Words - the Ugliest and the Most Beautiful

via Futility Closet and dedicated to The Truth about Guns (Robert knows why, does anyone else?)

Lexicographer Wilfred Funk declared these the 10 most beautiful words in English:

• chimes
• dawn
• golden
• hush
• lullaby
• luminous
• melody
• mist
• murmuring
• tranquil

Playwright Edward Sheldon declared these the ugliest:

• funeral parlor
• galluses
• housewife
• intelligentsia

From Steven Hart

Evolution in reverse

Q: What’s the difference between the American newspaper industry and a mastodon sinking into a tar pit.?

A: None, really, except that the mastodon probably had the sense not to say “It’s all the bloggers’ fault!” right before it died.

The Origin of "Son of a Gun"

From The Grammarphohia Blog.

“Son of a gun, an epithet conveying contempt in a slight degree, and originally applied to boys born afloat, when women were permitted to accompany their husbands to sea; one admiral declared he literally was thus cradled, under the breast of a gun-carriage.”

Although Smyth was an admiral and should have known about naval language, his lexicon didn’t appear until nearly 160 years after the expression first showed up in print.

Women did sometimes travel on British warships during the seafaring age.

In Jane Austen’s 1817 novel Persuasion, for example, we learn that Admiral Croft was regularly accompanied by his wife. (Austen knew about naval life since two of her brothers were admirals.)

So, yes, there’s a little evidence to support the naval origin of the expression, but we think “son of a gun” is simply a rhyming euphemism for “son of a bitch.”

Untranslatable Words

Take a break from the gun debate, it'll do ya no harm.

Further Diversification and Lightening Up of the Blog

In a continuing effort to keep the blog interesting and diverse, to lighten up a bit from the never-ending gun and capital punishment discussions, which I personally never tire of, I want to share this fantastic article I found on Answers.com.

I didn't know you could say "a shrewdness of apes," or "a covert of coots," "a drift of hogs," or "a kindle of kittens," or "a sloth of bears," or my favorite, "a skulk of thieves."

I don't know about you, but I'm determined to begin immediately using these new vocabulary words in my political blogging.