![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the finger pointing at the moon
I saw a t-shirt design today which read "i before e except after c. weird." And the thing is, that's mildly clever, but it misses something important, which is "i before e except after c or when sounding like a, as in neighbor or weigh." And then you have weird, which was coined by Shakespeare, who wrote before the Great Vowel Shift, and would have pronounced it (approximately) way-erd.
So it's this beautiful little vestigal organ that hints at the history of modern English and opens up these wonderful pathways for thought, but I think the person who would buy the shirt just thinks "ha ha, weird, spelling is silly" and misses this skeleton key to written language.
I have read several studies that suggest liberals have a narrower sense of humor than conservatives, and I think the reason that is true in my case is mainly because I have trouble laughing at jokes which function as a dead end to things about which one might otherwise be curious.
An unrelated thing which I have mentioned before but which cannot be mentioned often enough: I am tired of self-appointed fashionistas expressing horror about dresses worn over trousers. For most of history, people have worn dresses over pants. In most parts of the world, people still wear dresses over pants. They are flattering and comfortable, and much more functional than dresses over tights. Get over it.
Still sick. Yet more heavily medicated. Probably getting better, but fuzzy from decongestants. Sleepy all day, yet feisty. Ciro unpacked a few more boxes, and I cleared another third of the room which has become/is becoming my office. Mom made a sour cream apple pie, which I had never heard of before, using apples hand picked by high school students as a benefit for something-or-other in the town. It is good to be back in the land of apples.
Sunset was stunningly beautiful. It is often very red here. Ciro got his wedding ring repaired, as it was bent during the move while lifting something heavy, and they polished it as well so he now thinks it's fancier than mine even though they are identical. Scarlett is kicking my ass at Scrabble, and I can't even blame it on being sick.
So it's this beautiful little vestigal organ that hints at the history of modern English and opens up these wonderful pathways for thought, but I think the person who would buy the shirt just thinks "ha ha, weird, spelling is silly" and misses this skeleton key to written language.
I have read several studies that suggest liberals have a narrower sense of humor than conservatives, and I think the reason that is true in my case is mainly because I have trouble laughing at jokes which function as a dead end to things about which one might otherwise be curious.
An unrelated thing which I have mentioned before but which cannot be mentioned often enough: I am tired of self-appointed fashionistas expressing horror about dresses worn over trousers. For most of history, people have worn dresses over pants. In most parts of the world, people still wear dresses over pants. They are flattering and comfortable, and much more functional than dresses over tights. Get over it.
Still sick. Yet more heavily medicated. Probably getting better, but fuzzy from decongestants. Sleepy all day, yet feisty. Ciro unpacked a few more boxes, and I cleared another third of the room which has become/is becoming my office. Mom made a sour cream apple pie, which I had never heard of before, using apples hand picked by high school students as a benefit for something-or-other in the town. It is good to be back in the land of apples.
Sunset was stunningly beautiful. It is often very red here. Ciro got his wedding ring repaired, as it was bent during the move while lifting something heavy, and they polished it as well so he now thinks it's fancier than mine even though they are identical. Scarlett is kicking my ass at Scrabble, and I can't even blame it on being sick.