Interesting links there, worthy of later perusal, though a cursory look shows they're split on the appropriateness of single vs. double. Clearly fonts and their pitches and proportionality factor in, but the bottom line is I didn't even think of bringing this up as a result of counting spaces and fi...

I'd like to be able to double-space after a sentence. With the advent of typesetting and typewriters, other conventions emerged. The double space after a period in a typescript was no more than a means of emphasizing the end of a sentence... Of course, for we needed the anomaly of the extra space t...

Glad to hear that, 'cause "we got labefied last night" just doesn't carry the impact of "we got schnockered".

Unless I missed something in translation, the Pleiades and the Big Dipper (Ursa Major) are not the same thing. Ack! You're a star, Luke. See, if Stargzer was still around he'd'a been all over me. I confused the "seven stars of the Big Dipper asterism" with the "Seven Sisters". T...

-- thus "labefied" would be another synonym for plastered, hammered, or the irrepressible schnockered?

lime n. 1. A spiny evergreen shrub or tree (Citrus aurantifolia), native to Asia and having leathery leaves, fragrant white flowers, and edible fruit. 2. The egg-shaped fruit of this plant, having a green rind and acid juice used as flavoring. [Probably French from Spanish lima , from Arabic lma , ...

This came up in examination of Beck's Septentrional (a post containing a whole cornucopia of good word suggestions but I'll leave that to him)... Asterism - (n) 1. Printing Three asterisks in a triangular formation used to call attention to a following passage. 2. Astronomy A cluster of stars smalle...

>>The term septentrional, actually the adjectival form of the noun septentrion, itself refers to the seven stars of the Big Dipper asterism (aka "Septentrion"). << ...commonly known as the Pleiades , which in turn as our resident astronomer notes here , are known in Japan as Subaru (hence...

Excellent word, Doc!

Interesting that it's a modern invention. Seeing that immediately brought this one to mind, which I see has already been done.

I was really hoping you guys could let this rest. This is why I kept harping about off-topic posting. And also why I called for this thread to go to sleep a page back --when it was already badly decomposed. One thing we have always managed to do here, whether on topic or not, is keep controversial s...

Actually the question was rhetorical, just to set up a bad pun :P but the idea was let's leave it alone. We're all aware there are two Boxing Day threads up, as well as some others. They're near the top on everybody's index. No need to state the obvious. All the more reason to stop bumping them and ...

Another little little thing, but it's been going on forever... When I have a longish post and wish to italicize or bold or URL etc some part, as soon as I hit the appropriate button the entire post jumps up to the top and I have to go find where I was and relocate the cursor. (Does everybody get thi...

I can never look at this word and not start hearing the Duke Ellington song "East St. Louis Toodle-O" (note spelling variance).

I believe this is known as an earworm. If that reference doesn't bring the worm calling, here's a fine spirited version.

Seems to me austral should group with boreal (and oriental/occidental) Wiki lore goes like this: >> Septentrional is a word that means "of the north", rarely used in English but commonly used in Latin and in the Romance languages. Early maps of North America, mostly those before 1700, ofte...

Bringing in today's sheaves... Toodle-oo Pronunciation: tu-d'l-u • Hear it ! Part of Speech: Interjection Meaning: (Snobbishly colloquial) Good-bye. Notes: Today's Good Word still pops up occasionally, especially in the UK, though it is more closely associated with the upper classes in the UK and U...