New directions in footwear

[Click for a larger size.]

Kids say the darndest things: my Merrell Moab Adventure 3 shoes have been renamed “jungle shoes.”

See also New directions in apparel for “Papa’s gentleman shirts.”

[Image from Zappos, from whom I’ve bought two (three?) pairs of jungle shoes.]

“AI and the Death of Student Writing”

In The Chronicle of Higher Education, Lisa Lieberman, a community-college instructor, writes about “AI and the Death of Student Writing”:

I called the student in and asked him to write a sentence with the word “depiction.” He admitted he didn’t know what “depiction” meant, much less how to spell it, much less how to use it in a sentence. He confessed he hadn’t written a single word of the essay.

Another student complained when I gave her a zero for using AI. She said, “I don’t know why you’re picking on me. I turned in all my assignments on time. And I never used AI.”

It was true she hadn’t used AI, but when I pressed her, she admitted to using Grammarly.

And it turns out for a small monthly fee, Grammarly can do much more than identify errors in grammar and spelling.

Recently updated

Harvard, Meta, and veritas The story of a misinformation expert and misinformation.

macOS Something

The new version of the Mac operating system is called macOS Sequoia.

Apple says /sə 'koiə/. You can hear it in the WWDC24 presentation.

The American Heritage Dictionary (online) gives the pronunciation as /sĭ-kwoi′ə/.

Merriam-Webster (online) gives /si-'kwoi-ə/.

Both British English pronunciations in the Oxford English Dictionary have the kw sound: /sɪˈkwəʊɪə/ and /sɪˈkwɔɪə/. (I’m reproducing each dictionary’s phonetic spellings as given.)

The New Oxford American Dictionary (on the Mac) has /sə'koiə/ for the tree and /sə'kwoiə/ for the Cherokee scholar.

I’ve rarely said sequoia, but when I have, I’ve said it with the kw.

Apple can choose whatever pronunciation it likes, just as Toyota can choose Prii (lol) as the plural of Prius. For anyone who balks at /sə 'koiə/, the simple choice would be to say macOS 15.

[I found myself willing to watch only a few scattered minutes of the WWDC24 event. When I saw an image of an iPhone with the prominent message CONNECT YOUR HAIR DRYER, I drew a line in the mental sand.]

How to improve writing (no. 122)

Elaine received yet another political text, and she noticed a pronoun:

Hi Elaine, it’s George Clooney. I’m proud to support President Biden and Vice President Harris, and I’m asking you to join me. Pitch in today for a chance to meet myself, Julia Roberts, President Biden, and President Obama.

There’s nothing wrong with me. George Clooney can meet himself only in a mirror, or in, say, a doppelganger-themed screenplay.

But that sentence is tricky: it’s customary to place me at the end of a series. Here though a terminal me might suggest a terminal case of egotism: Julia Roberts, President Biden, President Obama, and me. Me! So what might be a fix?

Hi Elaine, it’s George Clooney and Julia Roberts. As proud supporters of President Biden and Vice President Harris, we’re asking you to pitch in today for a chance to meet President Biden, President Obama, and the two of us.

Related reading
All OCA How to improve writing posts (Pinboard)

[This post is no. 122 in a series dedicated to improving stray bits of public prose.]

A Moleskine confession

After receiving a defective 2024 Moleskine pocket daily planner (sixteen days missing), I wrote three posts recounting my effort to receive a refund — 1, 2, 3 — and vowed that this year’s Moleskine would be my last. I wrote in that third post that I planned to switch to Letts or Leuchtturm for 2025.

But I caved. I now have a 2025 Moleskine sitting in a drawer. What can I say? The company’s response to customers (at least to this customer) is shoddy — I never received a reply to the letter I sent. But I like the product. Cream-colored paper is far more appealing to me than Letts’s bright white. Smaller size and darker print make Moleskine far more appealing to me than Leuchtturm. I also like the way the Moleskine looks like an ice-cream sandwich. And I can pronounce moleskine. Leuchtturm remains a tough one.

If it doesn’t go without saying: I opened the 2025 planner right away to check for problems. All days are accounted for.

Related reading
All OCA Moleskine posts (Pinboard)

Bodega

[54 E. 105th Street, Manhattan, c. 1939–1941. From the NYC Municipal Archives Collections. Click for a much larger view and many details.]

I often wish that tax photographs came with a smart-looking border all around. No soap. But you might find some for sale in that bodega, at the corner of 105th and Madison.

Here comes some history, paraphrased from the Oxford English Dictionary:

The Spanish bodega first meant a wine cellar, wine shop, or bar. Later, a warehouse. Finally, a grocery store. The word derives from the classical Latin apothēca, a storehouse.

The word’s first meaning in English (1702): a warehouse. By 1825, “a building for storing or ageing wine, sherry, etc.” or “an establishment producing wine, sherry, etc.; a wine producer; a winery.” By 1849,

esp. in Spanish-speaking countries: a bar; a tavern. In the late 19th century sometimes (with reference to establishments in Britain): a bar, shop, etc., specializing in the serving of wine.

The specific British sense may derive from the Bodega Spanish Wine Cellars, opened in 1868 in Manchester, which was soon followed by other similarly named establishments in other cities.

In Philippine English (1851), the word came to mean “a storeroom or storehouse forming part of a house or other building.

And here’s the kind of bodega I was looking for:

U.S. regional (originally New York City ). A small local shop, usually with long opening hours, where customers can buy a limited range of household goods and groceries; a convenience store.

The term was first used with reference to Puerto Rican-owned businesses in New York in the 1950s and 1960s, but is now used there more widely to refer to any local shop of this type.

It’s fair to say that the bodega has supplanted the candy store of yore, offering a wider variety of goods and groceries along with chopped cheese and other food items to go. And “ATM Inside.”

La Nacional Boedga y Carniceria is long gone, and the corner is now home to an enormous parking structure. But there’s a bodega right across the street, open from 6:00 or 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.

Related reading
More photographs from the NYC Municipal Archives (Pinboard)

Today’s Saturday Stumper

Today’s Newsday  Saturday Stumper, by Matthew Sewell, is a doozy. It took me forty-two minutes to complete, and I then had to look up the meanings of two (correct) answers that baffled me: 47-A, four letters, “Balance checkers” and 50-A, three letters, “USO honorary chairman.” Aside from a handful of easily gettable long answers — e.g., 26-D, “Reluctant acknowledgment” — this puzzle showed little mercy.

Some clue-and-answer pairs of note:

4-D, eight letters, “Nigerian music.” One variety.

8-D, ten letters, “‘We’re gliding along with a song’ song.” A fambly favorite.

9-D, five letters, “Sequoia claim to fame.” Lordy.

14-A, four letters, “Caught in the air?” Clever.

15-A, nine letters, “Mysterious atom-smasher detection.” A novel answer.

15-D, three letters, “Shortened ‘I shall return.’” Sometimes I’m too clever for my own good: I was sure it had to be IOU, but that answer would include the I of the clue.

19-A, fourteen letters, “Attraction at Indonesia’s Trans Snow World.” Speaking of novel answers — and clues.

22-A, three letters, “Base level, briefly.” Considerable thought went into this clue.

34-A, five letters, “Ellie’s relative.” Name-premised clues often mess me up. My first thought was of The Beverly Hillbillies, but that was Elly May.

41-A, five letters, “Put on the line, perhaps.” Perhaps indeed.

53-A, fourteen letters, “Don’t be devious.” I didn’t think the answer fit the clue until I realized that the clue itself is devious.

55-D, four letters, “PR, e.g.” Another short answer with much thought going into the clue.

59-D, three letters, “What Lionel first meant.” Oh, now I get it.

My favorite in this puzzle: 39-D, eight letters, “Flops.” Crazy, man, crazy.

No spoilers; the answers are in the comments.

Mystery actors

[Click for a much larger view.]

Elaine identified one of these fellows right away. I recognized another. One remained a mystery until we checked the credits. Can you identify one or all? Leave your answers in the comments. I’ll drop hints if they’re needed.

*

The name of the fellow on the right is now in the comments. Here’s a clue for the fellow on the left: he became a leading man. Yes, really. But don’t overlook the fellow in the middle. In later life he managed a hotel.

If nothing’s happening, I’ll add the answers in a comment later today.

*

The names of all three actors are now in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

“Films noir”

[“Double Trouble.” Zippy, June 7, 2014. Click for a larger view.]

Double as in Double Indemnity (1944), with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. Today’s Zippy is all noir. A strip search for noir at the Zippy website will reveal many more noirish strips.

Merriam-Webster gives film noirs as the preferred plural, with films noir and films noirs as alternatives. To my surprise, the Google Ngram Viewer shows shows films noirs on a rapid rise since 1987.

Related reading
All OCA Zippy posts (Pinboard)