Monthly Archives: April 2015

Yesterday once more

Posted on April 27, 2015 by

You cannot get a clearer lesson from history than this. Substitute in the following speech from the British House of Commons from 121 years ago words such as Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, ISIL, Taliban and the rest and for Britain, replace … Continue reading →

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Why advertising agencies were invented

Posted on April 20, 2015 by

They say ‘sell the benefits’, but Floriline’s graphic realism small ad that ran for more than 20 years points to just how malodorous things must have been in the drawing room of the 19th century. This is why David Ogilvy, … Continue reading →

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Is there a rack where disused words are hung?

Posted on April 16, 2015 by

Is there a rack where disused words are hung like lost umbrellas, waiting for someone to claim and recycle them? Here’s a verb: to glimm. Sadly I am either much too young or much too old to ever utter it, … Continue reading →

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What are words worth?

Posted on April 15, 2015 by

‘Plump’ is an interesting word. I hear you say: “Isn’t ‘plump’ just the euphemism you awkwardly use to describe that fat kid to his parents’ face?” Fairy godmothers are plump; untermenschen are clinically obese. Well, no. It carries other meanings. … Continue reading →

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Who’s that (interesting) boy?

Posted on April 14, 2015 by

We are on a journey to find out why the word ‘interesting’ took on a special meaning for a short time between about 1800 and 1850 — and a meaning never yet defined in any dictionary. The epithet ‘interesting’  was … Continue reading →

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Who’s that (interesting) girl?

Posted on April 10, 2015 by

Who doesn’t love a murder mystery, right? Especially a 200-year old murder? So it was that I was drawn to All Things Georgian and the tale of Elizabeth Shepherd or Sheppard. One thing led to another. I wasn’t convinced of … Continue reading →

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