My friendly rival, Albert Skiles, and I feel it should be pointed out that of all the 50,000 Good Word subscribers, (some living in territories where English is not the predominately-spoken language within in a hundred miles in any direction) we two—who live within 40 or so miles or so of each other...

Aha! To paraphrase one of my betters:

It is dark until the light is turned on, and then we can see

Thanks.

Apparently I missed something,as the This should help clear things up. reply may have opened a door but didn't (for me, anyway) turn the lights on. My specific question was What is a "fangle"--new or old--and is there a distinction-without-a-difference between "new fangled" and &...

I've never seen this word used except in the company of the prefix "new", although if there's a need to distinguish "new-fangled" from either its past tense or its antonym there must be "old-fangled" items that depreciated by a third once they've rolled past the tongue ...

Yup (at least that's my understanding). The ones I've seen OTHERS eat had a raw egg in a slight depression in the meat. So in the unlikely case that Steak Tartare stood between me and starvation, I'd make darned sure that the meat and egg were the freshest and of the highest quality possible, to red...

It would be interesting (although of questionable heuristic value) to see Google metaphysically duke it out with the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, over the “Beefsteak Tatare” vs. “Steak Tartare” question. The latter (source-cited in my previous post) defines "Steak Tartare" as “highly...

If my esteemed Lexiterian peer Mr. Hupy is "loath to contradict the good doctor", he can imagine how I feel--having the hubris to contradict the fount of all that is good and true at least twice, with the first being : that the tie between the name of the ground-meat food product and its a...

I first heard the word used by Spiro Theodore Anagnostopoulos, to describe members of the liberal news media as the "puissant purveyors of public perfidity"; this was after he changed his Greek name to "Spiro T. Agnew".

I was taught that the difference between flotsam and jetsam—and the way to remember that difference—was that flotsam “floats-some”, on top of the water, while jetsam was trash and debris found under the water’s surface. Talleyrand, then, would have been considered to be “flotsam”.

Rest assured that I wouldn't intentionally offend for the world; one problem I constantly have to confront is the likelihood that something I say or write in jest is taken seriously, with good people too often reacting accordingly. On the other hand, things that I take very seriously (such as marria...

I never thought the day would come when I’d cite my son as the source of this knowledge gem: that the currently in-vogue expression for the need to “beat feet” (presumably to “pound the pavement”--usually due to an effort to catch up on the progress of a project or task (due to an implied element of...

About a year ago, when I was but a mere Junior Lexiterian, I meekly suggested a voluntary protocol by which those who toss out Latin phrases should include thereafter the English translation so that the (undoubtedly erudite) and pithy comment could be understood by all. This seemed to be an idea who...

Old habits die hard: My daughter, Megan McWethy Garza , also shared, with no end in sight: Give Me Your Tows by Bill S. Wrecker Basics of Taxidermy by Lotta Stuffing The French Chef by Sue Flay: Thwarting the IRS by Cook, Books & Hyde Keep Your Hands Down by Harry Pitts My Tank Runneth Over by P...

My daughter, Megan Angela McWethy has gotten into this, with: NEVER A BORROWER, by Nora Linderbee; DON'T COOK IT TOO LONG, by Al Dente; RIDING IN AIR FORCE ONE,by Heddy Stuff; DATING MOVIE STARS by N. Yurdreems; MAN OVERBOARD! by Bob N. Dasee; COME SEE FOR YOURSELF by Coy Responz; and HOME TO STAY b...

The coup d'etat in the Soviet Union on August 19-21, 1991 was briefly shaping up to be the "Mother of All Coups". But the civil resistance to it became part of an effective opposition, to the point that when Boris Yeltsin, President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, stoo...