Category:
Languages

Apostrophe Protection Society

Protecting the apostrophe since 2001, since its a threatened species: apostrophe.org.uk

Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 15, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Languages

The Yak Yak Contest

Alas, I cannot learn the full roster of contestants, nor the outcome.





Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 11, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Languages, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1950s, Women

Instant Yiddish

Don't be a schmuck! Use the player below to bone up on your Yiddish.









Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 18, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Ethnic Groupings, Languages, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1960s

Follies of the Madmen #565

Ninety-second commercial appears to think it's an epic movie.

Posted By: Paul - Tue May 23, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Games, Languages, Mad Scientists, Evil Geniuses, Insane Villains, Stereotypes and Cliches, Advertising, 1970s

The Making of An American

The immigrant's story: twas ever thus.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 19, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Emigrants, Immigrants and Borders, Ethnic Groupings, Jobs and Occupations, Languages, PSA’s, 1920s

Miss Esperanto

I have three references to this contest, from 1929, 1963 and 1967. No firm idea of how long it lasted, if it's still going on, or if it was held faithfully every year.







Puccini's opera 'La 66Bohème' was performed as a special performance for the Esperantists. Finally, Miss Maria Wenczel from Hungary was chosen as 'Miss Esperanto 1963'. Diethilde Magori from Germany and Helen Salmos from Sweden took second and third place in this competition. After the end of the congress, the young people drove to Sofija in a special caravan, where they were expected by the 48th Esperanto World Congress.








Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 16, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Languages, 1920s, 1950s, 1960s

Flirtation Codes of the early 20th Century

What a chore flirtation must have been back then if you had to memorize all these codes.

Philadelphia Inquirer - Oct 8, 1916

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 16, 2022 - Comments (5)
Category: Languages, 1910s, Love & Romance

Scott Perky’s Bi-Directional Text

Henry Perky invented shredded wheat. His son, Scott, was also an inventor, though not as famous. He invented and patented a bi-directional, symmetrical font which could be read from left-to-right or right-to-left.



Perky's idea was that this would allow one to read a line of text from left to right, and then read the next line right to left, without having to move the eye back to the beginning of the line. This, he claimed, would reduce "brain fag":

The invention consists in certain means of printing alternate lines, whereby the reading can be done from left to right and from right to left in a continuous manner, and the skipping from the end of one line to the opposite end of the next is avoided.

It is hardly necessary to allude to the strain upon the eyes and brain, which results from much reading. To students, researchers and others whose lives are cast among books, any device which promises to facilitate reading in such wise as to lessen fatigue of the optical tract, and consequent headache and brain fag, will appear of unusual importance.


Randy Ludacer of Beach Packaging Design took the time to set the first three lines of Perky's patent in the bi-directional font, so you can experience what it would be like to read it:

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 08, 2021 - Comments (5)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Languages, 1900s

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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