Doctor Beard is his name.

Words are his game.

With a Language Blog

He clears the fog

As an interesting aside, the Lesser Antilles island group is divided into the Windward and the Leeward Islands because the prevailing winds or trade winds reach the Windward Islands first, and the Leeward Islands ( which are downwind "in the lee,") last. I well remember mooring in St. Croi...

Hear the dulcet tones of the hammered dulcimer (check the etymology) on this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxjpYHhfRyI

"Bombast" was originally cotton or other material used to pad clothing-- in other words to strategically "puff up" the wearers in keeping with fashion to make them appear better proportioned, more stylish , affluent, etc. The implicit comparison with verbal puffery and pretension...

Actually, I believe there is a female equivalent to cuckold--"cuckquean" which the OED defines as a a woman whose husband is adulterous. Further sleuthing down this steamy trail--all in the spirit of objective scientific inquiry, mind you--reveals that today there is even a cuckquean lifes...

Time is apparently running out for o'clock...

A fascinating synonym of "transitory" is "evanescent." Emily Dickinson employed the noun form, "evanesence" in one of her most famous poems : 1463 A Route of Evanescence With a revolving Wheel— A Resonance of Emerald— A Rush of Cochineal— And every Blossom on the Bush A...

"Esoteric" has an antonym, "exoteric," which means outer, open, suited to the general public. Aristotle advocated exoteric knowledge over esoteric. Because knowledge is power democratic societies (at least in theory) thrive on exoteric knowledge, while totalitarian societies flou...

Note following limerick by "KS" :


There once was an eel named Renata
Whose dromous was ana, not cata.
She lived at her ease
In the Sargasso seas,
And found spawning more sweet in fresh wata.
-- KS

Eels are catadromous except, apparently, Renata.

Is your "big tent" political party really contubernal?

Incidentally, "insipid" has a back formation, "sipid," which means: 1.) having a pleasing taste or flavor; 2.) of agreeably distinctive character. Somehow, though, it would not be my choice to compliment the chef on Thanksgiving. Perhaps a "sipid" milkshake...

"Aerie" is indeed a beautiful word which has captured the imagination of a range of humanity from real estate developers to dictators. But while our hearts thrill at the soaring majesty of the eagle and its roost let us not overlook the home-making efforts of humbler birds . Some such as t...

"Syzygy" opened the door to "syzygiology;" the study of the whole as contrasted to that of isolated parts or functions which opened another door to "gestalt;" a perceived entity so integrated as to constitute a functional unit not derivable from its parts, which opened ...

Nice find! A little (very little) digging disclosed "delitesence," a medical term meaning the sudden disappearance of the signs or symptoms of a disease implying, I guess, that the disease is merely latent. How lulling and sinister. Maybe someone with medical training can educate us. Appli...

In further "support" of Skinem's provacitive theory about early methods of oath taking, a Google search of "p lace hands on testicles while swearing oath" yields a trove. If this method were employed, it would perhaps explain why oaths were taken infrequently and certainly with m...