Category Archives: Latin language

Holy Hollywood! Has Batman Gone Batty?

Posted on January 17, 2013 by lexiekahn

A door swung open, sending a blast of cold air and a flapping sound through the java joint. Slowly, I lifted my head. A black-clad, caped figure with a pointy-eared hood stretched over his face flapped into my office. Batman. … Continue reading →

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Lexie Kahn Fears No Art

Posted on June 6, 2012 by lexiekahn

I jammed my hands into the pockets of my trench coat as C.J. sent his sky-blue Leaf slaloming down the 101 to the 110 and the 105. Would the turbulence of the planes landing at LAX blow the agile little … Continue reading →

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Lexie Kahn and the Fear Factor

Posted on May 30, 2012 by lexiekahn

What was that clip, clip, clip, clip in the hallway outside my apartment? It could only be Pom-pom, Mrs. Martinez’s Pomeranian. I gasped, realizing that in my dither over the hollyhocks I had dropped the box with the remains of … Continue reading →

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Holy Heck! Hollyhocks

Posted on May 23, 2012 by lexiekahn

I hopped off the bus in front of Ara’s Pastry but for once temptation didn’t strike. My heels were clunking rather than clicking as I trudged back to the Kenmore Arms. But I brightened as I reached my doorstep; in … Continue reading →

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Offensive Players

Posted on May 16, 2012 by lexiekahn

Well, now I knew about fending, defending and fencing. What about offending? Offend comes from ob- + -fendere (found only in compounds; < the same Indo-European base as Hittite kuenzi ‘he strikes, kills,’ Sanskrit han- ‘to strike, kill, put an … Continue reading →

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Making a Killing

Posted on April 25, 2012 by lexiekahn

“No rush. Whenever you’re ready, sir,” Louie said, sliding the bill in front of Beetlebaum. The pest master slipped the pen from the folder and extracted a small spiral notebook from the pocket of his shorts. “How do you spell … Continue reading →

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Rubbing Out a Louse

Posted on April 18, 2012 by lexiekahn

Louie, our waiter, had square horn rimmed glasses, a nimbus of closed-cropped white hair and the same serious demeanor he adopted in 1957 when he began working at Musso and Frank’s. He silently slipped our coffees in front of us. … Continue reading →

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A Menu of Victims

Posted on April 11, 2012 by lexiekahn

“Acaricide is good,” Beetlebaum said, mashing the side of one fork prong into his cheesecake, “but ticks and mites aren’t the only pests we eliminate. What else you got?” My tongue grazed a spoon of spumoni. “There’s culicicide or culicide, ‘an … Continue reading →

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All Tied Up in Etymology

Posted on March 28, 2012 by lexiekahn

The day was heating up. Or was it just me? I would be meeting Bugsy “Murder is My Business” Beetlebaum in a few hours. But I wasn’t sweating it. I just had to tie up a few loose ends, etymologically. … Continue reading →

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