circles — and the sea snail <a href="http://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=431078"><em>Volva volva volva</em></a>, which, yes, is named for <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=volva+volva+volva&es_sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=AXK0VN3oFonroASZqYDYAw&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1345&bih=755#tbm=isch&q=volva+volva+volva+snail">exactly the reason that you’d guess</a>. But just before the end of 2014, another double-namer was brought to my attention that seemed worthy enough for its own post. <br /><br />This is that post. (And unlike some, this person pointed it out nicely.)<br /><br /><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/Inkfish">@Inkfish</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/drewgmackie">@drewgmackie</a> I'm partial to Boops boops, myself. <a href="http://t.co/K3OetF4Qtc">http://t.co/K3OetF4Qtc</a></p>— Mara Grunbaum (@maragrunbaum) <a href="https://twitter.com/maragrunbaum/status/549784674407813121">December 30, 2014</a></blockquote><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><br /><br />Yep, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boops_boops"><em>Boops boops</em></a>, a big-eyed little fish otherwise known as the bogue. Technically, that name is pronounced “BOH-ops BOH-ops” — literally “cow eye, cow eye” — but why not better the world and just refer to this guy as “BOOPS BOOPS”? The Wikipedia page for the species even has a perfectly reasonable, scientifically accurate caption that nonetheless sounds like it the chorus of some old-timey children’s rhyme.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWGZ1dIYweapOW347ZuQ8xzjdexb8YRJUa5kAdGJ6PWBEqK9XIWXHYtx5VLSRvkE15JA8pMEFooCscKAaXsbMzFJz2a-xAaNHVPnUUUvHTzzm8QZw5QzhU5z75YORu9sRaekFbWdDl-4/s1600/boops-boops-in-a-bucket.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVWGZ1dIYweapOW347ZuQ8xzjdexb8YRJUa5kAdGJ6PWBEqK9XIWXHYtx5VLSRvkE15JA8pMEFooCscKAaXsbMzFJz2a-xAaNHVPnUUUvHTzzm8QZw5QzhU5z75YORu9sRaekFbWdDl-4/s1600/boops-boops-in-a-bucket.png" width="640" /></a></div><br />All hail <em>Boops boops</em>, your new favorite intersex Atlantic demersal and semi-pelagic feeding fish!<br /><br />And if I still haven’t mentioned your favorite double-named species, please notify me without calling me an idiot. <br /><br /><i>[Touches own nose. “Boops boops!” Touches own nose. “Boops boops!”]</i><br /><br />Amminall fun, previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2014/05/in-australia-even-genitals-are-backwards.html">Kangaroo genitals</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/07/the-demon-duck-of-doom.html">The demon duck of doom</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/02/a-thousand-dogs.html">Dog as hat</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/08/the-longstanding-hatred-between.html">Dragons vs. elephants</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/encyclopedia-drew-and-dubious-diorama_9.html">Hidden cats of the L.A. Natural History Museum</a></li></ul>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-45056481343434429392014-09-23T13:37:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:37.921-07:00A Useless New Word and a Picture of a DucklingI honestly love English. I love the breadth of its vocabulary. Dozens of synonyms exist alongside each other, but often one word can encapsulate the exact concept you have in your head. It’s messy, as far as languages go, but it’s rich — like a tangled jungle where all manner of wild things can grow. English doesn’t have the largest vocabulary of any language in the world. (As <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/06/counting_words">The Economist points out</a>, that’s… just not a thing, when you think about it logically.) But it does offer some options to its speakers, and I’m proud to specialize in the language that affords speakers not just purple and violet but also indigo and magenta and mauve and lavender and freaking palatinate.<br /><br />Still, sometimes it fails us. There are <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-antonym">the autoantonyms</a>. On the subject of color, there’s <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2009/05/sinople-aint-simple.html"><em>sinople</em></a>, a word that basically no one ever uses but can refer to either red or green, depending on the context. There’s <em>shelled</em>, as in shelled pistachios, which you think would work in a straightforward fashion but I found does not, necessarily, when I asked a clerk at Trader Joe’s about them.<br /><blockquote>Him: Shelled pistachios? Like, pistachios with their shells on?<br /><br />Me: No. Shelled pistachios as in pistachios that have their shells removed.<br /><br />Him: So they’re shelled if they don’t have their shells on?<br /><br />Me: Yes, they’ve been shelled.<br /><br />Him: That’s confusing.</blockquote>It’s not confusing to most people, but when you approach the expression <em>shelled pistachio</em> like you’d never heard it before and instead along the lines of <em>a clothed person</em> or <em>a covered bridge</em>, yeah, it seems counterintuitive. (And yes, the Trader Joe’s clerk must have been new.)<br /><br />And then there’s the trouble with describing time. It’s maybe one of English’s greatest failings, simply because we need to describe yet-to-occur events quite often, and English sucks at it. <em>Biannual</em> is probably the biggest offender, simply because an event could just as likely occur every two years as it could twice a year. Because <em>biannual</em> <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biannual">can mean either</a>, you can almost never be sure in the context of any sentence which meaning was intended. <em>Bimonthly</em> can mean either twice a month or every two months, and I suppose events could occur on either schedule. You’d think that <em>biweekly</em> wouldn’t post such a problem, since we can’t evenly divide our seven-day week and therefore events would be less likely to occur twice a week, but no. When I ran the opinion desk at the college paper and hire regular columnists, I had to ban the word <em>biweekly</em> from all the ad copy, just because every single applicant asked whether they’d need to write two columns a week or one column every two weeks. The modified copy read <em>every two weeks</em>, even thought that’s less succinct. (<em>Fortnightly</em> was rejected on grounds of sounding affected and quaint.)<br /><br />This is the ambiguity that people are attempting to solve with <em>oxt</em>, an invented word that means “not this coming one but the next one,” as in “We’ll kill them this weekend and then bury the bodies oxt weekend.” Despite having <a href="http://oxtweekend.com/">its own promotional website</a>, I’m guessing <em>oxt</em> will go the way of Esperanto and the interrobang, even if it does solve a longstanding problem has resulted in too many people being all dressed up with nowhere to go.<br /><br />And it’s with all this that I present a strange and wonderful word — the first new one <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/09/word-of-the-week-bilirubin.html">in about a year</a>.<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq"><b>hebdomadal</b> (heb-DOM-uh-dul) — adjective: 1. taking place once every seven days. 2. a weekly magazine, newspaper or other publication. </blockquote>Like I described it in the post title, it’s useless. Most people won’t know what <em>hebdomadal</em> means, and besides we already have the word <em>weekly</em>, which may be one of the English words that doesn’t benefit from a synonym. In fact, <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=%22pedantic+humor%22&searchmode=none">the Etymonline entry</a> for <em>hebdomadally</em> calls it “pedantic humor.” But in its favor is the fact that this word — which comes from the Greek <em>hebdomas</em>, “the number seven; a period of seven days” — is perfectly exact. It will only ever refer to something that happens every seven days.<br /><br />As useless as <em>hebdomadal</em> may be, a related word could actually solve the <em>biweekly</em> ambiguity. If <em>oxt</em> is being dangled out there, then hell, why not <em><a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B4%CE%B5%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AD%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%B1#Greek">dekatesseral</a></em>? <br /><br />“We’d need columns from you on a dekatesseral basis, and if you can’t figure out what that means, we don’t want you.”<br /><br />I suppose that might discriminate against the non-Greek applicants. So it goes.<br /><br />And here, as promised, is that picture of the duck.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqQksDw9h0I0aUh3v6pLkkqnf-ePpNu_J0_Zktyv6IhkPEDwsdeW_cin0XC3u21kmvwNbszWYEO-MyNGFhmT1GDVZQ6fqZedz2reozTFUPOed0oj3TcOEe-7IxmKvRDTDMZ_p2AaW-9U/s1600/happiest-duckling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRqQksDw9h0I0aUh3v6pLkkqnf-ePpNu_J0_Zktyv6IhkPEDwsdeW_cin0XC3u21kmvwNbszWYEO-MyNGFhmT1GDVZQ6fqZedz2reozTFUPOed0oj3TcOEe-7IxmKvRDTDMZ_p2AaW-9U/s1600/happiest-duckling.jpg" height="524" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><span style="background-color: white;">Previous words of the week after the jump.</span></div><a name='more'></a><div id="outer" style="background-color: white; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; width: 600px;"><div id="inside1" style="border-right-color: blue; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; float: left; padding-right: 1em; width: 180px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/05/look-up-in-sky-its-oh-god-get-under.html">aasvogel</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/01/adult-education-so-to-speak.html">adulterine</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-my-career-as-wine-taster-ended.html">ageusia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/11/spit-into-your-mouth-only-verbally.html">ambeer</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-my-career-as-wine-taster-ended.html">anosmia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/03/as-infinitesimal-as-barn.html">barn</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/11/because-obaminate-isnt-word.html">barrack</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/09/theres-word-for-that-thing-that-made.html">beeturia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/09/word-of-the-week-bilirubin.html">bilirubin</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/08/hes-bicycle-shes-bahai.html">bissextile</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/06/looking-quite-bloofer-today.html">bloofer</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/01/breastsummer-in-midwinter.html">breastsummer</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/11/sinister-icy-white-hand-of-death.html">brinicle</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/01/one-for-all-religious-persuasion.html">catholicon</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/03/taxonomy-and-ursula-sea-witch.html">cecaelia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2011/07/proper-care-for-your-headless-saint.html">cephalophore</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/11/vocabulary-for-triply-stuffed.html">cherpumple</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/why-first-second-is-longest.html">chronostasis</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/11/vocabulary-for-triply-stuffed.html">chilver</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/11/lower-third.html">chyron</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/11/lower-third.html">cockernonnie</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/10/most-quaint-sounding-cause-of-barf.html">collywobbles</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/05/shit-talking-etymologically-speaking.html">coprolalia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/07/honey-my-water-broke-too.html">couvade</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/11/leftover-morpheme-sauce.html">cranberry morpheme</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/06/w-gets-its-day.html">crwth</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/01/another-fun-things-italians-have-in.html">culaccino</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2006/03/charging-sky.html">cummingtonite</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/11/youre-late-but-i-swear-im-not-being.html">cunctation</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/12/what-youre-naming-comic-villain-in-your.html">darkle</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/12/spin-middle-side-topwise.html">deasil</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/01/hot-cross-buns-so-to-speak.html">decussate</a><br /><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/01/word-of-the-week-deracinated-uprooted.html">deracinate</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/07/second-most-important-cat_25.html">deuteragonist</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/02/your-apartment-building-is-stupid.html">dingbat</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/03/how-deep-was-my-dingle.html">dingle</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/07/game-nerds-vocabulary-beyond-1-up-and.html">eidolon</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/06/embiggening-your-understanding-of.html">embiggen</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/12/i-for-one-welcome-our-new-verbal.html">epeolatry</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/07/game-nerds-vocabulary-beyond-1-up-and.html">epopt</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/01/question-for-spatula-number-one.html">espalier</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/04/clue-it-has-notions.html">etui</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/02/word-for-stating-obvious.html">exoterica</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/02/fabiform-uglies.html">fabiform</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/02/mr-drews-improbable-vocabulary.html">Feghoot</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/05/torn-from-page-in-best-selling-book.html">fissilingual</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/flehmen-and-flehm.html">flehm</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/10/blustery-day.html">Föhnkrankheit</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/07/much-ado-about-nonsense.html">folderol</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/03/fate-worse-than-premarital-sex.html">formication</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/01/kind-of-wheat-you-dont-take-home-to.html">freekeh</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/04/moving-in-direction-of-bushy-hairstyle.html">froward</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/02/mosquito-beyond-explanation.html">gallinipper</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/11/punctuation-for-awe-struck-spaniard.html">gnaborretni</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/05/garden-of-sleaze.html">grandgore</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/04/gruesome-vocabulary-lesson.html">grue</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/09/find-hidden-galoshes-on-us-dollar-bill.html">guilloche</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/05/know-your-japanese-subculture-girls.html">gyaru</a></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/09/adventures-of-miminy-piminy-and-namby.html">hobson-jobson</a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/09/special-hobo-flavor.html">hogo</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/12/how-youre-insulting-your-low-class.html">hoyden</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/03/word-that-falls-from-sky.html#more">hyetal</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/02/fire-coming-out-of-english-speakers.html">ignivomous</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/12/handy-word-for-describing-betty-draper.html">iracund</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2005/08/vanilla-maybes.html">isabelline</a><br /><br /></div></div><div id="inside2" style="border-right-color: blue; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; float: left; padding-right: 1em; width: 180px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/05/aluminum-clutch.html">itaiitai</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-am-living-on-channel-z.html">izod</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/01/i-am-living-on-channel-z.html">izzard</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/03/whats-jabroni-anyway.html">jabroni</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/mysterious-vu-sisters.html">jamais vu</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-sounds-like-ted-max-amateur-hour.html">jehu</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/03/momentous-monumentous-and-jumentous.html">jumentous</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/02/delicious-infidel-leaves.html">kaffir</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/06/queen-of-sea-cows.html">kakopygian</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/01/when-phoniness-is-real.html">kayfabe</a><br /><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/03/kentaurides-female-centaur-examples.html">kentaurides</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/03/before-we-turn-to-ghosts.html">knipperdollin</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/11/the-bacon-of-grief.html">kummerspeck</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/08/when-that-little-something-extra-isnt.html">lagniappe</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/03/sweet-and-sour-lover.html">leman</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/07/lazy-eights.html">lemniscate</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/04/flaming-globes-of-zigmund.html">limnovore</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/10/lindsay-who.html">linsey-woolsey</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/06/lengthy-unicorns.html">longicorn</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/09/less-at-malice-more-at-marshmallow.html">malacia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/08/curse-word-that-wont-offend-anybody.html">malison</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/09/racist-bugs-cartoon-version-insect.html">maroon</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/05/another-slight-against-drews-and.html">merryandrew</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/10/mesonoxian.html">mesonoxian</a><br /><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/04/millihelen-measure-of-beauty-launch-one-ship.html">millihelen</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/03/lactating-fish.html">milt</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/07/mingling-mixture-confusion-mess.html">mongo</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/04/cow-crashed-into-moon.html">mooncalf</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/08/hooters-say-youre-not-porking-enough.html">morepork</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/05/making-most-of-russian-peasants.html">muzjiks</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/10/license-to-be-stupid.html">narrenfreiheit</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/05/aint-it-nef.html">nef</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/04/ceci-nest-pas-un-nihilartikel.html">nihilartikel</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/07/previously-known-as-snooty-chunk.html">nobiliary particle</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/12/with-their-nos-es-high-in-air.html">nosism</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/05/so-five-minutes-ago.html">nudiustertian</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/04/word-for-tearing-things-apart.html">obelus</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/11/most-unusual-ejaculation.html">ochanee</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/10/polish-tail-diacritical-mark-goes-west.html">ogonek</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/08/ghost-of-color.html">ombré</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2006/07/no-i-dont-mean-uglification.html">ooglification</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/04/never-kick-man-in-his-orchid.html">orchidectomy</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/01/what-doctor-ordured.html">ordured</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/07/proper-terminology-for-scabby-mouthed.html">orf</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/02/your-little-mouth.html">osculate</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/06/pick-up-peace.html">pace</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/10/me-cinderella.html">padiddle</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/02/last-thing-id-do-is-hurt-you-but-its.html">paraprosdokian</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2005/08/secondary-imagination.html">pareidolia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-and-different-kind-of-blue-for.html">pavonated</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/01/word-for-holiday-weekend.html">perendiate</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/03/fuller-moon-for-limited-time-only.html">perigee</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/03/wisdom-of-perverts.html">perverb</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/04/wet-leaves-and-dirty-ground.html">petrichor</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/03/lisa-simpsons-and-martin-princes-of.html">pettifogger</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/06/dainty-pig-and-musical-goose.html">pettitoes</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/05/wet-yellow-sticky-word.html">phlegmagogue</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/04/idiotic-joke-of-word.html">phpht</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-youre-calling-your-finnish.html">pilkunnussija</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/08/because-ants-arent-insignificant-enough.html">pismire</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/12/enchanting-nature-of-video-games.html">pixilated</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/12/word-for-winter-weather.html">pogonip</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/07/encyclopedia-drew-and-case-of.html">pong</a><br /><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/02/princesse-lointaine-princess-toadstool-super-mario-bros.html">princesse loinatine</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/11/full-of-shit-but-stated-politely.html">pruniferous</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><div id="inside3" style="float: left; padding-left: 1em; width: 180px;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/the-sound-of-leaves-blowing-in-wind.html">psithurism</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-and-different-kind-of-blue-for.html">puggle</a><br /><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/10/word-for-when-dust-settles.html">pulveratricious</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-and-different-kind-of-blue-for.html">purse</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/08/neither-quicksilver-not-quick-solving.html">quacksalver</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/04/quagga-attack-lakes-etymological.html">quagga</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/08/happy-quoll-tag-to-you-as-well.html">qualtagh</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/04/who-is-what.html">quidnunc</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/07/rudest-hairstyle.html">quiff</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/05/shakespeares-scabby-flabby-onion.html">ronion</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/08/roynish-clone.html">roynish</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/06/roving-ambassador-of-romance.html">rubirosa</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/11/deep-ass-groove-or-broke-ass-but-in.html">rumpsprung</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/04/spoon-that-defies-explanation.html">runcible</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/08/choice-meal-for-undead-comic.html">salmagundi</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/06/mr-tater-i-presume.html">scrutator</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/07/game-nerds-vocabulary-beyond-1-up-and.html">seneschal</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/07/surprising-sex-explosion-that-killed.html">sharrow</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/09/whole-thing-completely-in-its-entirety.html">shebang</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/05/mortimer-snerd-had-bowel-movement.html">sherd</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/06/hadouken-of-undersea-world.html">shrimpoluminescence</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/05/sinople-aint-simple.html">sinople</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/10/italian-george-hamilton.html">slampadato</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/08/its-fine-word-whose-meaning-can-be.html">slubberdegullion</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/02/they-care-lot.html">stan</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/10/steve-odor.html">stevedore</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/how-youre-complimenting-large-eyed-long.html">struthious</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/03/roman-feast-of-turducken.html">suovetaurilia</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/04/on-inherent-beauty-of-words-not.html">suzerainty</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/12/bears-butts-bear-butts-vocabulary.html">tappen</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2012/01/field-guide-to-street-children.html">tatterdemalion</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/10/monster-mashing.html">teratogenesis</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/08/turncoats-of-ancient-rome.html">tergiversate</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/01/blocks-blocks-blocks-blocks.html">tetromino</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/05/thag-simmons-rip.html">thagomizer</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/07/pronoun-thon.html">thon</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/09/more-than-muffin-less-than-puffin.html">tiffin</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/10/thanks-hannah.html">tittery-whoppet</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/05/abso-fuckin-lutely-strange-and.html">tmesis</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/09/beer-as-brains.html">toby</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/01/this-is-between-you-and-me.html">tutoyer</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/05/porno-for-tyros.html">tyro</a><br /><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/07/my-only-regret-is-dying-of-cheese.html">tyrotoxism</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/09/synonym-for-ladybug-then.html">ucalegon</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/05/mountains-to-max.html">ultramontane</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/03/boat-for-navigating-scrabble-boards.html">umiaq</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/12/word-that-falls-just-short-of-being-um.html">umquhile</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/10/lady-or-poisonous-witch.html">veneficial</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/05/greek-green.html">verdigris</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-leather-wings.html">vespertilionine</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/08/not-adequate-substitute-for-macaroons.html">vinegeroon</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/11/word-from-depths-of-internet.html">weeaboo</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2011/03/woe-to-widdiful.html">widdiful</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/06/willy-at-loss.html">williwaw</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/10/disease-of-uncles.html">witzelsucht</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2010/04/japan-improves-upon-common-axolotl.html">wooper looper</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/10/studying-xenas-hygiene-habits.html">xenodocheionology</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/06/mister-xyster.html">xyster</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/06/blue-eyed-dressed-for-every-situation.html">yazoo</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/10/in-form-of-why.html">ypsiliform</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/larcenous-interjection.html">yoink</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2007/04/flaming-globes-of-zigmund.html">zanjero</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2008/11/to-eighth-not-nth.html">zenzizenzizenzic</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/09/lavendars-blue-and-green-may-also-be.html">zinnober</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://kidicarus222.blogspot.com/2009/06/compulsion-to-fail-at-chess.html">zugzwang</a></div></div></div>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-90519075341056463482014-05-02T16:54:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:56.523-07:00Li'l Mr. WrinklesAn appalling fact about dogs, learned today.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTU9RRS9fSUSDkcprgLSD3cJ4T9aCb3lF176l6U1AsPXKbNx1zh-uOQbGBREZlgLjcc5Dbq4XC0xIBDOjC_CoqFt7Jf4h9Omh4Vxi0WiVges0e-hIfhMWj3mCN2hVRfSpGCDVsipj4whw/s1600/311840910_1be9d414c0_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTU9RRS9fSUSDkcprgLSD3cJ4T9aCb3lF176l6U1AsPXKbNx1zh-uOQbGBREZlgLjcc5Dbq4XC0xIBDOjC_CoqFt7Jf4h9Omh4Vxi0WiVges0e-hIfhMWj3mCN2hVRfSpGCDVsipj4whw/s1600/311840910_1be9d414c0_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">by flickr user <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/panikkk/311840910/in/photolist-2kWPkV-dfabk-go5QqF-23jrG-697rbg-4QFJ23-5YAAYS-49WmMQ-5tuywp-bKDtNv-gBvoie-tygrq-23jsk-229uK-6R6pWU-9LAR9M-2APocj-54LN5X-b2ZkbR-9fNHP">panikk</a>, under a <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">creative commons license</a>.</td></tr></tbody></table><blockquote>— do you know what the owners of shar pei puppies call their dogs in online forums?<br />they have a specific portmantau they use<br /><br />— sharpuppies? sharpies? peipies? peipeis? raisinettes? puppeis? sharpupplepies?<br /><br />— "shar peibies"<br /><br />— … all of mine are better<br /><br />— fact. you should carpet bomb the forums<br /><br />— shardines?</blockquote>And yes, there does, in fact, seem to be <a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHFX_enUS523US523&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=shar%20peibies">some use of this monstrous term</a> online, as if these creased masses didn't have enough working against them. kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-53641427299300070372014-04-27T23:06:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:57.222-07:00The Swinging Doors of DeathMy big conclusion? People underplay the implications of suicide when they talk about suicide doors.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAJfJx8sStnY16U4-OWrbdo8z17Y93xCLc5hye3UlyHU_xYONKAy10qclhIB_d0hictKHg-A2R4Zyt0AArS0ytrIuPGx_-bXGDuXO0saP-w8_mkPqOITQOObW3ZomiprtBQ_ZfkMey68/s1600/entourage-suicide-doors.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAJfJx8sStnY16U4-OWrbdo8z17Y93xCLc5hye3UlyHU_xYONKAy10qclhIB_d0hictKHg-A2R4Zyt0AArS0ytrIuPGx_-bXGDuXO0saP-w8_mkPqOITQOObW3ZomiprtBQ_ZfkMey68/s1600/entourage-suicide-doors.png" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">a regrettable visual aid — apologies</td></tr></tbody></table>It’s the kind of immediately Google-able question you’d normally have while alone in the car, but fortunately it occurred to me while I had a navigator present, and so we searched out the origin of the phrase “suicide doors” in order to figure out what about these doors was so inherently self-life-ending. <br /><br />According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_door">Wikipedia</a>, the term presumably originated as a result of two facts:<br /><ol><li><i>The danger of the suicide door is the possibility of it opening in transit. A car occupant trying to catch the door by the handle to prevent its opening risks being jettisoned out of the car as the door is slammed open by the oncoming airflow. … In the era before seat belts, the accidental opening of such doors meant that there was a greater risk of falling out of the vehicle compared to front-hinged doors, where airflow pushed the doors closed rather than opening them further.</i></li><li><i>Suicide doors were especially popular with mobsters in the gangster era of the 1930s, supposedly due to the ease of pushing passengers out of moving vehicles, according to Dave Brownell, the former editor of</i> Hemmings Motor News.</li></ol>This is great historical information, but it’s nonetheless problematic that neither of these car-caused death scenarios constitutes suicide in the typical sense. In the former, it’s more accidental self-killing, which might technically be considered suicide but which more broadly might be considered death as a result of the worst human carelessness. (Other examples: mixing ammonia and bleach and making that toxic gas, trying to hug a bear because it looks sad, or using a handgun to drive a bee away from your face.) In the latter, it’s explicitly homicide — people don’t generally choose to have gangsters plug them and then shove them out of moving cars, unless human motivations have evolved that much since the 1930s.<br /><br />However, in the same way that the English-speaking world has slowly realized how awful it sounds to refer to sleeveless undershirts as “wife-beaters,” the automobile industry seems to have veered away from “suicide doors.” Wikipedia notes that suicide doors are now officially referred to by various auto makers as coach doors, FlexDoors, freestyle doors to simply rear-access doors, the last of these being the most descriptive but also the move provocative. It’s also noticed that in recent years, cars have been made with rear-hinged doors that can only be opened when the front doors are opened, to decrease the awful trend of passenger fall-out. It does make you wonder, however: What the hell was happening in early twentieth-century cars that doors were flying open and people were tumbling out? What advancements in door-shutting technology have slowed this trend?<br /><br />There’s a second suicide-related phrase that motorists should know, and this one make s a lot more sense: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_lane#Turn_lanes_.2F_flush_median">suicide lanes</a>. Here, the name makes sense, even if the lanes themselves exist in order to prevent you from offing yourself. If you meet another car head-on, that could be the end of your story. Personally, I’d prefer not to think about killing myself while driving, but cheers to keeping you alert. <br /><br />In closing, I motion we drop the phrase “suicide doors” in favor of “danger doors” (which, accurate) or “gangster doors” (which, cool and exciting and also accurate) and also make a group effort to stop falling out of cars (which, obvious).<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="315" width="420"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/i-w1GeH8KPU?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/i-w1GeH8KPU?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="420" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br /><i>Be clean and nice. Take your parents’ advice.</i><br /><i><br /></i> Cars, previously:<br /><br /><div><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2009/06/intelligent-whale.html">The Intelligent Whale</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2010/05/alice-lon-youre-still-my-favorite.html">Dodging the Dodge La Femme</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2011/10/me-cinderella.html">A weirdly specific word for a car with one headlight</a></li></ul></div>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-66705753168427364202014-04-23T07:39:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:57.571-07:00The Best Worst Names in Superhero ComicsSuperheroes and supervillains can literally be named anything — for better and for worse. Bands can also be named anything, I realize, and this has done nothing to prevent terrible band names, so I suppose it follows then that more than a few characters on comic book pages have been dealt some clunkers, name-wise. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlNBc_Tj5HhS7BNJz6nRUIB1vmCco9oY9kBRWiaKkDgn55xOLD2kUQBYfZU9YucImbaSjVNsHXSSjc51mQat-xxKkloTWUdIuR8dZ4OlS2ZJUxS2WLFni4fyNkDOz9WNax2qTdW6GN2Q/s1600/bi-beast-incredible-hulk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimlNBc_Tj5HhS7BNJz6nRUIB1vmCco9oY9kBRWiaKkDgn55xOLD2kUQBYfZU9YucImbaSjVNsHXSSjc51mQat-xxKkloTWUdIuR8dZ4OlS2ZJUxS2WLFni4fyNkDOz9WNax2qTdW6GN2Q/s1600/bi-beast-incredible-hulk.jpg" height="640" width="474" /></a></div><br />Ahem.<br /><br />I list these not to mock them. After all, I love <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/10/20-typography-inspired-superheroes.html">crappy superhero names</a>. Instead, I make this list just to give us a moment to ponder the fact that someone had an idea and everyone else down the line just nodded and said, “Sure, that seems good enough. I can’t think of anything better.” Some of these are outright lame. Some transcend clunkiness to become kind of backwardsly awesome. Some are intentionally dumb. Some intend to be funny but fall short. These are just the ones I thought deserved a shout-out. And yes, they’re all real.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><ul><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Absorbing_Man">Absorbing Man</a> (who is only outdone by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirt_Niedrigh">Absorbency Boy</a>, who had the good sense to become Earth Man)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Administrator">Administrator<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Adrian_Lynn_(Earth-616)">Adrenazon</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Agua_Sin_Gaaz_(New_Earth)">Agua Sin Gaaz</a> (which is better than “Flat Water,” I suppose)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Sven_Larson_(New_Earth)">Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/June_Moone_(New_Earth)">Anita Soulfeeda</a> (even if it was a fake name being used by Enchantress)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Annihilus_(Earth-616)">Annihilus</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Floyd_Belkin_(Pre-Zero_Hour)">Arm-Fall-Off Boy</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Victoria_Murdock_(Earth-616)">The Asbestos Lady</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccan_(comics)">Asgardian</a> (a gay member of Young Avengers who eventually changed his name to Wiccan when he realized why Asgardian was awkward)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Bazooka_Joan_(New_Earth)">Bazooka Joan</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Bernadeth_(New_Earth)">Bernadeth</a> (though all the <a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Female_Furies_(New_Earth)">Female Furies</a> are kind of awesome)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Bi-Beast_(Earth-616)">Bi-Beast</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Bianca_Steeplechase_(Earth-37)">Bianca Steeplechase</a> (one of several Batman women with <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/07/eight-batman-women-who-sound-like-soap.html">crazy soap opera names</a>)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Big_Breeda_(New_Earth)">Big Breeda</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Bizarnage_(Amalgam_Universe)">Bizarnage</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Louise_Grant_(Earth-616)">Blonde Phantom</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Blooey_Blue_(Earth-Two)">Blooey Blue</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Borb_Borbb_(New_Earth)">Borb Borbb</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Mark_Diering_(Earth-616)">Brother Nature</a></li><li><a href="http://www.writeups.org/fiche.php?id=5091">Calorie Queen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Catholic_Girl_(Dakotaverse)">Catholic Girl</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Ch'od_(Earth-616)">Ch’od</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Crazy_Quilt_(Earth-Two)">Crazy Quilt</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Vernon_French_(Earth-616)">Crimson Daffodil</a> (who later became The Wombat, which was probably a step up)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Dinah_Soar_(Earth-616)">Dinah Soar</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Ding-Dong_Daddy_(New_Earth)">Ding Dong Daddy</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Dogwelder_(New_Earth)">Dogwelder</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Glitternight_(Earth-616)">Dr. Glitternight</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Bartholomew_Magan_(New_Earth)">Dr. No-Face</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Chang_Tzu_(New_Earth)">Egg Fu</a> (a Chinese villain who resembles an egg)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Victoria_Yes_(Enigma)">Envelope Girl</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Flemgem_(New_Earth)">Flemgem</a> (whose power is exactly what you’d think it is)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Gloria_Dayne_(Earth-616)">Fontanelle</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Tal_Nahii_(Pre-Zero_Hour)">Gas Girl</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Keith_Everet_(New_Earth)">Gay Ghost</a> (who declined to be rescued from limbo because the meaning of “gay” had changed)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Ghetto-Blaster_(New_Earth)">Ghetto-Blaster</a></li><li><a href="http://www.againwiththecomics.com/2010/02/legend-of-hate-face.html">Hate Face</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Carlton_LaFroyge_(Earth-616)">Hindsight Lad</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Victor_Bragg_(New_Earth)">Human Flying Fish</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/David_Mitchell_(Earth-616)">Human Top</a></li><li><a href="https://marvel.com/universe/Hypno-Hustler">Hypno-Hustler<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Infant_Terrible_(Earth-616)">Infant Terrible</a> (which is actually his <i>real</i> name)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Drura_Sehpt_(Pre-Zero_Hour)">Infectious Lass</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Edith_Freiberg_(Earth-712)">Inertia</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kite-Man">Kite-Man</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Lagoon_Boy_(New_Earth)">Lagoon Boy</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Hector_Lennox_(Earth-616)">Left-Winger</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Lesla-Lar_(Earth-One)">Lesla-Lar</a> (probably the clumsiest-sounding of <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2009/07/supermans-new-friend-lloyd-llama.html">the many double-“L” names</a> in the extended Superman universe)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Liberteens_(Earth-616)">The Liberteens</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/N'Kantu_(Earth-616)">The Living Mummy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.comicvine.com/little-sure-shot/4005-31114/">Little Sure Shot</a> (who sounds like a camera and who is so much more awkward when you realize he’s a Native American character)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Deacon_Dickson_(New_Earth)">Loophole</a></li><li><a href="http://www.cosmicteams.com/cosmic/HeroesOfJapan.html">Lorloxx the Layer</a></li><li><a href="http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/Louie_the_Lilac">Louie the Lilac</a> (who technically never appeared in comics but still)</li><li><a href="http://batman.wikia.com/wiki/The_%22Made_Of_Wood%22_Killer">The “Made of Wood” Killer</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Man-Thing">Man-Thing</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Mandroid_Armor">Mandroid</a></li><li><a href="https://marvel.com/universe/Mathemanic">Mathemanic</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Tenzil_Kem_(Pre-Zero_Hour)">Matter-Eater Lad</a> (because who <i>doesn’t</i> eat matter?)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Belle_Jackson_(New_Earth)">Microwavebelle</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind-Grabber_Kid">Mindgrabber Kid<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Mod_Gorilla_Boss_(Earth-One)">Mod Gorilla Boss</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Oonagh_Mullarkey_(Earth-616)">Oonagh Mullarkey</a> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></li><li><a href="http://dchallofjustice.wikia.com/wiki/Night_Lik_(GLC_wave_2)">Night-Lik</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Charles_English_(New_Earth)">The Pearly King of Crime</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Richard_Jones_(Phantom_Reporter)_(Earth-616)">Phantom Reporter</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Evillo_(Pre-Zero_Hour)">Prince Evillo</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Projectra_Wind%27zzor_(Pre-Zero_Hour)">Princess Projectra</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Professor_Snakelocks_(Earth-One)">Professor Snakelocks</a> </li><li><a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Purple_Man">Purple Man</a> (real name: Zebediah Killgrave)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Roy_G._Bivolo_(New_Earth)">Rainbow Raider</a> (real name: Roy G. Bivolo)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Razorburn_(New_Earth)">Razorburn</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Man#Enemies">Rice O’Rooney</a> (the San Francisco Threat — and really, a lot of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Man#Enemies">Plastic Man foes</a> are pretty awesome, from Big Beaver to Cheeseface to Closets Kennedy to Meat By-Product)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Satannish">Satannish</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Scoopshovel_(New_Earth)">Scoopshovel</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Silent_Majority_(New_Earth)">Silent Majority</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Min_Li_Ng_(Earth-616)">Silk Fever</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider_Jerusalem">Spider Jerusalem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Starfinger">Starfinger</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streaky_the_Supercat">Streaky the Supercat</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Super-Adaptoid">Super-Adaptoid</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Zachary_Zor_(New_Earth)">The Terrible Time Tailor</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Drew_Daniels_(Earth-616)">Texas Twister</a> (because I can’t not imagine that being a sexual position)</li><li><a href="http://marvel.wikia.com/Tarene_(Earth-616)">Thor Girl</a> (whose alternate names apparently include Asgard Lass, Hammerette, Hammer Girl, Hammer Lass, Thoreta, Thorita, Thor Lass)</li><li><a href="http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/timbooba.htm">Tim Boo Ba</a></li><li><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessan_Hoan">Tyger Tiger</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Andrew_Greenwald_(New_Earth)">Voice-Over</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Wam_Wam_(New_Earth)">Wam-Wam</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Wandjina_(New_Earth)">Wandjina the Thunderer</a> (and yeah, I know that he’s named after <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wondjina">an Aborginal deity</a>)</li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Emilo_Storn_(Earth-One)">Whirlicane</a></li><li><a href="http://marvel.com/universe/Whizzer_(Robert_Frank)">Whizzer</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Loretta_York_(New_Earth)">The Yellow Peri</a></li><li><a href="http://dc.wikia.com/wiki/Zha-Vam_(Earth-One)">Zha-Vam</a></li></ul>Of course, I’m curious to know who I’ve left off and why I’m an asshole for dinging one or another character that you love and cherish.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">“Sure, that seems good enough. I can’t think of anything better.”</div> kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-34407815608306283502014-04-14T14:21:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:58.632-07:00A Vision of Howling Death to Kick Off Your MondayModified an image from the Wikipedia page on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gardens_of_Bomarzo">Gardens of Bomarzo</a>:<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0d6WnXwJ81VWmelMeEy8VQAOD83jV-TKutY26XVEu27mbX2rInn7DuISltTDUNtghhPMIJn2Bu1pdWrAUUXELs6CuU385hob1TQD-EaXpPdLAi58k2e-b-mzdxcAwwa4wNgxEUnWolk0/s1600/orca-death-god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0d6WnXwJ81VWmelMeEy8VQAOD83jV-TKutY26XVEu27mbX2rInn7DuISltTDUNtghhPMIJn2Bu1pdWrAUUXELs6CuU385hob1TQD-EaXpPdLAi58k2e-b-mzdxcAwwa4wNgxEUnWolk0/s1600/orca-death-god.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div><br />The unpleasant restaurant customer depicted is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orcus">Ocrus</a>, an early Roman death god, whose name shares an etymological history with <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ogre"><em>ogre</em></a>, <i><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=orc&allowed_in_frame=0">orc</a> </i>and <em><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=orca&searchmode=none">orca</a></em>. That last one is especially interesting, considering the movement to use call these sea mammals orcas rather than killer whales. The former may sound less predatory, but on the etymological level, it's just as bad.kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-54860429267837473142014-04-10T22:33:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:47:59.678-07:00Encyclopedia Drew and the Confounding CleanserBelow appears an advertisement for soap. I’m not sure when it comes from, and I’m not sure where it began its second life online as a quaint, re-postable novelty. (I first saw it <a href="http://picktheplaces.tumblr.com/post/82298836346#notes">on Tumblr</a>, and <a href="http://magictransistor.tumblr.com/post/82163910138">the original Tumblr-er</a> didn’t see fit to include details.) The advertisement is a rebus that I think I’ve solved, though I’m not sure. Your input is appreciated.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnQfceOGsCc-fFSBMNwWeQYM_CA-IXlSJ-_tas_vK_56dlE83Zeop5L3ClgPgs7bRnmSGu91lJLowNHcdSP-JBGtZVbhIDPxbWsnqJXRdSqmehqZ-LOwT565-K-n9FfgQsub4lDxx7zw/s1600/davids-prize-soap-rebus.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOnQfceOGsCc-fFSBMNwWeQYM_CA-IXlSJ-_tas_vK_56dlE83Zeop5L3ClgPgs7bRnmSGu91lJLowNHcdSP-JBGtZVbhIDPxbWsnqJXRdSqmehqZ-LOwT565-K-n9FfgQsub4lDxx7zw/s1600/davids-prize-soap-rebus.png" /></a></div><br />The mystery crew’s best stab at it: “Trying to be wise, you / don’t at once succeed / You won’t be long before you do if you this information read / All use Davids Prize Soap, for thus they save in many ways / They use no other / Finding that no one other pays.”<br /><br />Of course, that doesn’t entirely make sense, though we can maybe forgive the demands of the rebus for some of the more awkward constructions. I’m bothered by that dented “U” in the second line. It seems like it should actually represent the word <em>it</em>, but I can’t for the life of me imagine what that symbol is supposed to be.<br /><br />Also mysterious? That brand name: Davids Prize Soap. Thought apparently spelled <a href="http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2011/12/1876-david-s-brown-soap-store-building.html">with the apostrophe</a> elsewhere, searching online for more info on the subject may in fact lead you to the Wikipedia page <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David#David_and_Jonathan">for King David</a>, where it describes a very unusual sort of prize. “Saul made David a commander over his armies and offered him his daughter Michal in marriage for bringing one hundred foreskins of the Philistines but David brought back two hundred, saying ‘God was with me.’” So there you go. David’s prize was foreskins. Maybe you can use this old-timey soap to clean your two hundred foreskins.<br /><br />Freak.kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-64971449099096076482014-03-14T11:48:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:48:02.873-07:00Attack of the Muslim Storm!Over the years, I've read more than one article about these certain dust storms that some people call <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haboob">haboobs</a> but some other people refuse to call haboobs because the people in this second group are racists. <br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Jzkz-95RAs1_mvpw07qiY7ZZj26__CDXzd_jaErwd4SuALKyebZQIfl2DO-Uo5vcg1dDY64QAT82CIvdoYC6nCD6esAH0lun6tAEVo-Gducd15b-IUO7EKR90QSjQYJVNPaB5OYBCLc/s1600/7458934986_bea2af9818_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9Jzkz-95RAs1_mvpw07qiY7ZZj26__CDXzd_jaErwd4SuALKyebZQIfl2DO-Uo5vcg1dDY64QAT82CIvdoYC6nCD6esAH0lun6tAEVo-Gducd15b-IUO7EKR90QSjQYJVNPaB5OYBCLc/s1600/7458934986_bea2af9818_c.jpg" height="304" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">phoenix haboob image from flickr user <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/38478466@N06/7458934986/in/photolist-cn7Zvm-a1tekn-9ZZwFv-cPWAhf-9ZYWWK-cBJu1Q-cn7Zxh-aegnEH-a13kMq-cQqipG-amuaRJ-a12Pvo-a56viY-bVDJsq-cn7ZsN-cfJQJ3-cQoZiS-cn2Hiw-f88oyZ-ebAhgp-cfrCou-cQqesU-cn1PQw-aeoigA-aeknJP-aekhzv-aeo1Hy-9ZYYwg-9ZYYvx-9ZYYuB-9ZYYtx-a12Pqq-9ZYYqM-f8e7zM-a98ywz-a98yj2-a9bmYs-9ZZdBv-a9bnvy-a1kdsF-a1o5bu-a98y9g-a1o5hw-a9bmzy-a1o5tG-a1o5qb-ceVNZY-doJVSk-aqLtxk-cQpYtw-cQpW9J">squeaks2569</a>, under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">creative commons license</a></td></tr></tbody></table>I could maybe understand someone protesting on grounds that <em>haboob</em> is simply a new coinage, at least to most Americans, and changing the term for these sorts of rolling dust monsters seems unnecessary. But this is usually not the case. Don Yonts, quoted in the 2011 <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/22/us/22haboob.html?_r=0"><em>New York Times</em> article "'Haboob' Stirs Critics in Arizona,"</a> represented the more typical dissenting opinion when he opined, "I am insulted that local TV news crews are now calling this kind of storm a haboob. … How do they think our soldiers feel coming back to Arizona and hearing some Middle Eastern term?" Simply put, it's not just that <em>haboob</em> is a new word, it's also that it's a word from "over there." These are the people this post is concerned with — the ones who feel that Arabic words are objectionable just by virtue of being Arabic words.<br /><br />I spotted <a href="http://thevane.gawker.com/racist-texans-lose-their-shit-over-muslim-dust-storm-1543342361/@sarah-hedgecock">a new haboob outrage story</a> on a Gawker bloglette this morning, and it motivated me to make a list of all the more common words that the anti-<em>haboob</em> crowd should be protesting if they indeed dislike words that come from Arabic. Even the non-racists among us may be surprised to learn how many commonplace things — even downright American things — get their names from Arabic. (That is, no, it's not just <em>assassin</em>, <em>hare,</em> <em>hookah</em> and <em>hummus</em>.)<br /><br />Racists, say goodbye to the following words:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=admiral&allowed_in_frame=0">admiral</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=adobe&allowed_in_frame=0">adobe</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=alcohol&allowed_in_frame=0">alcohol</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=alfalfa&allowed_in_frame=0">alfalfa</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=algebra&searchmode=none">algebra</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=apricot&allowed_in_frame=0">apricot</a> (though this one is apparently contested)</li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=arsenal&allowed_in_frame=0">arsenal</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=artichoke&allowed_in_frame=0">artichoke</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=aubergine&allowed_in_frame=0">aubergine</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=average&allowed_in_frame=0">average</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=candy&allowed_in_frame=0">candy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=check&allowed_in_frame=0">check</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=coffee&searchmode=none">coffee</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cork&allowed_in_frame=0">cork</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=cotton&allowed_in_frame=0">cotton</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gauze&allowed_in_frame=0">gauze</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=gerbil&allowed_in_frame=0">gerbil</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=guitar&allowed_in_frame=0">guitar</a> (though this is one apparently contested)</li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jar&allowed_in_frame=0">jar</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=julep&allowed_in_frame=0">julep</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lemon&allowed_in_frame=0">lemon</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=macrame&searchmode=none">macrame</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=magazine&allowed_in_frame=0">magazine</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mattress&allowed_in_frame=0">mattress</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=monsoon&searchmode=none">monsoon</a> (and in the context of the haboob controversy, this one seems especially notable)</li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mummy&allowed_in_frame=0">mummy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=orange&allowed_in_frame=0">orange</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=popinjay&searchmode=none">popinjay</a> (which I know isn't a commonplace English word but I so rarely get to use it anywhere)</li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=racquet&allowed_in_frame=0">racquet</a> (from the Arabic <em>rahat</em>, which seems notable in the context of <a href="http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/disney-world-show/n45305">this Nasim Pedrad sketch</a>)</li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=ream&allowed_in_frame=0">ream</a> (but not the fun sense)</li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=safari&searchmode=none">safari</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=saffron&allowed_in_frame=0">saffron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=sequin&searchmode=none">sequin</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=sofa&allowed_in_frame=0">sofa</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spinach&allowed_in_frame=0">spinach</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=syrup&allowed_in_frame=0">syrup</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=tariff&searchmode=none">tariff</a></li><li><a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=zero&allowed_in_frame=0">zero</a></li></ul>In summary, OH NO THE ARABS HAVE ALREADY INVADED US! THEY HAVE BEEN SECRETLY ADDING TO OUR LANGUAGE FOR CENTURIES AND NO ONE SAW IT COMING!!!<br /><br />Also, not the point but still worth mentioning, <em>haboob</em> is a hilarious-sounding word in English, and we are richer for having it. <em>Ha</em> and <em>boob</em> in one word. Come on, people.kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-76177045935601262322014-03-10T07:32:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:48:03.918-07:00That One With the Naming Conventions From Popular TV ShowsIn a spectacular fit of procrastination two years ago, I started a Google Doc on which I listed all the shows I could think of whose episodes are named according to a certain pattern or formula. It seemed important at the time — like, “Finally, if I just laid all this out, everything would go my way!” I’d intended to post it, but every now and then I’d come across another one, and the list never felt finished. However, I’m thinking now makes as good a time as any to post it and see what additions come my way. That’s what this blog is for, as near as I can tell: posting not-easily-solved questions and letting the answers come to me.<br /><br />While the idea of naming TV episodes according to a certain convention probably existed before my time, I only noticed it in the age of Must See TV, starting with <i>Seinfeld</i>, which stuck to its rule with the exception of just one episode title.<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26K9uM18qamCE-o1dHduT2_IstOzR50X1C9CFQLRy3cM6IFdWP94ZvIU8kr14E3vzS9Mlz1JirBqHq1rziPeetA6jr_GTfGqNe6ylfxTNBWIeYRI1p-mjpa8eC-bbZ_JsC17XvV7jw-Q/s1600/seinfeld-male-unbonding.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg26K9uM18qamCE-o1dHduT2_IstOzR50X1C9CFQLRy3cM6IFdWP94ZvIU8kr14E3vzS9Mlz1JirBqHq1rziPeetA6jr_GTfGqNe6ylfxTNBWIeYRI1p-mjpa8eC-bbZ_JsC17XvV7jw-Q/s1600/seinfeld-male-unbonding.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the awkward and awkwardly-titled “male unbonding”</td></tr></tbody></table>I think everyone thought it was cool because at the time NBC ruled television. And ha ha — to recall a time when NBC seemed untouchable is like MySpace Betamax pet rocks DuMont Network.<br /><br />But that’s where we start.<br /><ul><li><i>Seinfeld</i>: “The X,” as in “The Chinese Restaurant,” “The Parking Space” and “The Smelly Car,” even if the fourth episode is titled “Male Unbonding” because someone along the line apparently didn’t get the memo</li><li><i>Friends</i>: “The One With X” or “The One Where X,” as in “The One Where Nana Dies Twice,” “The One With the Lesbian Wedding” and “The One With the Jellyfish”</li><li><i>Caroline in the City</i>: “Caroline and the X,” as in “Caroline in the Gay Art Show”</li><li><i>3rd Rock From the Sun</i>: All the titles had the name “Dick” in them (ha), after John Lithgow’s character’s name, as in “Post-Nasal Dick,” “Assault With a Deadly Dick” and “Gobble, Gobble, Dick, Dick”</li><li><i>Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place</i>: For the first two seasons, each episode is titled “Two Guys, a Girl and a X,” but this trend vanishes in seasons three and four (as did the titular pizza place), though it’s perhaps more notable to consider that this show lasted for four years</li><li><i>Scrubs</i>: “My X,” as in “My First Day” and “My Finale,” though this changes during the final season when narration is shared by a new character and the episode title format is “Our X”</li><li><i>Wonderfalls</i>: Each episode is named after the object that magically speaks to Jaye (“Wax Lion,” “Muffin Buffalo,” “Cocktail Bunny”), though in many cases that word combination is also a metaphorical description of a character in the episode</li><li><i>Monk</i>: “Mr. Monk X,” with “X” being a description of the episode plot, as in “Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico”</li><li><i>Nip/Tuck</i>: Every episode is named for a patient who undergoes surgery in that episode</li><li><i>Bones</i>: With some exceptions, every episode title describes the corpse of the week, as in “The Man in the SUV,” “The Crank in the Shaft” and “The Nazi on the Honeymoon”</li><li><i>The Good Wife</i>: In the first season, episodes titles consist of one word and in the second season, two; this continues up until the fifth season, when episode titles once again revert to having three words for no reason I can yet identify</li><li><i>Cougar Town</i>: Every episode is named after a Top Petty song, as in “I Won’t Back Down,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and “Here Comes My Girl”</li><li><i>Community</i>: With a few exceptions (“Repilot,” “A Fistful of Paintballs”), they’re all named in the stye of college class titles, as in “Aerodynamics of Gender,” “Basic Urine Lupology” and “Herstory of Dance”</li><li><i>The L Word</i>: In a stroke of unmatched genius, the episode titles are all words that begin with the letter “L,” as in “Lobster,” which is the only episode of the show that I ever saw before I realized I had better things to do</li><li><i>Chuck</i>: “Chuck vs. the X,” as in “Chuck vs. the Wookiee,” “Chuck vs. the First Date” and “Chuck vs. the Cliffhanger”</li><li><i>Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23</i>: For no apparent reason that I can figure, each one <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Trust_the_B----_in_Apartment_23#Episodes">ends in an ellipsis</a></li><li><i>Two Broke Girls</i>: “And the X,” as in “And the Break-up Scene”</li><li><i>Hannibal</i>: In the first season, all the episodes are titled after French food or food service (with the exception of “Ceuf,” which <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/05/hannibal-episode-ceuf-ouef.html">is problematic</a>), while in the second season, they’re titled after Japanese food or food service</li><li><i>Looking</i>: Every episode title begins with the word “Looking,” as in “Looking for Now,” “Looking for Uncut” and “Looking Glass”</li></ul>So what did I miss? Surely I missed the most obvious ones.<br /><br />Notes: For the purposes of this list, we’re ignoring the first episode, which is usually just called “Pilot” because no one’s thinking naming conventions at this point. And yes, I’m considering <em>Caroline in the City</em> a popular show. Hey, people watched it back in the day. I can’t explain why. I was twelve at the time. What’s your excuse, the rest of America?kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-33918884644935598002014-03-04T07:09:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:04.632-07:00National Grammar Day!I know what you’re all saying: You can’t believe it’s already time for National Grammar Day again. Begin the festivities.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInKhohTNlXl4X0jc3goNOMzekNbtyOZyx4hUKN5bvQSKBrSneS8tpubIEH9ZBLIUkiMdKKd2eEFKBDa_EmOFuOOeyWEUSEFtQciNvtt8FSK1Tr8knMvhs6C7JdJ7SBAK9RG-kkOAdfPs/s1600/national-grammar-day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInKhohTNlXl4X0jc3goNOMzekNbtyOZyx4hUKN5bvQSKBrSneS8tpubIEH9ZBLIUkiMdKKd2eEFKBDa_EmOFuOOeyWEUSEFtQciNvtt8FSK1Tr8knMvhs6C7JdJ7SBAK9RG-kkOAdfPs/s1600/national-grammar-day.jpg" height="640" width="464" /></a></div><br />*you’rekidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-41449855731803292802014-02-25T12:47:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:05.700-07:00Roger (Jolly and Otherwise)Apart from being a proper name, <em>roger</em> can mean other things, I have recently learned. You could use it to mean “to have sex with,” as in, “We rogered in the bathroom before the movie started,” which is a sentence that I feel someone has probably said sometime, perhaps in a think British accent. The etymology might have something to do with the fact that the name <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Roger&allowed_in_frame=0">literally means “famous with a spear,”</a> and all the subsequent issues of poking and penetrating, which is probably smart of someone to have thought of.<br /><br />But I’m not actually talking about the sexual kind of rogering, but a stranger definition offered <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger#Slang">by Wikipedia</a>: “In nineteenth-century England, Roger was slang for the cloud of toxic green gas that swept through the chlorine bleach factories periodically.” No explanation is offered, and the footnote only identifies the term as being used in the 1897 Robert Sherard book <em>The White Slaves of England</em>. Even if this could be one of those things that Wikipedia gets less than factually correct, can we just take a moment to reflect on a situation where human beings are so accustomed to poisonous gas clouds drifting through their workplaces that they have affectionate nicknames for them? I can picture them now, this roomful of factory workers in their sullied rag-clothes, looking up from the workstations they’re shackled to and in unison saying “Roger!” with the warm familiarity of the barflies on <em>Cheers</em> saying “Norm!” And then they’d cough. Or maybe they’d be allowed to unshackle themselves for a quick run about the place as they dodged Toxic Roger. It would be like tag. Or maybe a <em>Scooby-Doo</em>-style “hallway full of doors” chase scene, just with the notable difference of being caught resulting in death by suffocation.<br /><br />It also gives me reason to mention “Rabbits,” the weirdo David Lynch project that plays like a nightmare sitcom and in which its titular characters are plagued by periodic visits from an evil cloud monster.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="390" width="520"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/5jSBVo59j9U?hl=en_US&version=3&start=530"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/5jSBVo59j9U?hl=en_US&version=3&start=530" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="520" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br />It is perhaps easier to imagine this situation in silly pop cultural contexts than in terms of how awful it would have been.kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-16848513155114548942014-02-19T00:43:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:06.750-07:00What You Named the Happiest Dog in the WorldOne of the questions in <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2014/01/the-most-important-survey-youll-ever-take.html">my survey</a> asked you all to choose the best possible name for the dog you see below. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqSS2lfh9skU1PHTxkWDXaFn6sH34Jbx4qDnaCz6ByE40ef8pIpVu9tllG6TXfsoG75Qtfsk9yokga0DseOgl3q6Ai8t35MgAoB7Enrjl1ElaU7AVgmXp3q95hbsocNu6KMirlnqQsWs/s1600/happiest-dog-in-the-world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkqSS2lfh9skU1PHTxkWDXaFn6sH34Jbx4qDnaCz6ByE40ef8pIpVu9tllG6TXfsoG75Qtfsk9yokga0DseOgl3q6Ai8t35MgAoB7Enrjl1ElaU7AVgmXp3q95hbsocNu6KMirlnqQsWs/s1600/happiest-dog-in-the-world.jpg" /></a></div><br />You voted. Here are the results, in the best possible form — pie chart form. And can I just say right now that I am a little disappointed that so many of you picked names that I posted as obvious joke selections and not as legitimate, proper names for young dogs? Very disappointed.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQk_m-gcZrClHbsGua9dSMyvreykuSJAKAfpSqxFA9Rcz4Tfwp3Z1r1OX_72E39cuWwXiJRSVhT9PkZLQONN8gwvoP_YYNc0e2IJc0LmXEUs7WMzXvSicXfAw8KMGqiJHvA35lTCcKNU/s1600/best-dog-names.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZQk_m-gcZrClHbsGua9dSMyvreykuSJAKAfpSqxFA9Rcz4Tfwp3Z1r1OX_72E39cuWwXiJRSVhT9PkZLQONN8gwvoP_YYNc0e2IJc0LmXEUs7WMzXvSicXfAw8KMGqiJHvA35lTCcKNU/s1600/best-dog-names.jpg" height="394" width="640" /></a></div><br />Clearly, Waffles was the most popular choice, followed closely enough behind by the choice that I interpret as “Your options suck and I can do better.” The write in candidates, BTW, are as follows:<br /><ul><li>Cromagnetismo</li><li>Dogcat</li><li>Banjo</li><li>Professor Happy J. Zoom</li><li>Zuberancy</li><li>Ernie</li><li>Davey</li><li>Happy Dog</li><li>Maxwell</li><li>Stinkbutt</li><li>Hobart</li><li>Lady McPorkerton </li><li>Sport, Tiger and Champ (in a single triple-entry that I shall accept as a single, three-barreled name). </li></ul>You’re all wrong, I have decided. I’m naming him Stingo, after everyone’s favorite character in <em>Sophie’s Choice</em>. No. No, wait. I’m just going to name him Peter MacNicol. There, everyone loses.<br /><div><br />Previously: <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2014/02/your-best-guesses-about-haunted-giraffe.html">your best guesses about a haunted giraffe</a>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-63718039803711055982014-02-17T14:06:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:07.446-07:00An Important Reminder About Typographical ErrorsOne letter can do a lot.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxuypE4E0iMUZq3_eaKzLehG2G4dJDTQ-7dTwzKUy_WSlzDJ_iglGfQIDVXJ62LwkJkaVBIhx6IAehZeklBbJN2W4TY-cOYDOvLkBHYwPesnXXHhvhAdGEMB3xeOM8bLb15u3xb7WnJ0/s1600/superheroes-superherpes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJxuypE4E0iMUZq3_eaKzLehG2G4dJDTQ-7dTwzKUy_WSlzDJ_iglGfQIDVXJ62LwkJkaVBIhx6IAehZeklBbJN2W4TY-cOYDOvLkBHYwPesnXXHhvhAdGEMB3xeOM8bLb15u3xb7WnJ0/s1600/superheroes-superherpes.jpg" /></a></div><br />Seriously amateur graphic design, previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/10/20-typography-inspired-superheroes.html">Typography-inspired superheroes that I demand exist</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/10/artisanal-art-is-anal.html">A helpful mnemonic device for remembering artisans</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/07/ill-tickle-your-catastrophe.html">“I’ll tickle your catastrophe”</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/06/hadouken-of-undersea-world.html">The hadouken of the undersea world</a></li></ul>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-31267010640525551782014-02-03T07:39:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:12.344-07:00Tempo & the Increasingly Troubled Clef<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>a piacere</i> (“to your pleasure”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>brioso</i> (“lively”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>agitato</i> (“excitedly”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>gentilmente</i> (“gently”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>intimo</i> (“intimately”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>adagissimo</i> (“very slowly and calmly”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>affrettando</i> (“rushed and nervous”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>fuocoso</i> (“fiery”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>irato</i> (“angrily”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>furioso</i> (“furiously”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>bruscamente</i> (“bluntly and abruptly”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>martellato</i> (“as if struck with a hammer”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>decrescendo</i> (“gradually decreasing in volume”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>con dolore</i> (“with pain”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>grave</i> (“seriously”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>pesante</i> (“heavy”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>lontano</i> (“distantly”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>lacrimoso</i> (“mournfully”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>lamentoso</i> (“with lamentation”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>tremolo</i> (“trembling”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>notturno</i> (“like a nocturne, as if intended for night”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>al fine</i> (“to the end”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>espirando</i> (“dying away”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>pianississimo</i> (“as softly as possible”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>senza espressione</i> (“without expression”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>estinto</i> (“extinguished”)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>al niente</i> (“to nothing”)</span></div>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-73990513492387961382014-01-26T21:59:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:14.160-07:00The Core of the Powerpuff GirlsWith <em>The Powerpuff Girls</em> being in the spotlight once again this past week — <a href="http://www.avclub.com/review/the-powerpuff-girls-returns-to-save-the-day-200882">for good</a> and <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/cartoon-network-pulls-controversial-powerpuff-673856">for bad</a> — it seems like as good a time as any to point out a little linguistic oddity specific to the show.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvRRlCHSHrNKuUdG9pPFkqMmGOtoQ4GWZgViWhm0ZA2_xgy2F2XYXHF_vpRwx6TDfzmIwQ7gylwLrJiabpGhjTdjungepPRRTJnAlte6d6cQ-M1DMdHFLfkfy5oVkeKKy2cJrnUa3q94/s1600/powerpuff-girls-dance-pansted.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmvRRlCHSHrNKuUdG9pPFkqMmGOtoQ4GWZgViWhm0ZA2_xgy2F2XYXHF_vpRwx6TDfzmIwQ7gylwLrJiabpGhjTdjungepPRRTJnAlte6d6cQ-M1DMdHFLfkfy5oVkeKKy2cJrnUa3q94/s1600/powerpuff-girls-dance-pansted.jpg" height="260" width="400" /></a></div><br />If I asked you what the protagonists’ names had in common, you’d probably point out that they all start with “B” — Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup. And if I asked you what else these names had in common, you’d probably point out that the three names all happen to be common nouns — blossoms and bubbles and buttercups can all be objects separately from being these characters. But if I asked you what third quality all three of these names shared, I’d imagine not everyone would realize that all three also have internal doubled consonants — the double “s” in “Blossom,” the double “b” in “Bubbles” and finally the double “t” in “Buttercup.” It’s kind of hard to spot, since we tend to pay more attention to the beginning and endings of words than to whatever is in the middle, but here’s why I think this was something the show’s creators realized: the two candidates we have for Powerpuff Girl No. 4 have double consonants too.<br /><br />There’s an episode where the girls attempt to create a fourth sister using the same scientific process that created them, only they do it wrong, and the resulting girl is… different. She gets named “Bunny.” Later, she explodes.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbn84e-Yxw8Ug3QlJKyU-ZqXZkETFEgcjy66iEbLzYf4WaN6yvvNlsq9jzwy-Hs__4qosqmrMuhWwiI5To43ae41-oPeXyAdDKuI-FzXrmFqXx8JijnQLUV99O5Fuhlgn5_KI0b29c_I/s1600/powerpuff-girls-bunny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirbn84e-Yxw8Ug3QlJKyU-ZqXZkETFEgcjy66iEbLzYf4WaN6yvvNlsq9jzwy-Hs__4qosqmrMuhWwiI5To43ae41-oPeXyAdDKuI-FzXrmFqXx8JijnQLUV99O5Fuhlgn5_KI0b29c_I/s1600/powerpuff-girls-bunny.jpg" /></a></div><br />See, poor Bunny is missing out on the “everything nice” part of the equation.<br /><br />And there’s an episode where the girls get a Chemical X-empowered pet squirrel. They name her “Bullet.”<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5E7wrdgFScPqZ8mipMyA0OFFuTNPco9Du4m03v7IMXLuFipjRkeumKGICBEss0W3XCWpk6Wwvcc1ao0H2dBJ8fFcY4DBV7Tv7-wvLYEs_16LHJwzRQPf1FAXnIynawD3bQiM1dCAULQ/s1600/bullet1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM5E7wrdgFScPqZ8mipMyA0OFFuTNPco9Du4m03v7IMXLuFipjRkeumKGICBEss0W3XCWpk6Wwvcc1ao0H2dBJ8fFcY4DBV7Tv7-wvLYEs_16LHJwzRQPf1FAXnIynawD3bQiM1dCAULQ/s1600/bullet1.jpg" height="305" width="400" /></a></div><br />So that’s it. There’s no great meaning here, just a hard-to-spot trend and a reason to remind people that <em>The Powerpuff Girls</em> existed and we should be happy that it was as smart as it was. Double internal consonants — who even thinks of that?kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-91921557508524854922014-01-21T11:21:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:15.907-07:00Wicked Women of Literature / Heroines of Saturday MorningWe’ll get to this lady in a second, after a brief but related detour through academia. Promise.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDX4OtHH46FEi1Lp9V7PNt_EeLxFOjsirHtpIl_plwll0bGUdzRYovn5NYd0dEIovKcrh-gKU3JaNIpWbUrvXYB86S1HQU70ddkjtcMXjXf0dS7bKmo2335vyZkryVYiDThRtANJdFeE/s1600/CASTASPELLA-figurine.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJDX4OtHH46FEi1Lp9V7PNt_EeLxFOjsirHtpIl_plwll0bGUdzRYovn5NYd0dEIovKcrh-gKU3JaNIpWbUrvXYB86S1HQU70ddkjtcMXjXf0dS7bKmo2335vyZkryVYiDThRtANJdFeE/s1600/CASTASPELLA-figurine.png" height="640" width="456" /></a></div><br />If there’s one thing that I remember about <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Faerie_Queene">The Faerie Queene</a></em>, it’s the length. This sixteenth-century epic happens to be one of the longest poems in the English language. That’s not exactly an achievement, in the way that growing the world’s longest fingernails is a thing, yeah, in one sense, but on a more practical level, no one wants to see that. Cut your fingernails, you weirdo.<br /><br />If there’s a second thing I remember about <em>The Faerie Queene</em> when my college literature class slogged through it, it would be my surprise at how soul-crushingly boring someone could make a sprawling epic about knights and maidens and sorceresses and dragons. You’d think it would rock. It emphatically does not. Edmund Spenser wrote the whole thing as a mash note to both Queen Elizabeth — whose stand-in in the poem is the title character, Queen Gloriana — as well as to Protestantism, and there’s something mean and deceitful in using adventure stories as a ruse for teaching Christian morality. (“Hey, wait a minute! This apparently fun thing is actually <em>about Jesus!</em> Everyone, they’re trying to teach us religion!”) I remember my eyes crossing as a I tried to differentiate one allegorical character from another — at one point, you meet three knights named Sansfoy, Sansjoy and Sansloy, or Faithless, Joyless and Lawless — and too many of the women have cutesy-cute, on-the-button-nose names that all smooshed into a pink blob in my brain — among them, Fidessa, Fraelissa, Duessa, Belphoebe, Amoretta, Florimell, Hellenore, Mirabella, Abessa and Pastorella.<br /><br />And if there’s a third thing that I take away from <em>The Faerie Queene</em>, it’s the essay I had to write for the in-class midterm. As an English major, I found these offensive even in classes where I gave a damn about the reading material. We should have been asked to go home and slave over a ten- or twenty-page essay, not scrawl down ideas in a blue book without time to polish the writing in the way we’ve been taught to do. Regardless, I picked the essay topic that had us write on female villains in <em>The Faerie Queene. </em>I jotted down some ideas about how Spenser used the character Malecasta (literally “badly chaste,” figuratively “skank box”), and then I handed in the bluebook, happy to end my interactions with stupid Edmund Spenser and his adventures with the Protestant Jesus.<br /><br />When I got the graded blue book back in class, I saw that I got partial credit on the essay. I went over my T.A.’s notes — a checkmark here, a “good” there — and then finally a sentence written at the bottom that read more or less like this: “Good points, well-reasoned, but you really needed to give the character’s proper name. I think you meant MALECASTA but you put CASTASPELLA. She’s from She-Ra.”<br /><br />The T.A. was right. I had written <a href="http://he-man.wikia.com/wiki/Castaspella">“Castaspella”</a> in every spot where I had meant to write “Malecasta.” I was pissed.<br /><br />I think I threw that blue book away immediately after, but now I wish I’d framed it, as a testament to the fact that Edmund Spenser may have wasted weeks of my time, but he still couldn’t make a dent in what childhood cartoons had done to my brain.<br /><br />That’s… a victory, right?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><object height="390" width="520"><param name="movie" value="//www.youtube.com/v/KFvq1Do-1vw?hl=en_US&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="//www.youtube.com/v/KFvq1Do-1vw?hl=en_US&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="520" height="390" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div><br />“Prisoners of Beast Island” > <em>The Faerie Queene</em>. Filmation > Edmund Spenser. There, I said it.kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-35382320484834729902014-01-14T23:59:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:16.954-07:00Playwrights, Playwrites and PlayrightsI’ve always thought the word <em>playwright</em> looked wrong. If playwrights write plays, then shouldn’t they be <em>playwrites</em>, in the style of bootblacks and shopkeeps and milksops and <a href="http://wordsmith.org/words/tosspot.html">tosspots</a>?<br /><br />After years of wondering, I finally looked it up, and no, you idiot, it shouldn’t be <em>playwrite</em> because that second syllable actually <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wright&allowed_in_frame=0">comes from the Old English <em>wryhta</em>, “worker.”</a> It’s the same syllable that you see in profession names such as <em>cartwright</em>, <em>wheelwright</em> and <em>wainwright</em> — or wagon worker, wagon wheel worker and different kind of wagon worker, in order. I’m just now sure how <em>playwright</em> got lumped in with the “building something” and “doing something” professions, unless William Shakespeare’s career necessitated more elbow grease than I’d been led to believe.<br /><br />But there you go — <i>playwright</i> not <i>playwrite.</i> You clod.<br /><br /><i>Playright</i>, though. There’s something there. It’s too cute not to be used for something.<br /><br />Pointless word wonderings, previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/09/bukkake-udon-etymology.html">How did the word bukkake, ahem, come to mean what it does?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/01/surprise-its-onomatopoeia.html">Surprise! It’s onomatopoeia!</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/02/first-name-in-sideburns.html">Who put the <em>side</em> in <em>sideburns</em>? Oh, and also the <em>burns</em>?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2006/09/masturbatard.html"><em>Drunkard</em>, <em>bastard</em>, <em>dullard</em> — why do so many words for unpleasant people end in <em>-ard</em>?</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2006/09/dont-make-me-platypus-all-over-you.html">Why we “verb” animal names</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2005/05/dont-cock-this-one-up.html">Why we “verb” human body parts, too</a></li></ul>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-26785394072310173362013-12-14T15:52:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:20.803-07:00Just Dripping With CreativityToday I learned the subtext of the word <em>seminal</em>. It’s semen. Yep, just like it sounds.<br /><br />Years spent around the endless praise of arts journalists may have warped my thinking, but I feel like when people use the word today, they’re most often using it in the context of creativity — a seminal book is one so original that it prompts the existence of later works. But even that use — planting a metaphorical seed — goes back to the primary definition listed <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/seminal">in <em>Merriam-Webster</em></a>: “of, relating to or consisting of seed or semen,” as in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seminal_vesicle"><em>seminal vesicles</em></a>. Etymonline says that the generative sense of the word has been in use <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=seminal">since at least the 1630s</a>.<br /><br />So remember: The next time someone refers to a book or album or film or artwork as being seminal, you’re not only allowed but encouraged to ask whether this thing is generative or just covered in semen. If someone objects, just explain, “Hey, there’s thing called etymology, you clod.”<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://burningtheground.net/2012/06/donna-summer-hot-stuff-uk-12/" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs3guR28DVtDPq_4VycEfoQNx5WGQ22zzjaiLXNKn3Z_AooBxsfeV1BBMSs07GREu8hOCmLBOEA44JoijwmB5vMmUIYKBBIALiFC63iHQyIzGXGFBtNSjs-_ez6ZOD5gwPrBLbYmLhClo/s1600/donna-summer-hot-stuff-album-1980-vinyl.jpg" width="391" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://burningtheground.net/2012/06/donna-summer-hot-stuff-uk-12/">via</a></td></tr></tbody></table>While we’re on the subject, is there any way that Donna Summer’s seminal 1980 dance track “Hot Stuff” is also the other kind of seminal as well? If you haven’t listened to it recently, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFugPml2Nnc">do so</a>, give <a href="http://www.metrolyrics.com/hot-stuff-lyrics-donna-summer.html">the lyrics</a> a once-over and then ask yourself just what kind of hot stuff she’s looking for. <br /><br />Suggested topic of conversation for dinner parties: “Hey, can anyone guess why the disco anthem ‘Hot Stuff’ is <em>doubly</em> seminal?”<br /><br />Words that are surprisingly sexual, previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/09/bukkake-udon-etymology.html"><i>bukkake</i> (as a food item)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/05/penis-where-you-would-not-expect-one.html"><i>looms</i> (not just for prairie grandmas anymore!)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/03/dude-check-out-at-my-bulging-bracket.html"><i>bracket</i> (March Madness just got more homoerotic)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2011/08/your-lovemaking-may-be-hopelessly.html"><i>vanilla</i> (sexier than its reputation would indicate)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2010/09/flower-no-longer-smells-as-sweet-as-it.html"><i>broomrape</i> (not as bad as it sounds)</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2009/04/never-kick-man-in-his-orchid.html"><i>orchid</i> (DO NOT REMOVE)</a></li></ul>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-15189468840848604702013-12-12T23:41:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:21.153-07:00America’s Most Regal ActressAnd then I realized that <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005093/">Regina King’s</a> name literally means “queen king.” And that’s fitting, because spending your adolescence in the presence of Jackee and then emerging as the toughest, nailsiest, tough-as-nails cop on <em>Southland</em> means you get to own your regal status.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kk9CXWIxVxFHOaLjeAZ4TjUE_1QLpyV7PYe3Yn76WcEuQ6VIZL8hVvkPclavZoqwl95TIngECbFcwO589Vy0ybX0-KXidOb35npBmsA5p_EaEYYT-UAq2htUb9laxsaOqXJJ1Agqx0Q/s1600/regina-king-queen-king.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9kk9CXWIxVxFHOaLjeAZ4TjUE_1QLpyV7PYe3Yn76WcEuQ6VIZL8hVvkPclavZoqwl95TIngECbFcwO589Vy0ybX0-KXidOb35npBmsA5p_EaEYYT-UAq2htUb9laxsaOqXJJ1Agqx0Q/s640/regina-king-queen-king.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br />Oh, and extra cool points for voicing both Huey and Riley on <em>Boondocks</em>, which I didn’t know about until right now. kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-9879914398162155672013-11-22T09:56:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:24.303-07:00Another Twenty Free Movie TitlesTo start out this follow-up to <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/06/twenty-more-free-movie-titles.html">“Twenty Free Movie Titles”</a> and <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/04/twenty-free-movie-ideas.html">“Twenty More Free Movie Titles,”</a> I’d like to express my great disappointment that the title I wanted to kick this list off turned out to be a real movie. Yes, they actually made a movie called <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Dismember_Mama">I Dismember Mama</a></em>, and while it’s not a more horrific re-telling of <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Remember_Mama">I Remember Mama</a></em> (mine was), it did beat me to the punch with that title.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iyxa60QRevRaCWFn-pJFElGcSM6jKIEp7oFxdFnAl6dAnOdpami4GKLI2q0yyTd5GQT9YdarDt3XpbwwVevEze_XyeCp0B1d03Sh9yubY__7KmUuq7XLmJDqYlPak1KFvZESHqRo_ZQ/s1600/i-dismember-mama.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7iyxa60QRevRaCWFn-pJFElGcSM6jKIEp7oFxdFnAl6dAnOdpami4GKLI2q0yyTd5GQT9YdarDt3XpbwwVevEze_XyeCp0B1d03Sh9yubY__7KmUuq7XLmJDqYlPak1KFvZESHqRo_ZQ/s1600/i-dismember-mama.jpg" height="640" width="463" /></a></div><br />Here are the other nineteen, plus one I just made up on the spot to replace <em>I Dismember Mama</em>.<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>It’s a Two-Way Street... of Terror</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Vlad the Impala</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Broken English & Shattered Femurs</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>One Long Splapfight</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Disappointing Adventures of Lazy Susan</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Wandalust</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Midwife Crisis</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Wrath of Connie Sellecca</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>They Cried “Hogwash!”</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Not Until My Farts Get Better </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Working title: <i>Doctor’s Orders</i>)</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Revenge of Mister Meter Maid</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Phenomanal</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Matrimayhem</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Uh Oh! No More Grandmas!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Auntie Christ</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Stab Until There’s Nothing Left!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Huggy the Misunderstood Snake</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Hats Dropping, Pants Popping</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Duck Duck DEATH!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The Adventures of Bi-dra, the Bisexual Hyrda</i></div>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-72541707795332135412013-11-20T08:17:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:24.651-07:00The Long Tongue of the Etymologist (or — A Collection of Unrelated Trivia Bits)<em>Occasionally, I come across a bit of information that’s not exactly tweetable, not exactly bloggable. Such info-nuggets get dropped into the cyber-junk folder that is my Google doc that I titled “whatever maybe????” No, really — that’s what I call it. </em><br /><em><br /></em> <em>These are their stories. Well, no, here are two anteaters first. (Anteaters are unrelated to trivia but still.)</em><br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53978655@N00/423831567/lightbox/?w=53978655@N00&q=anteater" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoC3M2tBsxxANu0Kn1mNIWn62KjH2oSdq2Zl8xQ_D9QQpo3wi4lgbuoQRZ53oMRo0YhA0qGJkvMWm-xQT3z7BjIU2dlmW5zXuanafxOQVPaVFI_BYSXJ3b1u1wiK1xUR8dIp2GExNNh3Y/s640/anteater-tongue-drew-mackie-kidicarus222.jpg" height="528" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">via me; see <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53978655@N00/423831567/lightbox/?w=53978655@N00&q=anteater">a larger version</a></td></tr></tbody></table>If I had to guess the origin of the word <em>skosh</em>, “a little bit,” I’d say Yiddish, just based on the sound. I’d be wrong, because it comes <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=skosh">from Japanese</a>. Yay, wars!<br /><br />Maleficent’s horned headdress is apparently <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maleficent#Development">called an atora</a>, though the internet doesn’t seem to be clear on why it’s called that. It could have something to do with the fact that a British brand of shredded beef once used that name, adapted <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atora">from the Spanish word <em>toro</em>, “bull.”</a><br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBgHSxrMCuG0HkrvNQQSpaiIIzu9H9xjb7a2HzIDdtSFg7uTy1h7E73eUtJIw8qPOzPfGvvg87FACx-tbI35x1d7u5io1nZ8kYt2pDdEIff857AjcoR0u_FeYhpF9WNNpj1hfYCSnGdI/s1600/maleficent-headdress-atora.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCBgHSxrMCuG0HkrvNQQSpaiIIzu9H9xjb7a2HzIDdtSFg7uTy1h7E73eUtJIw8qPOzPfGvvg87FACx-tbI35x1d7u5io1nZ8kYt2pDdEIff857AjcoR0u_FeYhpF9WNNpj1hfYCSnGdI/s400/maleficent-headdress-atora.jpg" height="400" width="268" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ol’ bullhead</td></tr></tbody></table>Cyndi Lauper wrote “Time After Time” <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_After_Time_(Cyndi_Lauper_song)#Writing">after seeing the movie of the same name</a>, and I think that is neat.<br /><br />If you’ve ever wondered why west-of-the-Mississippi radio and TV station call letters start with “K” while their east-of-the-Mississippi counterparts start with “W,” know two things: That’s not exactly how it works, boundary-wise, and although we know who assigned those letters, <a href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2303/why-do-u-s-radio-call-letters-start-with-w-in-the-east-and-k-in-the-west-revisited">we have no idea why they got picked</a> over any other letter.<br /><br />When Ricky Ricardo sang about Babalu, he was actually singing about Babalu Aye, an African god of earth, infectious disease and healing. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babalu_Aye#Appearance_in_popular_culture">No, really</a>.<br /><br /><em>Eagleheart</em> was right, more or less: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bezoar">bezoars are actually things that exist</a>. Protip: Don’t do a Google image search for them.<br /><br />Why use the word <em>twin</em> when you could <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/twyndyllyng">use the synonym <em>twyndyllyng</em></a> instead? It is allegedly <a href="http://www.englishforums.com/English/LongestWordWithoutVowels/bbjkk/post.htm">the longest English word without a vowel</a>, though any sane person can see why that is not true.<br /><br />There is a crab whose scientific name is <em>Graspus graspus</em>, which alone is pretty good, but even better is the fact that its common English name <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grapsus_grapsus">is Sally Lightfoot</a>, which sounds like someone your mom was friends with in the 70s.<br /><div><br /></div>Just based on how it sounds, you might guess that <em>narwhal</em> means “northern whale,” etymologically speaking. Nope. It acuially means <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=narwhal">“corpse whale.”</a><br /><br />In similarly horrible realizations, the word <em>mastodon</em> means exactly what the etymologically-inclined might guess it means: <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=mastodon">“breast-tooth”</a> — “so called from the nipple-like projections on the crowns of the extinct mammal’s fossil molars.”<br /><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG67-j1obDUkkg_0xuNId79I_EGF-wOiWBJTnJX2-n3pa8UfWCkZ89kspuCeHg2AUahHIgXuyBATK6tvvORT7jt-N1rgCOYPPTzIo3wRjKYqqpFD0caBbtl3aaH9CS7QdhyEvZUjtSz-s/s1600/800px-Sally_lightfoot_crab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG67-j1obDUkkg_0xuNId79I_EGF-wOiWBJTnJX2-n3pa8UfWCkZ89kspuCeHg2AUahHIgXuyBATK6tvvORT7jt-N1rgCOYPPTzIo3wRjKYqqpFD0caBbtl3aaH9CS7QdhyEvZUjtSz-s/s320/800px-Sally_lightfoot_crab.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the crab called sally lightfoot, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sally_lightfoot_crab.jpg">via</a></td></tr></tbody></table>The bassoon is known in Italy <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bassoon#Early_history">as the fagotto</a>… obviously. <br /><br />Aguascalientes — literally “hot waters” — is one of the states that comprise the E.E.U.U., or the United States of Mexico. This state name uses <i>agua</i>, which comes from the Latin word for water, <em>aqua</em>. Weirdly, the word for people from this state <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aguascalientes">is <em>hidrocálido</em></a>, which uses a form of the Greek root for water, <em>hydro</em>. No one knowledgeable about Mexican culture or language has yet been able to explain to be why this is the case. <br /><br />We’re not sure, but Bugs Bunny may be the reason that <em>nimrod</em> <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Nimrod&allowed_in_frame=0">became an insult</a>.<br /><br />The French word for “werewolf” is <em>loup-garou</em>, which awkwardly <a href="http://blog.wordnik.com/werewolf-words">translates as “wolf-manwolf.”</a><br /><br />Though I guessed <a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2009/09/its-secret-to-everybody-part-twelve.html">many, many posts ago</a> that the <i>Mega Man</i> robo-dog Rush might have been named for the prog rock band of the same name, that is apparently <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/keiji-inafune-dropped-mad-mega-man-secrets-on-me-261362.phtml">not the case</a>. Mega Man’s creator, Keiji Inafune, explained a few months back that the name results from an old Capcom game, <i>Rush & Crash</i>, plus the fact that the Japanese pronunciation of <i>rush</i>, “rasshu,” sounds a lot like the Japanese pronunciation of <i>Lassie</i>, “rasshi.”<br /><br />This is all. Please enjoy! Link dumps, previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/01/33-weirdly-fascinating-wikipedia-pages.html">33 weirdly fascinating Wikipedia articles on basic concepts</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/11/a-list-of-things-you-should-probably.html">A list of things you should probably find interesting</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2012/02/lunch-hour-in-slave-mines.html">Lunch hour in the slave mines</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2011/11/leopard-tree-dream.html">Leopard tree dream</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2011/03/short-futon.html">The short futon</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2010/06/most-perplexing-riddle-about-spaghetti.html">A most perplexing riddle about spaghetti</a></li></ul>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-14845543886939857692013-11-11T11:58:00.000-08:002021-05-14T18:48:27.103-07:00Oh, the Horrors of EtymologyIn the same way that kicking over a rock allows you to see what squiggly, slimy things may be hiding beneath it, tracking down the etymology of words so often takes you into weird parts of history that you may never see otherwise. For example, today I looked up <a href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=barber">the etymology of the word <em>barber</em></a>. It goes back to the Latin <em>barba</em>, “beard,” it turns out, but the entry also offers this grim look into early healthcare: “Originally also regular practitioners of surgery, they were restricted to haircutting and dentistry under Henry VIII.”<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkj1pN6u7cWW-mq1OxqKQ6cDDVRj7y1y_1ZXLt2FzAc0LYvnOBoXX7mR9fo62_mXHtN6hIo1iczjWErQ0HWnvksQxbO_DJ3KDO84l-TudOXagB4P3eOfEcI8UpP99cjf9V1ojtLFg_kM/s1600/isaac-koedijck-barber-surgeon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnkj1pN6u7cWW-mq1OxqKQ6cDDVRj7y1y_1ZXLt2FzAc0LYvnOBoXX7mR9fo62_mXHtN6hIo1iczjWErQ0HWnvksQxbO_DJ3KDO84l-TudOXagB4P3eOfEcI8UpP99cjf9V1ojtLFg_kM/s1600/isaac-koedijck-barber-surgeon.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">isaac koedijck, “barber-surgeon tending a peasant’s foot,” via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Isaack_Koedijck-barber-surgeon-tending-a-peasants-foot.jpg">wikimedia</a></td></tr></tbody></table>And I even knew that already, but seeing it laid out like that — plainly, matter-of-factly, as if it were no big deal that the same guy who cuts your hair should also cut your skin and dig teeth out of your gums — gave me a shiver. “Yeah, you’re your problem here is that you have too much blood. Here, sit down. This will take a while, because I will have to cut you open a lot.”kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3337365607234181028.post-57931702712243071182013-10-27T08:33:00.000-07:002021-05-14T18:48:30.602-07:00Typography-Inspired Superheroes That I Demand ExistNot that there needs to be typography inspired superheroes, but I’d imagine at the very least that the people who put comic books together would get a kick out of them.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Be22vldZX3EAFHUSAn_Dsh3uNZdPU6hU7WA85dUY-_9e8elHftKtJNEYMiw9vQ015y8Ct2WdyRgL7q8-BiKyA0EYsDPnFH1aegHXwrx6CZxo0OqmmXHyRGaEYPXigKPxKtwRhiMbsHk/s1600/interrobang-superhero.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Be22vldZX3EAFHUSAn_Dsh3uNZdPU6hU7WA85dUY-_9e8elHftKtJNEYMiw9vQ015y8Ct2WdyRgL7q8-BiKyA0EYsDPnFH1aegHXwrx6CZxo0OqmmXHyRGaEYPXigKPxKtwRhiMbsHk/s640/interrobang-superhero.jpg" width="436" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Heroism! Surprise? Yes, make way for... THE INTERROBANG!</div><br /><div style="text-align: center;">And to a lesser extent, maybe also make way for...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boldface">Boldface</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikethrough">Strike-Through</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Full_stop">The Full Stop</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_Gothic">The Gothic Centurian</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpunct">Interpunkt</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabic_star">The Arabian Star</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-width_non-joiner">Zero Width and The Non-Joiner</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastarda">Bastarda</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_shadow">Drop Shadow</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slash_(punctuation)">Solidus</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solidaryca">Solidaryca</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucida">Lucida Grande</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descender">The Descender</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twip">Twip</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prestige_Elite">The Prestige Elite</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boustrophedon">Boustrophedon</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/grawlix">Grawlix and The Quimp</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger_(typography)">The Double Dagger</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_(typeface)">Mistral</a><br /><br /><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilcrow">The Pilcrow</a></span></div><br />That last one… I can’t really explain. I just think <em>pilcrow</em> is a neat word. (Image modified from Captain Marvel art found in a post on <a href="http://alternateworldcomics.tumblr.com/day/2013/10/26/">this nifty superhero Tumblr</a>.)<br /><br />EDIT: <i>So the guys at The Bionic Broadcast actually thought through these and came up with what their superpowers might be. Check <a href="http://www.thebionicbroadcast.com/episode-61-cheaters-hoaxes-and-smoke-screens/">it out</a>, and if you want to skip to this part, fast-forward to 31:20.</i><br /><br />Superheroes, previously:<br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/10/batman-dragon-fly-tiger-moth-silken-spider.html">“That’s <i>Miss</i> Public Enemy No. 1 to You, Batman!”</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2011/02/with-name-like-that-shed-better-be-hot.html">The time Nick Fury sex was too hot for Marvel</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2010/11/nicole-kidman-striving-for-middle.html">The clunky symbolism of Dr. Chase Meridian’s name</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2010/06/jean-grey-less-than-marvelous-girl.html">Why Jean Grey is one of the least awesome names in superhero-dom</a></li><li><a href="http://www.backofthecerealbox.com/2013/07/eight-batman-women-who-sound-like-soap.html">Eight Batman women whose names make them sound like soap opera villains</a></li></ul>kidicarus222http://www.blogger.com/profile/18363078559398106005noreply@blogger.com0