Language
Yesterday, I used the word “hodgepodge” in a sentence and wondered later what that word really meant and where it came from. So I Googled it. Merriam-Webster defines it as “a heterogeneous mixture” while Wikipedia reports it is derived from the Middle English word hochepot, which is a “dish of many mixed ingredients, especially [...]
There’s an old adage that goes, “If you can’t say it, you can’t do it.” Or maybe that’s just a line from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. At any rate, there’s a word that I’ve never been able to use as a verb and so I’ve never been able to do it properly. That word [...]
Two surprising and funny quotes from yesterday. This one from my three-year-old daughter:
What is this, the heck?
This one from my wife:
I was once followed by a wild hog.
It occurred to me recently that visitors to my blog may not know how to pronounce my name. Here’s some help.
Carrick: CARE-rick. Accent is on the first syllable. Rhymes with Derrick and Eric.
Mundell: mun-DELL. Accent is on the second syllable. Rhymes with “oh hell.”
Also note, Carrick is my given name, though I understand the confusion [...]
From the OED:
Carrick-bitts, the upright pieces of timber near the ends of the windlass, in which are the gudgeons for the spindles to work on: they are also called ‘windlass-bitts’.
Carrick bend, a knot for splicing two ropes together, formed by looping the two ends to be joined, and interlacing them, each going at every intersection, [...]
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