Tag Archives: language

how the story ends

Posted on May 14, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

“lastly, three apples fell from the sky; one for our story’s heroes, one for the person who told their tale, and one for those who listened and promise to share. And with that, they all achieved their hearts’ desires. Let … Continue reading →

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Words Are Music To A Bibliophile

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

I recently had an email from a former book customer asking if I could recommend a bibliopegist. My first response was: What’s a bibliopegist. I was only a little embarassed to admit that I didn’t know that it was another word for bookbinder. This … Continue reading →

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What’s The Word

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Brian D. Butler

If you haven’t heard about the daily word game Wordle, you must have been off on a silent retreat somewhere. Launched in October, with no fanfare whatsoever, the simple little online game has gone viral, with millions of users. Josh Wardle built … Continue reading →

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a wistful omen of the first sign of autumn

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

austice n. a wistful omen of the first sign of autumn—a subtle coolness in the shadows, a rustling of dead leaves abandoned on the sidewalk, or a long skein of geese sweeping over your head like the second hand of … Continue reading →

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Tower of Babel

Posted on September 17, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

The infographic below was created by Alberto Lucas Lopez  and it manages to condense the 7,102 known living languages today into a visualization, with individual colors representing each world region. Only 23 languages are spoken by at least 50 million … Continue reading →

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Words That Don’t Translate

Posted on June 13, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I have often read that the English vocabulary has more words than any other language. That may or may not be true, but it certainly is a rich mash-up of so many other rich languages. We have a treasure trove … Continue reading →

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Welcome to Planet Word

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

Last week a long-awaited new museum opened in Washington, D.C. that will be a must-see destination for readers and language lovers. Planet Word is promoted as “a revolutionary museum dedicated to the power, beauty, and fun of language and to … Continue reading →

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More Whipt Syllabub

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Brian D. Butler

A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue Anon [Francis Grose] London Printed for S Hooper 1785 First Edition Francis Grose’s ‘Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue’ was first published in 1785, and is a dictionary of slang words. Grose was … Continue reading →

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What’s Your Endonym

Posted on January 10, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

An endonym is the name of a country, region, or geographic area as it’s known by the people who live there. These names may legally designated by a government or just commonly used terms. The clever endonym map of the … Continue reading →

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Ten Questions Every Writer Needs To Ask

Posted on February 28, 2016 by Brian D. Butler

My first editor criticized me for being “too fond” of adverbs and adjectives. Maybe this infographic created by Andrew Howe would have helped me to understand the nuanced use of adverbs and could have saved me from endless rewrites.

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