Monthly Archives: March 2013

Extra Lex: Lonely Negatives in Mental Floss

Posted on March 29, 2013 by lexiekahn

  We interrupt Lexie’s adventures for another Mental Flossing (which is entirely different from brainwashing). Disgruntled, disgusted and disheveled: Negative words that have lost their positive partners: Mental Floss

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Batsh*t Crazy

Posted on March 21, 2013 by lexiekahn

“What about [ahem] …guano,” Batman wanted to know. “Well, as Steven Pinker points out in The Stuff of Thought: Language as a Window into Human Nature, the number of Eskimo words for ‘snow’ is small potatoes compared to the range … Continue reading →

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Excavating Bat Cave Etymology

Posted on March 20, 2013 by lexiekahn

Well, I went off on a tangent taking about the bat- related to beating and battering and never did give an account of the flapping and fluttering bat that “Batman” asked me about. Here’s what the costumed character wanted to … Continue reading →

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Batting About “Debate” and “Combat”

Posted on March 12, 2013 by lexiekahn

As I hopped on the Dash bus down Franklin toward home I couldn’t get that Batman character out of my mind. He was batty, all right, but he certainly isn’t the only one in this burg. That’s part of the … Continue reading →

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Extra Lex: 6 Words English Got from Hindi

Posted on March 6, 2013 by lexiekahn

More Mental Floss to keep your convolutions minty fresh. Sure, there are more, like dungarees, dinghy, jungle and gunny (as in sack), but I think these are the most interesting words English got from Hindi: http://mentalfloss.com/article/49137/6-words-english-got-hindi

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