A New York Times article on upscale off-campus student housing in Columbia, Missouri, quotes a University of Missouri sophomore — I’ll call him Brenden — contemplating life at Columbia’s Grove apartment complex:
“It’s like a vacation, almost,” he said. “I’m not going to go to class — that’s how I look at it.”Brenden, your parents just called. You’re staying in the dorms.
[“Taken for Granite,” Zippy, June 15, 2013.]
The Oracle at Dingburg.
There appear to be any number of frog-rocks available for consultation. Here’s a page for one in Connecticut. Bill Griffith, Zippy’s creator, lives there. (In Connecticut, not at the rock.)
I would like to ask the frog-rock-thing why I am consistently typing forg for frog.
Related reading
All Zippy posts (Pinboard)
[Click for larger, more menacing views.]
As a kid in Brooklyn, I believed, as did my peers, that there was something called a “J. D. card,” certifying you as a juvenile delinquent. You were supposed to carry the card with you — in an I. D. wallet, no doubt. It was rumored that a cigarette-smoking teenager on the block carried a J. D. card. Was there ever such a thing? I’m still not sure.
These lineups appear in the Route 66 episode “. . . And the Cat Jumped Over the Moon ” (December 15, 1961). The second delinquent from the left in the second photograph made his screen debut in this episode. He was the mystery guest in yesterday’s Route 66 post.
Related reading
All Route 66 posts (Pinboard)
[Does anyone else remember plastic I. D. wallets?]
The New York Times reports that Jennifer Nelson, at work on a documentary about “Happy Birthday to You,” is seeking to have the song placed in the public domain. One of Nelson’s lawyers estimates that “Happy Birthday to You” brings its owner Warner/Chappell $2 million a year.
There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that people who use apostrophes incorrectly is just taking the proverbial biscuit.The Apostrophe Vigilante had better watch out for the Subject-Verb Agreement Vigilante.
This American Life has updated its 2011 story on patent trolls, “When Patents Attack!” The humble apostrophe plays a part in events recounted in the update, proving to be the crucial bit of evidence in a court case over patent rights. The question: does the apostrophe in the words Jack Byrd’s idea mean that the idea was Jack Byrd’s? (I know: well, duh.) The man who wrote those words and received a patent for the idea, Chris Crawford, explains:
“As I’ve written documents over the years, there are times when I use an apostrophe-s, and it seems like I’m supposed to use an apostrophe-s. But I have to say that my grammar is not strong enough to tell you right now with clarity when an apostrophe-s is used.”What’s at stake goes far beyond Jack Byrd and Chris Crawford.
Can you identify this actor? Leave your best guess in the comments.
*
11:11 a.m.: That didn’t take long. The answer’s now in the comments.
Related reading
All Route 66 posts (Pinboard)
Another Route 66 mystery guest
One more Route 66 mystery guest
[Life, November 15, 1937. Click for a larger, more vital view.]
Mrs. Martin Johnson and Captain Bob Bartlett agree: the Consonant of the Day is t. This advertisement will repay careful study. Read it and drink, in big city, dense jungle, or Arctic, as you choose.
Related reading
All tea posts (Pinboard)
[I’d never heard of Martin and Osa Johnson or Robert Bartlett until I read this ad. How about you?]
A current television commercial for the Toyota Prius avows, aloud and on the screen, that ninety percent of “Prius” are still on the road. Toyota must be reluctant to use its chosen plural form, the ungainly Prii. Or as the New Yorker might put it, Priï.
I drive a Prius and will continue to say Priuses when necessary. Oh, look at all the Priuses on the road.
A related post
The plural of Prius, continued
[Driving from Illinois to Boston last month, we averaged 56.6 miles per gallon. YMMV.]
From the Wall Street Journal :
The latest version of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . . . includes both caffeine intoxication and withdrawal. These conditions are considered mental disorders when they impair a person’s ability to function in daily life.Some years ago I tried going cold turkey with caffeine, after drinking five or six cups of coffee a day. By mid-morning, I had a killer headache. My “ability to function in daily life” was gone by mid-afternoon, when I found myself stuck, literally, unable to get out of bed and unable to lie back down. It took a few days for things to get better. More recently, I quit caffeine without even trying. But I’ve been off the wagon for some time — I missed the taste of real tea. It’s tea through the day, and occasionally a cup of coffee.
