Does this word exist? Has it ever existed? What did it mean? The only references I can find are to an obscure piece of legal jargon that bears no semblance to to the words with a prefix: Assemble, resemble, dissemble, ensemble and probably others. So presumably it has existed and the others are deri...

I believe there is a language (is it a North American Indian one?) that has lots more words for 'there'? A bit like the perhaps apocryphal 27 words for snow in Eskimo. Near, there, further, further still, further still and out of sight, and lots more. Can anyone enlighten us?

David

Splendid. Normal service has been resumed. Very excited.

David

Today's The Conversation in Australia has a splendid piece on the linguistic issues (in Australia) that cause pedants like us to frenzy (is that a verb?) Anyway it is fun and so are most of the added comments for those that have time. https://theconversation.com/the-horror-and-pleasure-of-misused-wo...

We don't talk in Oz; we drawl. That's drawl, not droll or even drole.

Bravo George. I like the story of the theatre ad.

But I am interested that the good Dr has not offered drole as an alternative spelling. Certainly it is widely used with that (original?) spelling in England. Not so much in Australia, but then neither is droll! We have a smaller vocabulary here.

I like your idea Slava of spiv being the opposite of VIPs. There is some joy in that. The Suspected Person idea is surely just a fun and fanciful idea. But I'd love to get to the bottom of the real origins.

Well, well, well. What a funny lot the Americans are. This is an extraordinary one. Excelsior means higher. There can be no question of that. So saying it means wood wool seems preposterous to an Anglo. It's like saying ford means car and no longer a place where people can wade across a creek. On th...

I see the origin of restaurant is from the French word for 'restore' - presumably in the sense of restoring oneself to equanimity following a meal. And as others have pointed out, you have to have a meal in a restaurant but can manage with just a cup of coffee in a cafe. Amazing though, how restorat...

I have just returned from a holiday in Fiji where a major road contractor calls itself Paradise Digging Services Ltd. I thought that was a lovely concept - digging up paradise. Again, the word is ancient and apparently means an enclosed park. How important are our parks! And the main City one here i...

As in dribs and drabs. Can it be used in the singular, I wonder and can it be used without its partner drabs?

I like this one if only because we need more words starting with Z. Difficult to see how we can use it metaphorically and probably not an everyday word. I came across it today for the first time. I think the author was showing off.

So if pajamas (more commonly spelt pyjamas in Australia and in UK) are leg garments then when we talk about 'pajama bottoms', I guess we are committing a tautology. Incidentally a pedantic semantic friend of mine with whom I shared today's entry, suggested that 'the hoi polloi' is also a tautology ,...

Well spotted Perry. I could try to suggest that it was a deliberate mistake designed to check to see if anyone ever reads my comments, but that would suggest that I feel the need to be read, which is nonsense of course. So I will now independently give thanks to you for pointing out my ignorance. We...

And very best wishes to the Good Doctor for what sounds like a splendid Thanksgiving Day in Boulder (always loved that town's name; also Rock Hudson and Pebble Flintstone). Of course, in Australia, we have a town called Manly. Sadly, no Womanly yet.