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Tag Archives: Latin

Trouble at’ Mill

Notes on the life (and afterlife) of JS Mill, philosopher . The classical liberal philosopher John Stuart Mill was born and died this month – in, respectively, 1806 and 1873 – and in between he wrote (or co-wrote, with his wife, and then his step-daughter) On Liberty, Utilitarianism, Principles of Political Economy, Considerations of Representative Government, […]

The coast of Hisperica

i.m. Umberto Eco (1932-2016) . This frothing sea surrounds the world and beats earth’s borders with its rushing waves. Its storm-wall slams the rocky foreshore, ploughs the bed with thumping crests, strewing shingled foam in starry furrows, ever-shaken by its thunderous blast. .

NEWS AT A GLANCE

. The barnacles are scraped off British men-of-war twice a year..5 — The Nelson Evening Mail, Thursday, September 6 1906 . Wicca is the fastest-growing religion in the UK after Islam. The Dutch term for a sex buddy is ‘seksbuddy’. George I and his prime minister conversed officially in dog Latin. Irish 6th-formers know what The Communist Manifesto is […]

NEWS AT A GLANCE

. The maximum suicide age is between 65 and 75. — The Nelson Evening Mail, Thursday, August 9 1906 . Forest Green Cricket Club accepts no liability for damage to vehicles parked on the green whilst a game is in progress. There are pros and cons to time-travelling while black. Pope Gregory declared the rooster the most suitable […]

Sehr Gutenberg

On movable type, the Internet, and almost every damn thing in between. — For The Oldie

A moment of indexision

On Bram Stoker, #indexday, and the weird and wonderful history of the hapax legomenon. — For The Spectator

Tripping hither, tripping thither

When I went to the bar as a very young man, it was often enough in the company of the Oxford University Gilbert & Sullivan Society. My relationship with G&S had started early, specifically the argument in Three Men in a Boat over which song Harris is trying to sing (I remain confused to this […]

Mortality 101 – or; Catullus at the graveside

The Oldie runs my poem for the Armistice commemorations. — For The Oldie

I ink, therefore I am

On the choice and acquisition of my one and only tattoo. — For The Oldie

NEWS AT A GLANCE

. From the deepest pit we may see the stars. — The Nelson Evening Mail, August 28 1906 . Armadillos are incapable of irony. Greek prostitutes bill their clients in six-minute units. One of the stars of early-Nineties cult TV show Twin Peaks was called Suburbis Polaski. It is rarely useful to have studied Latin. A ‘wineglassful’ is an […]