what this blog needs is more posts about Rabelais

January 29, 2008

A person leaving the name SFP posted a comment on a recent post of mine, and I thought I’d re-post it here because it is just the sort of linguistic trivia I relish:

The Spanish for ‘gargantuan’ is ‘pantagruelica’. Rabelais wrote about two giants, Gargantua and Pantagruel. We picked one giant, the Spanish picked the other.

And while we’re on a Spanish language kick: in 2004 I posted about the Spanish version of the Army’s “An Army of One,” and in 2005 about the Spanish words for “escalator” and “pregnant,” and in 2006 about the Spanish word for “unicorn.”

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Why did I spend half an hour making a digital avatar of myself?

January 27, 2008

Apparently, I’m fourteen years old and procrastinating about doing my algebra.

Get a Voki now!

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Williamsburg Spelling Bee Theme Song

January 25, 2008

This is my first-ever internet singing video:

I make no claims to being a singer; I wrote the lyrics to the song, my co-host bobbyblue composed the music, and for the first several seasons he sang it alone, until finally he demanded that I join him. I am also shaking egg-shakers.

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with my complements

January 25, 2008

My mom sent me this article, Twins Earn Matching Perfect ACT Scores, and the page was accompanied by this ad:

Hahahahahahaha.

To “complement” is to coordinate with or make whole; to “compliment” is to say something nice about. An essay that “compliments” your test scores would be a quite silly and solipsistic essay.

Would you trust these people with your college essay?

This is just one reason why New York’s parents trust me with this task instead.

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seen in Midtown

January 23, 2008

Illogical Semitic headwear of the day: velvet yarmulke* and earmuffs.

Look, if God wants you to cover your head with a tiny hat, wearing a larger hat would simply be exceeding the requirements.

* Good name for Klezmer band

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BaconSalt - for naughty, naughty kosher vegetarians

January 22, 2008

BaconSalt is exactly what it sounds like.

I told my brother about it, and he wrote back:

“I think I just threw up in my mouth a little. I wonder if they could have made that taste like bacon.”

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Monday Evening Stand-Up at Pete’s

January 21, 2008

Last Monday’s video features Melissa Surach, Brooke Van Poppelin, Tom Myers, Dave O’Gara, and Brad Aldous, as well as me reading my piece, “A Representative Pastiche of the 61 Replies I Received to My Room-Rental Offer on Craigslist.”

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