There is – as usual – an interesting discussion over at Transblawg. This time it’s about creaky-sounding (legal) phrases in which the noun precedes the adjective, some of which may be inverted: court martial/martial court, secretary general/general secretary, law merchant/merchant law etc. I assume the post-positives to be Norman-isms, since it was the Normans who…
From a lovely bit of work, Formatting the Word of God: The Charles Caldwell Ryrie Collection, produced by the Bridwell Library at SMU in Dallas: This [a 1551 Estienne bible, published in Calvin’s Geneva] is the book to which we are indebted for our custom of quoting the Bible by chapter and verse. It is…
Job 1: While [the messenger to Job] was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. So what do you do then? Phone a certain gentleman…
Invited by Tony Blair, the Iraq national team is apparently playing a British parliamentary XI tomorrow and then heading up the M1 to West Brom to take on that well-known Midlands outfit, Trinidad and Tobago. The Spanish authorities have refused them visas, presumably out of political spite, and Mr Bush has not replied to their…
OK, you know that Trevor isn’t so damn clever, but am I really the only blogger in the world who reads books as opposed to rereading them? (By the way, I did enjoy rehearing the MIDI of My Love She’s But a Jug of Lassi Yet, to which Q Pheevr links.)
“PRAVDA.Ru doesn’t recommend to use Xerox products”, reads an intriguing footer on the site of Russia’s version of National Enquirer. What seems to have happened is that Pravda took a major investment decision to purchase a USD300 Xerox photocopier. After x000 bumshots the damn thing broke and the USD150 repair fee has destroyed their previously…
Dirty smelly infant entomologists are the new elite in South Korea, reports Chosun. Apparently prices range from USD8.5-85 for ones with shells pretty as jewels. “There are an estimated 100,000 insect owners in the country and industry sources say the market is rapidly growing,” we are told, although there is a substantial Farmer Brown contingent:…
This has hardly attracted any attention, but it is extremely interesting since it is the first time I can recall an EU member state being persuaded (I assume we’re talking Welsh investment and the odd leek) to jump into bed with a similar-sized region of another EU member state. Nice one, Rhodri, but I’ll bet…
There’s a guide here. Looks pretty clunky to me and dynamic generation of pages just shunts the MT rebuild issue down the row. Textpattern looks interesting in a hippy kind of way, but I may have to start sending postcards again…
Observed having rolled down into the Congost at el Bac, Figaró the other day, near the start of this walk and, hence, this special: Good news for cyclists: white van man seems to have got out in time.