Category: April

  • OF PISSANTS, POLITICIANS, AND CUPIDITY

    The breadth of the title of this essay might lead you to believe that it is a formidable undertaking.  But when taken by its individual parts it is not necessarily so formidable operation.  Let us take the pissant part to start.  The word pissant is far from a vulgarity.  It identifies a living creature who…

  • THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS AGAIN REVISITED

    It goes without saying that your Uncle Ezra has no to investigate the subject of the language that Americans speak.  Yet while I lack the academic credentials, as a wordsmith from my essay writing I have an abiding interest in words.  In this case, there are four words that have fallen into disuse that I…

  • OH SAY CAN YOU SEE…

    According to historical facts, this country declared its independence from the English monarchy some 235 years ago.  But judging from the comments about a wedding taking place on Friday of this week, it would be hard to discern that we were at last free of the constraints of the English monarchy. From what I can…

  • PRIDE GOETH BEFORE A FALLETH

    Those of you who are familiar with the literature of the Bible will recognize the title of this essay as a corruption of a verse from Proverbs.  Specifically the verse comes from Chapter 16, Verse 18.  That verse in its unexpurgated form holds that pride goes before a fall.  Because this essay is being dictated…

  • UPON BEING SELF-HOODWINKED

    This essay pivots on the origin of a popular folk song written in 1835 called “Kathleen Mavourneen.”  Like many Irish people and the world at large, I had long assumed that “Kathleen Mavourneen” was the epitome of Irish folk music.  The word “mavourneen” is an ancient Gaelic word for “my darling.”  The name Kathleen is…