Languages
Molecular Typography
A new book by Kobi Franco titled "Molecular Typography Laboratory" makes the argument that "the characters of the Hebrew and Latin alphabets possess a molecular structure."What Franco means by this is that letters are made up of a small number of basic shapes or "atoms." Each letter-atom has positive and negative poles. These poles attract and repel other letter-atoms in such a way as to form all the Hebrew and Latin letters. So the letters themselves are molecules made up of smaller atoms. As he puts it:
Franco freely admits that molecular typography is "an experimental, pseudo-scientific study"
In fact, Franco didn't originate the idea. He picked up on the concept from artist Woody Leslie, who in turn attributed it to a linguist named H.F. Henderson. But I'm not sure if Henderson is real or was invented by Leslie.
In other words, molecular typography is an art project. But the degree to which both Franco and Leslie have developed the concept is impressive.
More info: PRINT magazine, Ugly Duckling Presse
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 20, 2025 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art, Languages, Parody
The Rise of Acronyms
Back in 1947, Dr. T.M. Pearce, a professor of English at the University of New Mexico, noted that World War II had speeded up the use of acronyms in English. He predicted, "tomorrow's English may contain more and more of acronym and abbreviation."He sure was right about that.
Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat - Aug 19, 1947
Some info about Pearce (via New Mexico Archives Online):
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 05, 2025 -
Comments (3)
Category: Languages, Predictions, 1940s
Railroad Worker Sign Language
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 23, 2025 -
Comments (1)
Category: Languages, Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails, 1930s
Squeans, Plewds and Briffits
In a March 24, 1946 article for This Week magazine (which was included as a Sunday supplement in many newspapers), Charles Rice coined names for various symbols that appeared in comic strips. For example, he said that 'briffits' were the dust clouds left behind when a character is running, and 'plewds' were the drops of sweat emanating from the character.Cartoonist Mort Walker (of Beetle Bailey fame) later expanded Rice's brief list into an entire Lexicon of Comicana (1980).
According to wikipedia, these terms now "sometimes appear in dictionaries, and serve as convenient terminology occasionally used by cartoonists and critics."
More info: Wikipedia; The Lexicon of Comicana (Internet Archive)
Indianapolis Star - Mar 24, 1946
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 10, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Languages, Comics, 1940s
Ghoti pronounced fish
For decades newspapers repeated the claim that George Bernard Shaw used the word 'ghoti' as an example of the often bizarre disconnect between the spelling of English words and their pronunciation. He argued that 'ghoti' could be pronounced 'fish'.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Aug 7, 1955
But according to the Language Log blog, there's no evidence that Shaw ever used the Ghoti example. Plus, the Ghoti anecdote was being passed around before Shaw was even born.
Another example: 'Loeyephtheau!' could be pronounced 'Righto!'
Indianapolis Star - Mar 24, 1946
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 08, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Languages, Puns and Other Wordplay
PETA’s Complete List of Animal-Friendly Idioms
See all of them here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 22, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Languages, Euphemisms, Cant, Weasel Words, Prissy Phrases and Orwellian Language
How To Speak Hip
The whole playlist for all 13 cuts is here. Track 1 below.Wikipedia entry for the album here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 19, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Languages, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1960s, Parody
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
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| 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. Contact Us |