Podcasts about Middle English

Hoàng gia Anh hiện được cho là một trong những hoàng gia giàu có nhất châu Âu và sẽ còn có sức sống lâu dài vì sau khi vua Charles lên nối ngôi Nữ hoàng Elizabeth II vào năm 2022, thì có con ngài là Thái tử William còn trẻ. Và William hiện có ba con, hai hoàng tử bé và một công chúa. Như thế, việc nối ngôi cho triều đại của dòng họ Mountbatten-Windsor được đảm bảo. Nhưng thực sự chúng ta có biết nhiều về Hoàng gia Anh ? Thông tín viên Nguyễn Giang, người đã sống ở Anh nhiều năm và theo dõi chủ đề này, cho RFI biết về lịch sử Hoàng Gia Anh, những gì họ sở hữu, điều đặc biệt trong cách chi tiêu và nguyên tắc kế vị : RFI : Ngược về quá khứ lịch sử, Hoàng gia Anh có gốc gác từ đâu ?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Vâng, xin giải thích dài dòng là chế độ phong kiến tập quyền của Anh đến từ đâu. Đến từ Pháp vào nửa sau thế kỷ 11 và tồn tại đến bây giờ, Hoàng gia, như một định chế chính trị và văn hóa, tồn tại ở Anh liên tục từ thế kỷ 11, không đứt quãng, còn gia tộc nào nắm quyền thì mỗi thời một khác. Chúng ta biết trong lịch sử có các triều đại làm vua chúa ở Anh như Plantagenet (gốc Anjou, Pháp), có nhà Tudor (tức Theodore, xứ Wales), có nhà Stuart (Scotland), và dòng Hanover từ Đức mà người đại diện cuối cùng là Nữ hoàng Victoria. Gia tộc nắm ngai vàng hiện nay có họ gốc Đức là Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, đến năm 1917 thời vua George V thì đổi sang họ Windsor, lấy tên lâu đài Hoàng gia ở gần Luân Đôn. Còn về dòng máu của các thành viên Hoàng gia Anh cũng như châu Âu thì họ thường có hôn nhân pha trộn rất phức tạp. Cụ thể vua Charles hiện nay có ông bà là người Anh, người Đan Mạch, Đức, Hy Lạp và cả Scotland nữa. Còn nói về thể chế và các quy tắc họ tuân theo để bảo tồn một nhà nước có vua thì tất cả bắt đầu từ năm 1066. Năm đó, công tước Guillaume hay William từ xứ Normandy ở vùng bờ biển miền tây bắc nước Pháp đem quân sang đánh vua Harold, người gốc Đan Mạch, ở trận Hastings bên bờ biển và tiến quân về Luân Đôn, giành được ngai vàng Anh.  Từ đó, Anh chính thức có chế độ phong kiến tập quyền theo mô hình Pháp và các đời vua Anh (Kings of England), trên thực tế trong 300 năm tiếp theo vẫn dùng tiếng Pháp ở triều đình, tiếng Anh Trung đại (Middle English) chỉ dùng trong dân. Hoàng gia Anh thực chất là sinh hoạt theo kiểu Pháp và giới quý tộc Anglo-Saxon cũ, thường rất đơn giản, chỉ có ba cấp vua, các thân vương và tộc trưởng (chieftain, gọi là earl- sau đổi thành count-bá tước), cũng cải tổ theo hệ thống kiểu Pháp, đủ 5 tước vị : công - hầu - bá - tử - nam tước theo truyền thống hiệp sỹ (chivalry) của châu Âu. RFI : Trong thời hiện đại, khác với các nước châu Âu đã chuyển sang nền cộng hòa, Anh vẫn còn vua chúa và quý tộc. Vậy thực sự họ làm gì và có vai trò gì trong xã hội ?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Nhiều nghi lễ ngày nay dòng họ Windsor vẫn giữ nguyên như thế từ thế kỷ 11 và Hoàng gia đứng đầu 600 dòng họ quý tộc gốc, hình thành sau cuộc xâm lăng của William, người chinh phục và được phong tước trong mấy thế kỷ sau đó. Đây là các tước quý tộc thực thụ của giới chúa đất vẫn còn quyền lợi (landed gentry), và được quyền trao lại cho con cháu họ (hereditary titles). Họ khác hẳn với những người bình thường, được tặng các tước sir, lord (baronnes), hiệp sĩ, quý ông quý bà trong danh sách của Hoàng gia công bố mỗi dịp năm mới (New Year's Honours List). Danh sách này có hàng trăm người thuộc giới doanh nhân, văn nghệ sĩ, nhà hoạt động xã hội và sĩ quan quân đội. Sau nhiều năm phong tặng, con số người có các tước “quý tộc ban thưởng” này hiện ở Anh có trên 30 nghìn, mới đây gồm cả cựu cầu thủ bóng đá David Beckham. Thế nhưng các tước này có giá trị như huân huy chương, bằng khen, và không có quyền thế tập, truyền lại cho con cháu.  RFI : Hiện nay Đế quốc Anh không còn nữa thì vai trò chính trị của Hoàng gia là gì?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Anh quốc là nền dân chủ có lâu đời trên thế giới nhưng theo thể chế quân chủ lập hiến (constitutional monarchy), và vẫn duy trì Vương triều: dòng họ Windsor. Nhà vua đóng vai trò Nguyên thủ Quốc gia (Head of State) để đại diện cho nước Anh trên thế giới, và phê chuẩn các đạo luật, bổ nhiệm thủ tướng. Ngài cũng là Tổng tư lệnh quân đội và theo truyền thống của Quân đội Anh, các sĩ quan cao nhất của các quân binh chủng đều được nhà vua phong tước quý tộc tượng trưng, còn bản thân vua Charles khi còn là Thái tử được mẹ của ngài, Nữ hoàng Elizabeth II lúc sinh thời, phong tước Nguyên soái (Field Marshall) vào năm 2012. Không quân và Hải quân Anh đều có chữ “Hoàng gia” (Royal) và trên lý thuyết là thuộc về nhà vua.  Thế nhưng, vua Charles III còn có vai trò nữa là “người dẫn dắt quốc gia” (Head of Nation) về mặt văn hóa, là người nắm quyền chủ thể (the Sovereign) duy trì tính truyền thống Anh, và lễ nghi, đem lại sự ổn định và tính kế thừa, đoàn kết quốc dân. Các hoạt động vì cộng đồng, từ thiện nếu làm tốt là được nhận huân huy chương từ Hoàng gia, chứ không phải từ quan chức chính phủ.  RFI : Hoàng gia Anh, cụ thể là vua Charles III và các thành viên Hoàng gia có sở hữu tài sản khắp cả nước hay không và họ quản lý tài sản ra sao?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Ở đây cần phân biệt hai loại tài sản. Loại thứ nhất tư dinh, điền sản và tiền bạc của riêng Nhà vua và Hoàng gia, thuộc về cá nhân họ. Loại thứ hai là tài sản của vương triều (Crown Estate) và ai làm vua nước Anh thì được sử dụng suốt đời nhưng không phải là tài sản cá nhân nên không thể bán đi bỏ túi.  Xin nói cụ thể, tính đến tháng 5/2025 thì tài sản riêng của Nhà vua Charles III (personal fortune, not including the crown estate) là £640 triệu bảng Anh (trên 850 triệu USD), đưa ông trở thành triệu phú lớn nhưng chưa phải tỷ phú. Đó là trị giá hai khu dinh thự ở Balmoral (Scotland) và Sandringham (Norfolk) kèm đất đai xung quanh, cộng các khoản nhà vua đầu tư vào các quỹ khác nhau, lợi tức từ kinh doanh mà vua giao cho các công ty phụ trách.  Còn tài sản Hoàng triều, gồm các cung điện lớn nhất nước Anh và cũng là trụ sở và nơi ở của vua như Điện Buckingham ở thủ đô và Lâu đài Windsor ở phía Tây Nam Luân Đôn, cùng nhiều điền trang thái ấp như Duchy of Cornwall...ước tính có giá trị 16 tỷ bảng Anh, thực chất là thuộc về Vương quốc Anh, và ai làm vua thì quản trị chứ không phải của riêng của dòng họ Windsor hiện nay. Lâu đài Windsor chẳng hạn có từ thời vua William người Pháp (1066), nay là trụ sở ngoài Luân Đôn của Vua Charles nhưng cũng là dinh thự quốc gia, nơi đón các khách quốc tế, ví dụ như Tổng thống Emmanuel Macron của Pháp mới đây. Ngoài ra, Crown Estate sở hữu và quản trị các “công quốc” (duchies), tức là các khu trang trại sản xuất nông nghiệp, đem lại lợi tức lớn. Tiền đó được chuyển vào một ngân hàng do chính phủ Anh quản lý (Consolidate Fund) và chừng 25% đem ra chi lại cho Hoàng gia để đi lại, bảo dưỡng, trùng tu các cung điện...  Thế nhưng, các tài sản này như đã nói, thuộc về Vương triều, và vua Anh không thể đem cho thuê, bán cho bất cứ ai ở Anh hay ở nước ngoài. Các hoàng tử, công chúa cũng không được hưởng gì từ những tài sản này. Ví dụ còn nhỏ thì họ được ở cùng cha mẹ, tức là vua và hoàng hậu (thời trước là nữ hoàng và phu quân) trong các cung điện đó nhưng họ không có quyền thừa kế. Chỉ vị trưởng nam, hoặc trưởng nữ (như trường hợp công chúa cả Elizabeth kế vị vua cha George V), thì được hưởng tiếp tục quyền lợi ở trong các cung điện, dinh thự này. Những người khác, vẫn là hoàng tử, công chúa thì có thể phải rời đi.  RFI : Về chi tiêu của Hoàng gia thì nhà nước Anh, hay người đóng thuế Anh phải bỏ ra bao nhiêu một năm?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Số tiền Nhà nước Anh, chi cho hoạt động của nhà vua và Hoàng gia hàng năm là khoảng 86-87 triệu bảng (tương đương 115 triệu USD). Như tôi nói ở trên, tổng tài sản của Hoàng triều (Crown Estate) trị giá 16 tỷ bảng, đem lại lợi tức hàng năm và nhà nước Anh thu tiền đó lại rồi lấy ra 25% chi lại cho Hoàng gia, gọi là Sovereign Grant.  Trong khoản tiền này thì chừng 50-51 triệu bảng chủ yếu để bảo vệ, duy trì, sửa sang các dinh thự, cộng với chi phí đi lại, ví dụ vua Charles đi thăm nước nào đó, ở cương vị Nguyên thủ Quốc gia thì đó là chi phí máy bay, khách sạn... Ví dụ từ năm ngoái tới nay, Hoàng gia có thuê 55 chuyến bay riêng với gần 600.000 bảng Anh, và các chuyến bay theo lịch trình mất 126.000 bảng Anh. Tổng chi phí đi lại của hoàng gia là 4,7 triệu bảng Anh, tăng 500.000 bảng so với năm trước. Trong năm qua, khoản chi lớn nhất là 400.000 bảng cho chuyến đi của Nhà vua và Hoàng hậu tới Úc và Samoa. Nếu chia ra thì để duy trì các hoạt động của Hoàng gia, mỗi người dân Anh hàng năm đóng góp chừng 77 xu Anh.    RFI : Theo anh tìm hiểu thì nguyên tắc truyền ngôi và thừa kế tài sản, các cung điện, dinh thự lớn của Hoàng gia Anh ra sao?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Phải nói rằng Hoàng gia Anh đứng trên cao nhất nhưng không đứng ngoài các nguyên tắc của quý tộc Anh : hạn chế quyền thừa kế, chỉ cho trưởng nam, hoặc trưởng nữ nếu vua không có con trai. Đây là nguyên tắc ‘primogeniture', nói rằng trừ một số biệt lệ với quý tộc Scotland cho con gái có quyền thừa kế, chỉ con trai trưởng được thừa kế gia sản đi kèm tước vị. Nếu nhà quý tộc có hai con trai trở lên, các con trai thứ sẽ không nhận được gì.  Với Hoàng gia Anh, khi Nữ hoàng Elizabeth còn sống thì Thái tử Charles là người duy nhất thừa kế ngai vàng cùng các điền sản, tiền bạc từ mẹ. Các hoàng tử thứ Andrew và Edward, cùng công chúa Anne bị loại ra ngoài khoản thừa kế. Nay thì vua Charles sẽ để lại hết cho Thái tử William, còn hoàng tử Harry thì ngoài các khoản tiền hay dinh thự tư nhân mẹ để lại, không được thừa kế cả quyền sống trong các lâu đài của Hoàng gia. Nay đã sang Mỹ sinh sống, vị Hoàng tử này đã trọ ở khách sạn trong lần gần nhất về Luân Đôn tham gia một vụ kiện chống lại báo chí Anh. Tất nhiên ta phải hiểu là Hoàng tử Harry như một công dân bình thường thì vẫn có quyền nhận thừa kế từ cha mẹ (Công nương Diana khi tử nạn năm 1997 ở Paris có để lại tài sản cho hai con trai, William và Harry), nhưng đó là tài sản cá nhân, còn các điền trang thái ấp thuộc Hoàng triều (Crown Estate) thì chỉ được trao cho trưởng nam, hoặc trưởng nữ nếu nhà vua không có con trai.  Nguyên tắc này còn phân biệt đối xử với phụ nữ. Với các công chúa Anh thì con của họ đều không còn tước quý tộc. Ví dụ hai con của Công chúa Anne, em gái Vua Charles, là Zara và Peter Philipps, thì mang họ cha, một sĩ quan quân đội không phải quý tộc. Xin mở ngoặc là điều này khiến Hoàng gia Anh khác hẳn với các dòng đế hệ của triều Nguyễn ở Việt Nam mà từ thời vua Minh Mạng đã để lại các tên riêng, đánh dấu địa vị quý phái của họ, gồm cả công tằng tôn nữ cho cháu chắt của vua chúa đến mấy đời sau. Bên này chỉ đến đời thứ hai, con của công chúa trưởng đã mất hết tước vị.  Chúng ta hiểu là thời xưa, nguyên tắc ưu tiên trưởng nam trong luật thừa kế của vua chúa có ý nghĩa lớn cho sự ổn định của triều đại. Họ hạn chế nạn phân phong đất đai, dẫn tới cạnh tranh kiểu sứ quân. Ngày nay, quy chế truyền ngôi chỉ cho trưởng nam đúng là bất công với anh em trong một nhà, nhưng lại giúp bảo toàn được uy quyền của Vương triều, không để xảy ra việc xé lẻ đất đai, cung điện và tài sản.  RFI : Cuối cùng, Hoàng gia làm gì để tồn tại và phù hợp với tình hình?  TTV Nguyễn Giang : Việc đầu tiên tôi thấy là tính minh bạch của tiền bạc Hoàng gia. Họ công bố hết mọi chi tiêu trên các trang mạng của Quốc hội, của Hoàng triều, ai cũng đọc được. Điều này nhằm mục tiêu chứng minh cho công chúng rằng Hoàng gia không phải là một bộ máy phong kiến « ăn trên ngồi trốc ». Họ đóng góp vào công quỹ và nhận được trợ cấp từ chính phủ để lo việc nước. Có thế họ mới tồn tại được trong một thể chế dân chủ. Vua cũng có trách nhiệm giải trình.  Thứ nhì, từ thời Nữ hoàng Elizabeth II thì số người thuộc Hoàng gia (Royal Family) đã bị giảm đi rất nhiều, để tránh tiếng là Hoàng gia đông quá. Ngày xưa, người trong Hoàng tộc, gồm hàng trăm người, và ai cũng giàu có, cao quý cả. Nhưng nay danh sách “thành viên Hoàng gia đang làm việc cho Quốc vương” (working royals) chỉ còn 11 đại diện cho vua để dự các lễ nhà nước, lo hoạt động đối ngoại, tiếp tân, từ thiện … Những người này được nhận tiền trợ cấp của vua khi làm việc chứ không ăn lương năm.  Còn về tài sản riêng, có những động tác cho thấy Hoàng gia cắt giảm chi tiêu. Ví dụ, năm nay vua Charles vừa ra lệnh dừng sử dụng đoàn tàu hỏa riêng từ năm 2027 để tiết kiệm. Đây là đoàn tàu Royal Train do Nữ hoàng Victoria đặt hàng hai toa riêng cho Hoàng gia vào năm 1869. Khi đó, xe lửa là phương tiện giao thông công cộng duy nhất nối các vùng của Anh, với tuyến đầu tiên xây xong năm 1825. Cho tới gần đây, Royal Train được sử dụng rộng rãi trong các sự kiện trong thời kỳ kỷ niệm vàng và kim cương của Nữ hoàng Elizabeth II ở nửa sau  thế kỷ 20 – và lần tân trang mới nhất cho các toa tàu diễn ra vào giữa thập niên 1980.  Thế nhưng càng về gần đây, Hoàng gia dùng xe hơi, máy bay, trực thăng để di chuyển, nên trong năm 2024-2025 đoàn tàu chỉ được sử dụng trong hai dịp nên họ quyết định từ năm 2027 sẽ dừng dịch vụ này, đem các toa tàu đi trưng bày.  Cuối cùng, như đã nói ở trên, nguyên tắc trưởng nam thế tập tước vị và điền sản, còn con trai thứ, con gái, dù là hoàng tử, công chúa đều bị loại hoàn toàn khỏi các chức vụ và đặc quyền đặc lợi, khiến cho công chúng cảm thấy là chỉ có một người được làm thái tử, làm vua, và đó là làm việc cho đất nước.  Tài sản của Hoàng triều là của nước Anh chứ không phải của riêng của vua, nữ hoàng, để rồi có bao nhiêu cung điện - di sản của quốc gia - lại đem chia nhau. Như đã nói ở trên, Hoàng tử Harry là không còn sống ở Anh, không làm việc đại diện cho Hoàng gia nữa thì không chỉ mất luôn tiền trợ cấp mà còn bị tước hết các chức vụ trong quân đội. Đây là thông điệp mạnh mẽ của vua Charles để chứng minh Hoàng gia đặt lên mức cao nhất công tác phụng sự quốc dân, chứ không bao giờ thiên vị con mình. 

The rank and brutal foulness of the brown fizzy berry cruelty overwhelmed the judicial malfeasance and filicidal love of these Middle English moral exempla. Everything sucked.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 3, 2025 is: gibbous • JIB-us • adjective Gibbous is most often used to describe the moon or a planet when it is seen with more than half but not all of the apparent disk illuminated. // The waxing gibbous moon provided the perfect lighting for a night of spooky storytelling around the campfire. See the entry > Examples: “At 3:30 a.m. the gibbous moon is high in the south and Perseus is nearly overhead. Set up a comfortable lawn chair facing away from any bright lights, ideally looking toward the northeast with the moon to your back. Have insect repellent handy along with hot chocolate, tea or coffee and enjoy the show.” — Tim Hunter, The Arizona Daily Star, 7 Aug. 2025 Did you know? The adjective gibbous has its origins in the Latin noun gibbus, meaning “hump.” It was adopted into Middle English to describe rounded, convex things. While it has been used to describe the rounded body parts of humans and animals (such as the back of a camel) and to describe the shape of certain flowers (such as snapdragons), the term is most often used to describe the moon: a gibbous moon is one that is between half full and full.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 3, 2025 is: gibbous • JIB-us • adjective Gibbous is most often used to describe the moon or a planet when it is seen with more than half but not all of the apparent disk illuminated. // The waxing gibbous moon provided the perfect lighting for a night of spooky storytelling around the campfire. See the entry > Examples: “At 3:30 a.m. the gibbous moon is high in the south and Perseus is nearly overhead. Set up a comfortable lawn chair facing away from any bright lights, ideally looking toward the northeast with the moon to your back. Have insect repellent handy along with hot chocolate, tea or coffee and enjoy the show.” — Tim Hunter, The Arizona Daily Star, 7 Aug. 2025 Did you know? The adjective gibbous has its origins in the Latin noun gibbus, meaning “hump.” It was adopted into Middle English to describe rounded, convex things. While it has been used to describe the rounded body parts of humans and animals (such as the back of a camel) and to describe the shape of certain flowers (such as snapdragons), the term is most often used to describe the moon: a gibbous moon is one that is between half full and full.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 2, 2025 is: atone • uh-TOHN • verb To atone for something is to make amends for it—that is, to do something good as a way of showing that you are sorry about, or have remorse for, a mistake, bad behavior, etc. // The novel opens with an act of cruelty and then traces the thoughts and actions of those responsible as they try to atone for it. See the entry > Examples: “... the catcher atoned for his earlier miscue by hitting a game-tying solo homer to straightaway center field.” — Mac Cerullo, The Boston Herald, 24 July 2025 Did you know? Atone has its roots in the idea of reconciliation and harmony. It grew out of the Middle English phrase at on meaning “in harmony,” a phrase echoed in current expressions like “feeling at one with nature.” When atone joined modern English in the 16th century, it meant “to reconcile,” and suggested the restoration of a peaceful and harmonious state between people or groups. Today, atone specifically implies addressing the damage—or disharmony—caused by one's own behavior.

rWotD Episode 3071: Landscape painting Welcome to random Wiki of the Day, your journey through Wikipedia's vast and varied content, one random article at a time.The random article for Tuesday, 30 September 2025, is Landscape painting.Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a coherent composition. In other works, landscape backgrounds for figures can still form an important part of the work. Sky is almost always included in the view, and weather is often an element of the composition. Detailed landscapes as a distinct subject are not found in all artistic traditions, and develop when there is already a sophisticated tradition of representing other subjects.Two main traditions spring from Western painting and Chinese art, going back well over a thousand years in both cases. The recognition of a spiritual element in landscape art is present from its beginnings in East Asian art, drawing on Daoism and other philosophical traditions, but in the West only becomes explicit with Romanticism.Landscape views in art may be entirely imaginary, or copied from reality with varying degrees of accuracy. If the primary purpose of a picture is to depict an actual, specific place, especially including buildings prominently, it is called a topographical view. Such views, extremely common as prints in the West, are often seen as inferior to fine art landscapes, although the distinction is not always meaningful; similar prejudices existed in Chinese art, where literati painting usually depicted imaginary views, while professional artists painted real views.The word "landscape" entered the modern English language as landskip (variously spelt), an anglicization of the Dutch landschap, around the start of the 17th century, purely as a term for works of art, with its first use as a word for a painting in 1598. Within a few decades it was used to describe vistas in poetry, and eventually as a term for real views. However, the cognate term landscaef or landskipe for a cleared patch of land had existed in Old English, though it is not recorded from Middle English.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:55 UTC on Tuesday, 30 September 2025.For the full current version of the article, see Landscape painting on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Bluesky at @wikioftheday.com.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Ayanda.

Three-time Tony Award–winning director, producer, and writer JACK O'BRIEN joins host Nathan Winkelstein for a deep dive into the evolution of language and Shakespeare's verse. From memory, O'Brien delivers Marc Antony's famous speech from Act 3 Scene 1 of Julius Caesar — “O pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth,” — before unpacking the nuances of Shakespeare's text, its rhythm, and its structure. Plus, he shares his unforgettable Middle English party trick!LISTEN NOW everywhere you enjoy podcasts and at RedBullTheater.com

News; birthdays/events; would you consume less if you were incentivized?; word of the day. News; best TV shows of the last 25 years (Rotten Tomatoes list); game: Jason Alexander/Costanza trivia; pot pie is comfort food...what do you like in yours? News; best movies of the last 25 years (Rotten Tomatoes list); game: songs with "train" in the title; what's your don't knock it til you try it hack? News; most confusing appliances; game: mindtrap; goodbye/fun facts....National Baker Day. Baker is the last name of Old English origin, derived from the Middle English and Old English words...it's derived from the word ‘bacan,' which means ‘to dry by heat,' that is, ‘to bake.' It originated before the eighth century and was primarily used as an occupational name for people who baked bread or bricks. During the Middle Ages, most households baked their bread, so the popular belief is that the name was used to refer to the owner of a communal oven, who was in charge of baking bread for a community or village. Then it transisitoned from a job title to a common last name in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland then to America...and now it's becoming a more popular first name choice.

“I can't fix the world. I can't save my university. I can't save my department. I can't save my students .... but I can keep showing up to what I've been called to do.” — Grace Hamman Medieval scholar Grace Hamman joins us on the podcast to discuss the wisdom medieval virtues and vices have for us today. What can medieval virtues and vices teach us about living the good life today? Author and medieval scholar Dr. Grace Hamman joins us on the podcast to discuss her recent book Ask of Old Paths: Medieval Virtues and Vices for a Whole and Holy Life. In our conversation, Grace describes what drew her into the study of virtues and vices, and the timeless truths she discovered in her work. We discuss the insights that virtues and vices offer about human nature and Grace offers practical suggestions about ways these ancient ideas can lead us into a life of wholeness today. Grace shares too about her journey as an independent scholar and the gifts and challenges she has found on that path. Also, as a bonus, Grace's publisher has shared an excerpt from her book that you can check out in our show notes, so take a look at those. And if you listen to the end of the credits, you'll hear an excerpt from our interview where Grace recites something for us in Middle English. So jump right in! We're so glad you're here. — Ann Boyd For show notes or more information please visit our article at The Well. If you'd like to support the work of InterVarsity's Women Scholars and Professionals, including future podcasts such as this episode, you can do so at givetoiv.org/wsap. Thank you for listening!

In this final episode of the Septuagint (LXX) series, we discuss what needs to be done to produce a proper translation of the LXX in English. This a technical episode, but a vital one. There should exist in every language spoken by a Christian nation a definitive version of the Scriptures in that language, and in this episode we provide the structure and the mechanics by which that can be achieved. This will be a years-long project, and it will have to be undertaken by other men. Until then, we have provided links to a number of existing English translations in the show notes, infra. Any existing version of the LXX in English is certainly better than all of the extant copies based on the rabbinic text. Show Notes English Septuagint Translations: Brenton Hardcover [English and Greek] PDF Lexham (2nd) Hardcover Logos NETS Hardcover PDFs Thomson, Charles Archive.org PDF [free] Logos [not free] The Ancient Christian Study Bible (coming 2027) See Also The Göttingen Septuagint Further Reading Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International The Canterbury Tales in Middle English and Modern English Parental Warnings None.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 15, 2025 is: askance • uh-SKANSS • adverb Askance means "in a way that shows a lack of trust or approval" or "with a side-glance."   // I couldn't help but look askance at the dealer's assurances that the car had never been in an accident. // Several people eyed them askance when they walked into the room. See the entry > Examples: "In other cultures they might look askance at such a gnarly, leggy thing wedged into a loaf. But we know that a whole fried soft shell crab is one of the gifts of southeast Louisiana's robust seafood heritage." — Ian McNulty, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate Online, 1 May 2025 Did you know? As with the similar word side-eye, writers over the years have used askance literally when someone is looking with a side-glance and figuratively when such a glance is conveying disapproval or distrust. Back in the days of Middle English you could use askaunce and a-skans and a-skaunces to mean “in such a way that,” “as if to say,” and “artificially, deceptively.” It's likely that askance developed from these forms, with some help from asqwynt meaning “obliquely, askew.” Askance was first used in the 16th century with the meaning "sideways" or "with a sideways glance.”

[DONATE WITH PAYPAL] In this episode, Greg explores the stark contrasts between the medieval Catholic guide "Ars Moriendi" and contemporary secular books on "The Art of Dying." He breaks down the historical steps for a faithful death—overcoming temptations, sacraments, and communal rituals—against modern focuses on autonomy, pain management, and legacy-building in hospices. Reflecting on why the Catholic approach offers eternal hope amid today's medicalized views, Greg invites listeners to consider how faith transforms our final moments. A thoughtful monologue for those curious about Catholicism's timeless wisdom on mortality. Donate with PayPal! Website: https://www.consideringcatholicism.com/ Email: consideringcatholicism@gmail.com Suggested Episodes: What Happens When We Die (#69) A Good Death (#85) Will I Be Judged? (#86) Snapshot: Taking Death Seriously (#149) What is Heaven? Part 2: The Moment of Death (#339) A readable English version of the Ars Moriendi is the 15th-century adaptation known as "The Book of the Craft of Dying" (also called "The Craft for to Die"), which is based directly on the medieval Latin text and was printed by William Caxton in 1490 as one of the first English versions. This is available on Wikisource in a shorter, accessible form with modernized spelling for easier reading, covering the key elements like spiritual preparations, temptations (e.g., despair), faith affirmations, prayers, and devotions. It's fully in English, free to read online, and text-based without illustrations (though the original blockbook's woodcuts are not part of this adaptation). You can link to it at: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Book_of_the_Craft_of_Dying/shorter. A more complete scholarly edition with the full Caxton text in Middle English (still readable but with archaic spelling), there's a free facsimile on Google Books at: https://books.google.com/books?id=8a5YAAAAcAAJ. One of the best online versions of the medieval Ars Moriendi that includes woodcut illustrations is the digitized copy from the Library of Congress, specifically the blockbook edition from Germany, circa 1466. This version, part of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, features the iconic eleven woodcut illustrations depicting the dying man (Moriens) facing temptations from demons and receiving inspirations from angels, culminating in a scene of salvation or damnation. The digital scans are high-quality, showcasing the detailed and dramatic artwork, and the resource is freely accessible under the Library of Congress's open access policy, making it ideal for your podcast audience of curious non-Catholics and cradle Catholics rediscovering the faith. You can link to it directly at: https://www.loc.gov/item/49038880/.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 7, 2025 is: behest • bih-HEST • noun Behest can refer either to an authoritative order or an urgent prompting. // The committee met again at the senator's behest. // At the behest of her friends, Marcie read the poem aloud. See the entry > Examples: “... Raymond Carver and I were selecting stories for our American Short Story Masterpieces. When Ray and I worked on our selections, we would meet in Manhattan, where I lived, or in Syracuse, New York, where he lived. ... Each morning we'd read and then meet for lunch and talk about what we'd read. After lunch we'd read some more, and at dinner we talked about the afternoon's reading. Sometimes we'd reread at the other's behest.” — Tom Jenks, LitHub.com, 2 Aug. 2024 Did you know? In Return of the Jedi, the villain Darth Vader speaks with an old-timey flair when he asks his boss, the Emperor, for instructions: “What is thy bidding, my master?” If the film's screenwriters wanted him to sound even more old-timey, however, they could have chosen to have him ask “What is thy behest?” As a word for a command or order, behest predates bidding in English by a couple centuries, dating all the way back—long, long ago, though still in this galaxy—to the 1100s. Its Old English ancestor, the noun behǣs, referred to a promise, a meaning that continued on in Middle English especially in the phrase “the land of behest” but is now obsolete. The “command” sense of behest is still in good use, typically referring to an authoritative order, whether from an emperor or some other high-ranking figure. Behest is now also used with a less forceful meaning; it can refer to an urgent prompting, as in “an anniversary showing of classic films at the behest of the franchise's fans.”

You can be unkempt, but can you be just kempt? Let’s find out in this Adventure in Etymology on Radio Omniglot. An unkempt llama Unkempt [ˌʌnˈkɛmpt] means uncombed or dishevelled (hair), disorderly, untidy, messy, rough or unpolished. It comes from unkemmed, from Middle English kembed (well-combed, neat), from kemben [ˈkɛm(b)ən] (to comb), from Old English […]

In this Adventure in Etymology we uncover the sticky roots of the word climb. Meanings of climb [klaɪm] include: To ascend, rise or go up To mount, move upwards To scale, get to the top of To move by gripping with the hands and using the feet It comes from Middle English climben [ˈkli(ː)mbən / […]

Stefan Collini, FBA. Professor Emeritus of Intellectual History and English Literature, University of Cambridge.The Donald Winch Lectures in Intellectual History.University of St Andrews. 11th, 12th & 13th October 2022.In the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, universities expanded to include a wide range of what came to be regarded as academic ‘disciplines'. In Britain, the study of ‘English literature' was eventually to become one of the biggest and most popular of these subjects, yet it was in some ways an awkward fit: not obviously susceptible to the ‘scientific' treatment considered the hallmark of a scholarly discipline, it aroused a kind of existential commitment in many of those who taught and studied it. These lectures explore some of the ways in which these tensions worked themselves out in the last two hundred years, drawing on a wide range of sources to understand the aspirations invested in the subject, the resistance that it constantly encountered, and the distinctive forms of enquiry that came to define it. In so doing, they raise larger questions about the changing character of universities, the peculiar cultural standing of ‘literature', and the conflicting social expectations that societies have entertained towards higher education and specialized scholarship.Handout - Lecture 3: Syllabuses1. ‘“English”, including Anglo-Saxon and Middle English along with modern English, including what we ordinarily call the “dull” periods as well as the “great” ones, is an object more or less presented to us by nature.'2. ‘In the 1880s, an exciting duel between two great publishing houses brought the price of the rival National and World Libraries (Cassell's and Routledge's, respectively) down to 3d in paper and 6d in cloth. And not only were prices cut: the selection of titles was greatly enlarged, the old standbys - Milton, Pope, Cowper, Thomson, Burns, Goldsmith, and the rest - being joined by many other authors who had seldom or ever appeared in cheap editions.'3. ‘Sir John Denham (1615-1668) is familiar from the oft-quoted couplet in his poem of Cooper's Hill, the measured and stately versification of which has been highly praised. He died an old man in the reign of Charles II, with a mind clouded by the sudden loss of his young wife, whom he had married late in life. John Cleveland (1613-1659), author of the Rebel Scot and certain vigorous attacks on the Protector, was the earliest poetical champion of royalty. Butler is said to have adopted the style of his satires in Hudibras. Colonel Richard Lovelace (1618-1658) ....'4. ‘Poetry: More advanced poems from Chaucer (e.g. The Prologue), Shakespeare, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth, Tennyson, or from selections such as The Golden Treasury; Shakespeare, (Histories, Comedies or easier Tragedies). Prose: Plutarch's Lives, Kinglake, Eothen, Borrow, Lavengro, Ruskin, Sesame and Lilies, Frowde [sic; ?Froude], selected short studies, Modern prose Comedies (e.g. Goldsmith and Sheridan), Selections from British Essayists (e.g. Addison, Lamb, Goldsmith), Macaulay, Essays or selected chapters from The History.'5. ‘In the 1930s favourite Higher Certificate set books and authors among the various Boards include: The Faerie Queene, Marlowe's Faustus, Bacon's essays, Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie, Hakluyt, The New Atlantis, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, Lamb, Carlyle, Pope, Dryden, Scott and the Romantic poets. These texts and authors changed hardly at all between 1930 and 1950 (and represent a very similar situation to that of 1900-1910).'6. ‘An Honours Degree in English Language and Literature at present entails, in every University in England, some knowledge both of Latin or Greek at the outset, and of Old English later.' This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit standrewsiih.substack.com

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 4, 2025 is: tapestry • TAP-uh-stree • noun A tapestry is a heavy textile characterized by complicated pictorial designs and used for hangings, curtains, and upholstery. In figurative use, tapestry may refer to anything made up of different things, people, colors, etc. // The walls were adorned with handwoven tapestries. // They enjoyed the rich tapestry of life in the city. See the entry > Examples: “The event showcased the vibrant tapestry of the numerous cultural backgrounds of the students through dance, performance, music, language and artistic expression.” — Foysol Choudhury, The Edinburgh (Scotland) Evening News, 10 May 2025 Did you know? Several languages weave through the history of tapestry, which comes from a Greek word meaning “carpet” and traveled through Anglo-French and Middle English before arriving in modern English in the 15th century. Tapestry originally referred to a heavy handwoven reversible textile used for hangings, curtains, and upholstery, and characterized by complicated pictorial designs. It still does today, but the word has fittingly developed a “tapestry” of additional senses. It may describe a nonreversible imitation of tapestry used chiefly for upholstery, or embroidery on canvas resembling woven tapestry. It can also refer figuratively to anything made up of different parts, as in “nature's rich tapestry.” Tapestry isn't the only art word that's developed a figurative “medley” sense; collage (“a work of art made by adhering pieces of different materials (such as paper, cloth, or wood) to a flat surface”) and mosaic (“a decoration made by inlaying small pieces of variously colored material (such as glass or ceramic) to form pictures or patterns”) are both used figuratively to mean “a collection of different things.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 16, 2025 is: abject • AB-jekt • adjective Abject usually describes things that are extremely bad or severe. It can also describe something that feels or shows shame, or someone lacking courage or strength. // Happily, their attempts to derail the project ended in abject failure. // The defendants were contrite, offering abject apologies for their roles in the scandal that cost so many their life savings. // The author chose to cast all but the hero of the book as abject cowards. See the entry > Examples: “This moment ... points toward the book's core: a question of how to distinguish tenderness from frugality. Is ‘Homework' about a child who took a remarkably frictionless path, aided by a nation that had invested in civic institutions, from monetary hardship to the ivory tower? Merely technically. Is it a story of how members of a family, protected by a social safety net from abject desperation, developed different ideas about how to relate to material circumstance? We're getting there.” — Daniel Felsenthal, The Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2025 Did you know? We're sorry to say you must cast your eyes down to fully understand abject: in Middle English the word described those lowly ones who are rejected and cast out. By the 15th century, it was applied as it still is today to anything that has sunk to, or exists in, a low state or condition; in modern use it often comes before the words poverty, misery, and failure. Applied to words like surrender and apology, it connotes hopelessness and humility. The word's Latin source is the verb abicere, meaning “to throw away, throw down, overcome, or abandon.” Like reject, its ultimate root is the Latin verb jacere, meaning “to throw.” Subject is also from jacere, and we'll leave you with that word as a way to change the subject.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 24, 2025 is: noisome • NOY-sum • adjective Noisome is a formal and literary word used to describe things that are very unpleasant or disgusting; it is used especially to describe offensive smells. Noisome can also mean “highly obnoxious or objectionable” as in “we were put off by their noisome habits.” // The noisome odor of a trash can in the alley was so strong that even diners seated inside the adjacent restaurant complained to staff. See the entry > Examples: “During the fourteenth century, the bubonic plague outbreak that came to be known as the Black Death claimed thousands of victims, condemning them to a rapid and painful end. As the sufferers deteriorated, the disease tainted them with a tell-tale, repellent stench, which seemed to confirm smell as the root cause of the illness. ... Noisome dwellings were set right by fumigation, while rooms were doused with strong-smelling substances like vinegar and turpentine—anything to keep at bay the dreaded miasma.” — Ashley Ward, Where We Meet the World: The Story of the Senses, 2023 Did you know? Noisome looks and sounds like a close relation of noisy, but it's not. While noisy describes what is excessively loud, noisome typically describes what is excessively stinky. (It is also used to describe things offensive to the senses generally, as well as things that are highly obnoxious, objectionable, or simply harmful.) Noisome comes from the synonymous Middle English noysome, which combines the suffix -some, meaning “characterized by a specified thing,” and the noun noy, meaning “annoyance.” Noisy, incidentally, comes ultimately from Latin nausea, meaning “nausea.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 23, 2025 is: wherewithal • WAIR-wih-thawl • noun Wherewithal refers to the means, skills, resources, or money that is needed to get or do something. // The company does not have the financial wherewithal to expand into other markets at this time. See the entry > Examples: "... it is heartening to know that there are people of real influence who have the will and wherewithal to help lift the city out of the doldrums." — Scott Wright, The Herald (Scotland), 15 May 2025 Did you know? If wherewithal sounds like three words smashed together, that's because it is—sort of. Wherewithal combines where and withal, an adverb from Middle English that is itself a combination of with and all. In the past, wherewithal was used as a conjunction meaning "with or by means of which" and as a pronoun meaning "that with or by which." Today, however, it is almost always used as a noun to refer to the means or resources a person or entity has at their disposal. It refers especially to financial resources, but other means such as social influence, ability, and emotional capacity may also be termed as "wherewithal."

In this episode, we offer a close reading of "Sumer is icumen in," a Middle English song that anticipates the abundant joys of summer. Thanks to the Pias Group for granting us permission to share the Hilliard Ensemble's rendition of this song. You can find the manuscript that includes the lyrics and music at the British Library (https://blogs.bl.uk/digitisedmanuscripts/2012/06/sumer-is-icumen-in.html).

In this Adventure in Etymology, we find out where the word spring springs from. Spring blossom on my apple tree As a verb, spring [spɹɪŋ] can mean: To appear. To grow, to sprout. To arise, come into existence. To enliven. To move with great speed and energy. To leap over. It comes from Middle English […]

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2025 is: slough • SLUFF • verb Slough is a formal verb used for the action of getting rid of something unwanted. It is usually used with off. Slough can also mean "to lose a dead layer of (skin)" or "to become shed or cast off." // The editorial urges the mayor not to slough off responsibility for the errors in the report. // The exfoliating cleanser promises to gently slough away dead skin cells. See the entry > Examples: "Before she left her apartment, she gathered and washed some in a bowl. Then she drew a bath and soaked for a while, eating the figs one by one, swallowing even the hard stems. The steam and water loosened her tense muscles, and her aches started to vanish. She scrubbed herself until the dead skin sloughed off, and underneath, she was new." — Sally Wen Mao, Ninetails: Nine Tales, 2024 Did you know? There are two verbs spelled slough in English, as well as two nouns, and both sets have different pronunciations. The first noun, referring to a swamp or a discouraged state of mind, is pronounced to rhyme with either blue or cow. Its related verb, which can mean "to plod through mud," has the same pronunciation. The second noun, pronounced to rhyme with cuff, refers to the shed skin of a snake (as well as anything else that has been cast off). Its related verb describes the action of shedding or eliminating something, just like a snake sheds its skin. This slough comes from Middle English slughe and is related to slūch, a Middle High German word meaning "snakeskin."

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 23, 2025 is: slough • SLUFF • verb Slough is a formal verb used for the action of getting rid of something unwanted. It is usually used with off. Slough can also mean "to lose a dead layer of (skin)" or "to become shed or cast off." // The editorial urges the mayor not to slough off responsibility for the errors in the report. // The exfoliating cleanser promises to gently slough away dead skin cells. See the entry > Examples: "Before she left her apartment, she gathered and washed some in a bowl. Then she drew a bath and soaked for a while, eating the figs one by one, swallowing even the hard stems. The steam and water loosened her tense muscles, and her aches started to vanish. She scrubbed herself until the dead skin sloughed off, and underneath, she was new." — Sally Wen Mao, Ninetails: Nine Tales, 2024 Did you know? There are two verbs spelled slough in English, as well as two nouns, and both sets have different pronunciations. The first noun, referring to a swamp or a discouraged state of mind, is pronounced to rhyme with either blue or cow. Its related verb, which can mean "to plod through mud," has the same pronunciation. The second noun, pronounced to rhyme with cuff, refers to the shed skin of a snake (as well as anything else that has been cast off). Its related verb describes the action of shedding or eliminating something, just like a snake sheds its skin. This slough comes from Middle English slughe and is related to slūch, a Middle High German word meaning "snakeskin."

Is Sir Gawain underappreciated as a Catholic story? How did 14th-century English poets reconcile courtly honor and Christian love? Find out as we discuss Tolkien's essay on the great Middle English poem, as well as our thoughts on people's misconceptions about the pope!Follow us on X! Give us your opinions here!

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 17, 2025 is: uncouth • un-KOOTH • adjective Uncouth describes things, such as language or behavior, that are impolite or socially unacceptable. A person may also be described as uncouth if they are behaving in a rude way. // Stacy realized it would be uncouth to show up to the party without a gift, so she picked up a bottle of wine on the way. See the entry > Examples: “Perhaps people deride those who buy books solely for how they look because it reminds them that despite their primary love of literature, they still appreciate a beautiful cover. It's not of primary importance but liking how something looks in your home matters to some extent, even if it feels uncouth to acknowledge.” — Chiara Dello Joio, LitHub.com, 24 Jan. 2023 Did you know? Old English speakers used the word cūth to describe things that were familiar to them, and uncūth for the strange and mysterious. These words passed through Middle English into modern English with different spellings but the same meanings. While couth eventually dropped out of use, uncouth soldiered on. In Captain Singleton by English novelist Daniel Defoe, for example, the author refers to “a strange noise more uncouth than any they had ever heard,” while Shakespeare wrote of an “uncouth forest” in As You Like It. This “unfamiliar” sense of uncouth, however, joined couth in becoming, well, unfamiliar to most English users, giving way to the now-common meanings, “rude” and “lacking polish or grace.” The adjective couth in use today, meaning “sophisticated” or “polished,” arose at the turn of the 20th century, not from the earlier couth, but as a back-formation of uncouth, joining the ranks of other “uncommon opposites” such as kempt and gruntled.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 16, 2025 is: adversity • ad-VER-suh-tee • noun Adversity refers to a difficult situation or condition, or to a state of serious or continued difficulty or misfortune. // The soldiers were honored for acting with courage in the face of adversity. // The team overcame many adversities on their way to summiting the mountain. See the entry > Examples: “To foster self-reliance, colleges should focus on supports that empower students to face challenges. ... Instead of lowering demands to accommodate discomfort, institutions can create frameworks that help students cope, adapt and ultimately thrive in the face of adversity.” — Steven Mintz, Inside Higher Ed, 11 Mar. 2025 Did you know? The world, alas, is full of adversity of all kinds, from misfortune to outright calamity. But while we—being humble lexicographers, not sagacious philosophers—cannot explain the source of such adversity, we can explain the source of the word adversity. If you've ever faced adversity and felt like fate, the world, or something else was turned against you, it will not surprise you that adversity traces back to the Latin verb advertere, meaning “to turn toward, direct,” itself a combination of the verb vertere, “to turn,” and the prefix ad-, “to.” The past participle of advertere is adversus, meaning “turned toward, facing, opposed,” which eventually led (via a couple languages in between) to the Middle English word adversite, meaning “opposition, hostility, misfortune, or hardship,” and the adversity we know today.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 10, 2025 is: chary • CHAIR-ee • adjective Chary is usually used with about or of to describe someone who is cautious about doing something. // The director is chary about spending money. // I've always been chary of travelling alone. See the entry > Examples: “Overall, Rendell is chary about divulging the selling price of various documents, but he does occasionally reveal some financial details.” — Michael Dirda, The Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2024 Did you know? How did chary, which began as the opposite of cheery, become a synonym of wary? Don't worry, there's no need to be chary—the answer is not dreary. Chary's Middle English predecessor, charri, meant “sorrowful,” a sense that harks back to the Old English word cearig, meaning “troubled, troublesome, taking care,” which ultimately comes from an assumed-but-unattested Germanic word, karō, meaning “sorrow” or “worry,” that is also an ancestor of the word care. It's perhaps unsurprising then, that chary was once used to mean “dear” or “cherished.” Both sorrow and affection have largely faded from chary, and today the word is most often used as a synonym of careful.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for April 9, 2025 is: vouchsafe • vowch-SAYF • verb Vouchsafe is a formal and old-fashioned word meaning "to give (something) to someone as a promise or a privilege." // He vouchsafed the secret to only a few of his closest allies. See the entry > Examples: "[Arthur] Conan Doyle (1859-1930) wrote several horribly chilling tales of the supernatural, although this might surprise readers who only know his Sherlock Holmes stories. When there are eerie goings-on in the Holmes yarns, a rational explanation is inevitably vouchsafed, à la Scooby-Doo." — Jake Kerridge, The Daily Telegraph (London), 20 Dec. 2023 Did you know? Shakespeare fans are well acquainted with vouchsafe, which in its Middle English form vouchen sauf meant "to grant, consent, or deign." The word, which was borrowed with its present meaning from Anglo-French in the 14th century, pops up fairly frequently in the Bard's work—60 times, to be exact. "Vouchsafe me yet your picture for my love," beseeches Proteus of Silvia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona. "Vouchsafe me raiment, bed, and food," King Lear begs his daughter Regan. But you needn't turn to Shakespeare to find vouchsafe; today's writers still find it to be a perfectly useful word.

Matt and David try to grapple with a late Middle English anti-money tract, but there isn't much to work with, and the cocktail is a citrusy paean to sadness.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 5, 2025 is: askew • uh-SKYOO • adjective Askew means “not straight” or “at an angle,” and can be used as both an adjective and an adverb. // The picture on the cabin wall was slightly askew. // The picture was hung askew on the cabin wall. See the entry > Examples: “I reread ‘Biography of Nigeria's Foremost Professor of Statistics, Prof. James Nwoye Adichie,' by Emeritus Professor Alex Animalu, Professor Peter I. Uche, and Jeff Unaegbu, published in 2013, three years before my father was made professor emeritus of the University of Nigeria. The printing is uneven, the pages slightly askew, but I feel a euphoric rush of gratitude to the authors. Why does this line—‘the children and I adore him'—from my mother's tribute soothe me so; why does it feel pacifying and prophetic? It pleases me that it exists, forever declared in print.” — Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The New Yorker, 10 Sept. 2020 Did you know? If you watch enough nature documentaries you may notice that gazelles are able to escape the claws (and, subsequently, jaws) of cheetahs when they zigzag across the savannah rather than simply run in a straight line. In Middle English, prey outmaneuvering a predator in this way might be said to be “skewing.” Skew means both “to take an oblique course” (as it does in modern English too) as well as “to escape,” and comes from the Anglo-French word eschiver, meaning “to escape or avoid.” It's this skew, with its suggestion of crooked lines, that forms the basis of the adjective askew (the prefix a- means “in [such] a state or condition”). Askew is used as both an adjective and an adverb to describe things or actions that are a little off, not straight, or at an angle. The “escape” sense of the Middle English skew isn't so much implied by askew, but we suppose that a painting hanging askew on one's wall could be, metaphorically speaking, attempting to escape from the rest of the décor.

A very special stunt episode where Matt and David read unseen (by them, but no doubt Furnivall has read them all) and give their gut reactions / hot takes, as they peregrinate through breweries in Port Moody. Chaos, 80s music, and revelry ensue.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 27, 2025 is: doff • DAHF • verb To doff a hat or other piece of clothing is to take it off. // They doffed their coats when they came inside the house. See the entry > Examples: “On the ferry from Oakland to San Francisco [Oscar] Wilde was introduced to a group of reporters who courteously doffed their hats. Wilde failed to return the gesture, much to the annoyance of one interviewer who used it as a pretext for blasting Wilde in his article.” — Rob Marland, LitHub.com, 11 Mar. 2024 Did you know? Time was, people talked about doffing and donning articles of clothing with about the same frequency. But in the mid-19th century the verb don became significantly more popular and left doff to flounder a bit in linguistic semi-obscurity. Doff and don have been a pair from the start: both date to the 14th century, with doff arising as a Middle English contraction of the phrase “to do off” and don as a contraction of “to do on.” Shakespeare was among the first, as far as we know, to use the word as it's defined in the more general sense of “to rid oneself of” or “put aside.” He has Juliet give voice to this sense when she says, “What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet. / … Romeo, doff thy name; / And for that name, which is no part of thee, / Take all myself.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 25, 2025 is: superfluous • soo-PER-floo-us • adjective Superfluous is a formal word used to describe things that exceed what is necessary or sufficient, or that are simply not needed. // Further discussion seems superfluous, given the thorough conversation we just had. See the entry > Examples: “On the final single from his album Manning Fireworks, MJ Lenderman sketches a character study of a man so preoccupied with superfluous status symbols that he finds himself totally isolated from the world.” — Arielle Gordon, Pitchfork, 2 Dec. 2024 Did you know? If, say, you were to go chasing waterfalls in addition to the rivers and the lakes that you're used to, such a pursuit would be superfluous. In other words, you would be exceeding what is necessary to satisfy your need for water-based enjoyment and recreation. “You've already got rivers and lakes,” your friends might advise with a bit of TLC, “just stick to them!” “Extra water” is also key to understanding the history of the word superfluous, which entered Middle English from the Latin adjective superfluus, meaning literally “running over.” Superfluus, in turn, comes from the verb superfluere (“to overflow”), which combines the prefix super- (meaning “over”) and fluere, “to flow.” In addition to influencing superfluous, fluere also flowed into the English words affluent, influence, and fluid, among others.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for February 23, 2025 is: tousle • TOW-zul • verb To tousle something is to dishevel it—that is, to make it untidy or unkempt. Tousle is usually, though not always, used specifically when a person's hair is being so treated. // Vic stood in front of the mirror and tousled his hair, trying to get a cool, disheveled look. See the entry > Examples: “One of her hands tousled her long hair, which she wore down, and the other hand hovered in front of her skirt as she hooked a thumb in its waistband. She paired the fashion set with a choker necklace and dangling hoop earrings.” — Meghan Roos, Parade, 21 Mar. 2024 Did you know? The verb tousle today is typically used for the action of mussing someone's hair playfully (“tousling the toddler's hair”) or fussily (“tousling her tresses for that just-woke-up look”), but the word's history is a bit edgier. Tousle and its synonym touse come from -tousen (“to pull or handle roughly”), a frequentative of the Middle English verb touselen. (A frequentative indicates repeated or recurrent action; sniffle, for example, is a frequentative of sniff.) Both tousle and touse have older meanings having to do with rough handling in general; before hair was tousled, people were—ouch. It's no coincidence that another frequentative of -tousen, the Scots word tussillen, is the ancestor of the English verb tussle, meaning “to scuffle” or “to fight or struggle with someone by grabbing or pushing.”

Beowulf is the product of a profoundly religious imagination, but the significance of the poem's Christianity has been downplayed or denied altogether. The Word-Hoard Beowulf: A Translation with Commentary (Angelico Press, 2023) is the first translation and popular commentary to take seriously the religious dimension of this venerable text. While generations of students know that Beowulf represents a confluence of Christianity and paganism, this version—informed by J. R. R. Tolkien's theory of language as the repository of myth—opens the hood to track the poem's inner religious workings. It brings to light the essential Old English vocabulary, incorporating into the translation the divine titles used for God, specific names for evil and nonhuman creatures, and the precise language employed for providence and fate, along with terminology for kinship and heroism. Such features are not found in any other modern English translation, including Tolkien's, whose text was never intended for publication. The Word-Hoard Beowulf draws upon Tolkien's ideas and commentaries, however, to render a poem whose metaphysical vision takes front and center, delivering a richly restorative version of this early medieval masterpiece. The text is preceded by an introduction detailing the poem's religious motivations and cultural context, and is accompanied by an expansive commentary. In short, this version allows readers to perceive precisely how in Beowulf (as Tolkien puts it) “the new Scripture and the old tradition touched and ignited” to produce the earliest English epic. Peter Ramey is Associate Professor of English at Northern State University, where he teaches courses on medieval English literature, Latin, and linguistics. He has published articles on Beowulf and on Old and Middle English in Modern Philology, Philological Quarterly, and other scholarly journals, while also writing for a broader audience in his essays in Public Discourse and Front Porch Republic. Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O'Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics, found here on the New Books Network and on X. You can also find his writing about books and films on Pages and Frames. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Beowulf is the product of a profoundly religious imagination, but the significance of the poem's Christianity has been downplayed or denied altogether. The Word-Hoard Beowulf: A Translation with Commentary (Angelico Press, 2023) is the first translation and popular commentary to take seriously the religious dimension of this venerable text. While generations of students know that Beowulf represents a confluence of Christianity and paganism, this version—informed by J. R. R. Tolkien's theory of language as the repository of myth—opens the hood to track the poem's inner religious workings. It brings to light the essential Old English vocabulary, incorporating into the translation the divine titles used for God, specific names for evil and nonhuman creatures, and the precise language employed for providence and fate, along with terminology for kinship and heroism. Such features are not found in any other modern English translation, including Tolkien's, whose text was never intended for publication. The Word-Hoard Beowulf draws upon Tolkien's ideas and commentaries, however, to render a poem whose metaphysical vision takes front and center, delivering a richly restorative version of this early medieval masterpiece. The text is preceded by an introduction detailing the poem's religious motivations and cultural context, and is accompanied by an expansive commentary. In short, this version allows readers to perceive precisely how in Beowulf (as Tolkien puts it) “the new Scripture and the old tradition touched and ignited” to produce the earliest English epic. Peter Ramey is Associate Professor of English at Northern State University, where he teaches courses on medieval English literature, Latin, and linguistics. He has published articles on Beowulf and on Old and Middle English in Modern Philology, Philological Quarterly, and other scholarly journals, while also writing for a broader audience in his essays in Public Discourse and Front Porch Republic. Daniel Moran earned his B.A. and M.A. in English from Rutgers University and his Ph.D. in History from Drew University. The author of Creating Flannery O'Connor: Her Critics, Her Publishers, Her Readers, he teaches research and writing at Rutgers and co-hosts the podcast Fifteen-Minute Film Fanatics, found here on the New Books Network and on X. You can also find his writing about books and films on Pages and Frames. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

The period from the Mamlūk reconquest of Acre (1291) to the Ottoman siege of Constantinople (1453) witnessed the production of a substantial corpus of Middle English crusade romances. In English Literature and the Crusades: Anxieties of Holy War, 1291–1453 (Cambridge University Press, 2024) Dr. Marcel Elias places these romances in dialogue with multifarious European writings to offer a novel account of late medieval crusade culture: as ambivalent and self-critical, animated by tensions and debates, and fraught with anxiety. These romances uphold ideals of holy war while expressing anxieties about issues as diverse as God's endorsement of the crusading enterprise, the conversion of Christians to Islam, the sinfulness of crusaders, and the morality of violence. Reinvigorating debates in medieval postcolonialism, drawing on emotion studies, and excavating a rich multilingual archive, this book is a major contribution to the cultural history of the crusades. This title is part of the Flip it Open programme and may also be available open access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Histories of Britain composed during the "twelfth-century renaissance" display a remarkable amount of literary variety (Latin varietas). Furthermore, British historians writing after the Norman Conquest often draw attention to the differing forms of their texts. But why would historians of this period associate literary variety with the work of history-writing? Drawing on theories of literary variety found in classical and medieval rhetoric, Literary Variety and the Writing of History in Britain's Long Twelfth Century (York Medieval Press, 2023) by Dr. Jacqueline Burek traces how British writers came to believe that varietas could help them construct comprehensive, continuous accounts of Britain's past. It shows how Latin prose historians, such as William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, filled their texts with a diverse array of literary forms, which they carefully selected and ordered in accordance with their broader historiographical aims. The pronounced literary variety of these influential histories inspired some Middle English verse chroniclers, including Laȝamon and Robert Mannyng, to adopt similar principles in their vernacular poetry. By uncovering the rhetorical and historiographical theories beneath their literary variety, this book provides a new framework for interpreting the stylistic and organizational choices of medieval historians. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Histories of Britain composed during the "twelfth-century renaissance" display a remarkable amount of literary variety (Latin varietas). Furthermore, British historians writing after the Norman Conquest often draw attention to the differing forms of their texts. But why would historians of this period associate literary variety with the work of history-writing? Drawing on theories of literary variety found in classical and medieval rhetoric, Literary Variety and the Writing of History in Britain's Long Twelfth Century (York Medieval Press, 2023) by Dr. Jacqueline Burek traces how British writers came to believe that varietas could help them construct comprehensive, continuous accounts of Britain's past. It shows how Latin prose historians, such as William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, filled their texts with a diverse array of literary forms, which they carefully selected and ordered in accordance with their broader historiographical aims. The pronounced literary variety of these influential histories inspired some Middle English verse chroniclers, including Laȝamon and Robert Mannyng, to adopt similar principles in their vernacular poetry. By uncovering the rhetorical and historiographical theories beneath their literary variety, this book provides a new framework for interpreting the stylistic and organizational choices of medieval historians. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The period from the Mamlūk reconquest of Acre (1291) to the Ottoman siege of Constantinople (1453) witnessed the production of a substantial corpus of Middle English crusade romances. In English Literature and the Crusades: Anxieties of Holy War, 1291–1453 (Cambridge University Press, 2024) Dr. Marcel Elias places these romances in dialogue with multifarious European writings to offer a novel account of late medieval crusade culture: as ambivalent and self-critical, animated by tensions and debates, and fraught with anxiety. These romances uphold ideals of holy war while expressing anxieties about issues as diverse as God's endorsement of the crusading enterprise, the conversion of Christians to Islam, the sinfulness of crusaders, and the morality of violence. Reinvigorating debates in medieval postcolonialism, drawing on emotion studies, and excavating a rich multilingual archive, this book is a major contribution to the cultural history of the crusades. This title is part of the Flip it Open programme and may also be available open access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

The period from the Mamlūk reconquest of Acre (1291) to the Ottoman siege of Constantinople (1453) witnessed the production of a substantial corpus of Middle English crusade romances. In English Literature and the Crusades: Anxieties of Holy War, 1291–1453 (Cambridge University Press, 2024) Dr. Marcel Elias places these romances in dialogue with multifarious European writings to offer a novel account of late medieval crusade culture: as ambivalent and self-critical, animated by tensions and debates, and fraught with anxiety. These romances uphold ideals of holy war while expressing anxieties about issues as diverse as God's endorsement of the crusading enterprise, the conversion of Christians to Islam, the sinfulness of crusaders, and the morality of violence. Reinvigorating debates in medieval postcolonialism, drawing on emotion studies, and excavating a rich multilingual archive, this book is a major contribution to the cultural history of the crusades. This title is part of the Flip it Open programme and may also be available open access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Histories of Britain composed during the "twelfth-century renaissance" display a remarkable amount of literary variety (Latin varietas). Furthermore, British historians writing after the Norman Conquest often draw attention to the differing forms of their texts. But why would historians of this period associate literary variety with the work of history-writing? Drawing on theories of literary variety found in classical and medieval rhetoric, Literary Variety and the Writing of History in Britain's Long Twelfth Century (York Medieval Press, 2023) by Dr. Jacqueline Burek traces how British writers came to believe that varietas could help them construct comprehensive, continuous accounts of Britain's past. It shows how Latin prose historians, such as William of Malmesbury, Henry of Huntingdon, and Geoffrey of Monmouth, filled their texts with a diverse array of literary forms, which they carefully selected and ordered in accordance with their broader historiographical aims. The pronounced literary variety of these influential histories inspired some Middle English verse chroniclers, including Laȝamon and Robert Mannyng, to adopt similar principles in their vernacular poetry. By uncovering the rhetorical and historiographical theories beneath their literary variety, this book provides a new framework for interpreting the stylistic and organizational choices of medieval historians. This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose new book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 31, 2025 is: encroach • in-KROHCH • verb To encroach is to gradually move or go into an area that is beyond the usual or desired limits, or to gradually take or begin to use or affect something that belongs to, or is being used by, someone else. Encroach is often followed by on or upon. // Conflicts between people and bears increase as humans continue to encroach on bear territory. // They argue that the law would encroach on states' authority. See the entry > Examples: "In their young adult years, Mufasa and Taka find their courage and loyalty tested when a group of white lions encroach upon the pride." — Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Dec. 2024 Did you know? The history behind encroach is likely to hook you in. The word comes from the Middle English verb encrochen, which means "to get or seize." The Anglo-French predecessor of encrochen is encrocher, which was formed by combining the prefix en- ("in") with the noun croche ("hook"). Croche is also an ancestor of our word crochet; that word first referred to a crochet hook or to the needlework done with it. Encroach carries the meaning of "intrude," both in terms of privilege and property. The word can also hop over legal barriers to describe a general advancement beyond desirable or normal limits (such as a hurricane that encroaches on the mainland).

Today's guest is Dr. Seb Falk is the recipient of HAD's 2025 Osterbrock Prize for his book “The Light Ages: the Surprising Story of Medieval Science”. His exceptionally well-written book takes the reader on a learning journey with the 14th century Benedictine monk John Westwyk who, at the end of his career in 1392, wrote an instructional manuscript in Middle English for an equatorie to compute a planet's location. Originally discovered in 1951 and attributed to Chaucer, 30 years later the manuscript's author was identified as Westwyk.  Based on years of meticulous scholarly research, Falk teaches the reader detailed, and progressively complicated, 14th century science in this thoroughly pleasurable story about Westwyk's life.     H'ad astra historia is the official podcast for the Historical Astronomy Division of the American Astronomical Society.  We're here to share stories from and about the people who study the stars, planets, and the cosmos. We'll be hearing from individuals who not only study the history of astronomy, but also those who lived it, who were “in the room” during pivotal events within the last 50 years or so.     Podcaster:  Loretta Cannon (an AAS affiliate via Rose City Astronomers) is a science-and-word-nerd who really likes the stars. She quite enjoys working as HAD's podcaster, bringing astronomy stories to you.   We've added a new way to donate to 365 Days of Astronomy to support editing, hosting, and production costs.  Just visit: https://www.patreon.com/365DaysOfAstronomy and donate as much as you can! Share the podcast with your friends and send the Patreon link to them too!  Every bit helps! Thank you! ------------------------------------ Do go visit http://www.redbubble.com/people/CosmoQuestX/shop for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations.  Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) ------------------------------------ The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by the Planetary Science Institute. http://www.psi.edu Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for January 20, 2025 is: inimitable • in-IM-it-uh-bul • adjective Inimitable describes someone or something that is impossible to copy or imitate. // Courtnay delivered the speech in her own inimitable style. See the entry > Examples: “In a nation whose professed ideals include freedom, liberty and independence, every American is charged with an individual self-examination. ... Such a searching self-examination helps us discover our precepts, ethics, ideals, principles, and purpose—a sense of mission. Reverend King discovered his mission as a teenager at Morehouse College. Although the son, grandson and great grandson of ministers, Reverend King initially aspired to be a lawyer. Then he encountered the inimitable Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, President of Morehouse College. ... The rest is history.” — David C. Mills, The (Nashville) Tennessee Tribune, 13 Apr. 2023 Did you know? Something that is inimitable is, literally, not able to be imitated. In actual usage the word describes things so uniquely extraordinary as to not be copied or equaled, which is why you often hear it used to praise outstanding talents or performances (or uniquely talented and incomparable individuals). (The less common antonym imitable describes things that are common or ordinary and could easily be replicated.) Inimitable comes, via Middle English, from the Latin adjective inimitabilis. Be careful not to confuse it with inimical or inimicable, two adjectives meaning “hostile” or “harmful”; those words come from a different Latin root.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 29, 2024 is: linchpin • LINCH-pin • noun Linchpin, sometimes spelled lynchpin, literally refers to a locking pin inserted crosswise, as at the end of an axle or shaft. In figurative use, linchpin refers to a person or thing that serves to hold together parts or elements that exist or function as a unit; such a linchpin is often understood as the most important part of a complex situation or system. // Investors are betting that the new product line will be the linchpin that secures the company's place in the very competitive market in the years and decades to come. See the entry > Examples: “When people tell the story of my life, when I tell this story of my life, Trisha doesn't get much space, but she is a linchpin. For me the linchpin is that tiny bit of aid that holds things together when they might otherwise fall apart that keeps you rolling down the road to where you were already going. It's not the engine, it's not the track. It's invisible but in the moment essential help.” — Alice Randall, My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future, 2024 Did you know? In his 1857 novel, Tom Brown's School Days, Thomas Hughes describes the “cowardly” custom of “taking the linch-pins out of the farmers' and bagmens' gigs at the fairs.” The linchpin in question held the wheel on the carriage, and removing it made it likely that the wheel would come off as the vehicle moved. Such a pin was called a lynis in Old English; Middle English speakers added pin to form lynspin. By the early 20th century, English speakers were using linchpin for anything as critical to a complex situation as a linchpin is to a wagon, as when Winston Churchill, in 1930, wrote of Canada and the role it played in the relationship between Great Britain and the United States, that “no state, no country, no band of men can more truly be described as the linchpin of peace and world progress.”

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for December 7, 2024 is: misbegotten • miss-bih-GAH-tun • adjective Misbegotten describes things that are badly planned or thought out. // They were sent on a misbegotten diplomatic mission that was sure to fail. See the entry > Examples: "After some misbegotten albums and a run of singles that barely scraped the lower reaches of the chart, [Tony] Bennett split with the label in 1971." — Chris Morris, Variety, 21 July 2023 Did you know? In the beginning, there was begietan, and begietan begot beyeten; then in the days of Middle English beyeten begot begeten. All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors above basically meant the same thing as the modern beget—that is, "to father" or "to produce as an effect or outgrowth." That linguistic line, combined with the prefix mis- (meaning "wrongly" or "badly"), brought forth misbegotten. While the word has carried several meanings over the centuries, including "contemptible" (as in "a misbegotten scoundrel"), today it most often describes things—such as beliefs, projects, or adventures—that are poorly planned or thought out.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 14, 2024 is: raddled • RAD-uld • adjective Someone described as raddled is in a confused or befuddled state (as from drinking). Raddled can also describe things that are broken-down or worn. // We were met at the door by a raddled old man who turned out to be the actor's father, and who in his day had also been an estimable presence on the London stage. // Louisa was delighted to discover a raddled old radio in her grandparents' attic, even though it didn't work. See the entry > Examples: “There seems to be very little information out there about Krinkles, the star of a commercial so disturbing its eternal afterlife on the internet is guaranteed: it's probably all in a heavily guarded facility in Area 51. In the ad, this raddled gentleman pokes his head out of what appears to be a kennel after what was clearly a heavy night, crashes his way through the scenery, then eats some cereal.” — Emma Beddington, The Guardian (London, England), 31 Jan. 2024 Did you know? The origins of raddled are a bit of a riddle, but they may have something to do with rodel, the Middle English precursor to ruddle. Rattled? No need to get red-faced, we're here to explain. Rodel, like ruddle, refers to red ocher, a red pigment used for (among other things) marking animals, and especially sheep. Etymologists believe that both the noun raddle (also meaning “red ocher”) and verb raddle (“to mark or paint with raddle”) come from a variant of rodel. A raddled sheep is a sheep marked with red dye (as at shearing or breeding time). Over time, the verb raddle was applied more broadly to the reddening of anything, and often to reddening by use (or overuse) of rouge on a person's face to conceal wrinkles caused by age or exhaustion. To be raddled thusly was not a compliment, and may have led to the “worn out” sense of the adjective raddled. The “confused” sense of raddled is often associated with the influence of alcohol, possibly due to the “reddening” effects of a tipple on one's visage.

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 13, 2024 is: bevy • BEV-ee • noun A bevy is a large group of people or things. Bevy is usually used in the singular form and accompanied by the word of. // The new streaming platform featured a bevy of new movies to choose from. See the entry > Examples: “Among several ‘moving murals' currently displayed on select CTA trains is the picture of a young girl standing among daffodils, meant as a symbol of hope. Another train features a hand painting the phrase ‘New Ideas' amid a bevy of flowers. A third includes the phrase ‘Help us bridge the gap' while showing the juxtaposition of the city's pristine downtown and the disrepair of certain neighborhoods.” — Erica Thompson, The Chicago Sun-Times, 18 Aug. 2024 Did you know? There's no need to quail when confronted with a word of uncertain origins; some mysteries are simply destined to remain as such. Etymologists have a bevy of theories about the roots of bevy, for example, but little definitive evidence—and that's okay! What we do know is that bevy emerged out of Middle English as the collective noun for a number of birds and mammals that were commonly hunted, including pheasants, partridges, roe deer, larks, and especially quail. Bevy is still used in this way today, not only for wild game but for gulls, hens, etc. But bevies are now most often composed of a great many people and things, as in “a bevy of reporters” or “a bevy of menu options.”