Tag Archives: playfulness

Bryan Garner’s “Tip of the Day”

Posted on May 19, 2025 by Robert Basil

You really must subscribe. Today’s was delightfully humbling: racket; racquet. For the implement used in net games, racket is standard in American English and British English alike. The variant racquet appears in some proper names (e.g., the Palm Springs Racquet Club) seemingly because the “fancy” … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The root of beauty …

Posted on June 13, 2020 by Robert Basil

… is boldness, wrote Pasternak. “That is what’s brought us to one another.” Apropos: After Wolfgang Pauli had given a colloquium on some ideas related to particle physics, Pauli said to Neils Bohr: “You will probably think that what I … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Posted on December 23, 2019 by Robert Basil

The Martin building, Olympia. Collages by the wonderful David Scherer Water.

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Alpha

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Robert Basil

The end is the beginning.

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

L’Esprit D’Escalier

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Robert Basil

Things have changed, if just a little bit, in ten years. From January 2005: I’ve been hearing dialogue everywhere, dialogue that seems to be coming from the same play. At the end of party I went to recently, a woman told … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“Epic translation success”

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Robert Basil

Read more at the always alert, amusing, and erudite Language Log.

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

“Happy”

Posted on March 23, 2014 by Robert Basil

Social Media at its most buoyant.

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Defense of Kristin Stewart …

Posted on February 12, 2014 by Robert Basil

… and of the poem she recently published, surrounded by snark, in Marie Claire magazine. The poem is called “My Heart is a Wiffle Ball / Freedom Pole.” Writes poet and UCLA professor Brian Kim Stefans: This [post] is partly to address … Continue reading →

Posted in Robert's posts | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Communications Exemplar: Gender Shenanigans

Posted on May 21, 2013 by tierneywisniewski

I was delighted today to find that my friend Snipey (aka Alison Gianotto), whom I met last Defcon, was newly conspiring with her friend K2 to create a blog they’ve called Gender Shenanigans, which, as they describe it, . . … Continue reading →

Posted in Tierney's posts | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Advanced Communications Tactics: Coyote Wisdom

Posted on May 13, 2013 by tierneywisniewski

I’ve been thinking about coyote wisdom. Coyote is a main character in the stories of many North American aboriginal cultures; he is a trickster, a wise fool who shows up when everyone’s taking themselves a bit too seriously. He transforms … Continue reading →

Posted in Tierney's posts | Tagged , , | Leave a comment