WORDS AND STUFF.

Jed Hartman used to write “a fortnightly column on words and wordplay” called Words and Stuff (archives). It hasn’t been updated in over four years, but there’s lots of interesting material there, for instance a column using only monosyllables (“This week’s screed is writ in words of just one beat”) and one on names for winds. (Via MetaFilter.)

Jed also has an “online journal,” what the kids today are calling a blog, called Lorem Ipsum, that is still being updated. We all know about “lorem ipsum,” right?

Comments

  1. Thanks for the plug! A couple of related things of potential interest (which I should add to the main Words & Stuff page):
    1. In my journal/blog, I have a “language” category for entries; not all entries are categorized, but following that link will show you most of my language-related entries in the past couple years.
    2. For a little over a year, I had a blog called Neology, covering various language/wordplay things but mostly focused on mentioning words that I came across that I’d never seen before. Sadly, this past February it occurred to me that I could transfer the old Words & Stuff pages to Neology and rework Neology into a new Words & Stuff blog. I say “sadly” because it caused me to put Neology on hold, and I have yet to either bring it back or integrate it with Words & Stuff. But I’m still collecting material that I intend to someday post there.

  2. The “column using only monosyllables” reminded me of a book called “Whales for the Welsh”, which was written entirely in words of one syllable. I found it on a railway station platform bookstall, but it was lost so long ago I barely remember what it was about.

  3. Sadly, this past February it occurred to me that I could transfer the old Words & Stuff pages to Neology and rework Neology into a new Words & Stuff blog. I say “sadly” because it caused me to put Neology on hold, and I have yet to either bring it back or integrate it with Words & Stuff.
    Sadly, this sounds exactly like me. Good luck to both of us in overcoming procrastination, and thanks for the added info!

  4. marie-lucie says

    How about asking for useful tips on overcoming procrastination?

  5. I will… tomorrow…

  6. Words of one beat is, in truth, a fun game.

  7. The blog is still being updated, over fifteen years later — impressive! (And it started in 2001, even before the mossy relic you are currently reading.)

  8. Trond Engen says

    Impressive indeed. I don’t have patience to wait for ongoing updates more than a couple of minutes.

  9. John Cowan says

    “just one beat”

    In 1905, Mrs. J. C. Gorham (no relation) wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Retold in Words of One Syllable. This name is not quite the truth: there are about 350 words written with hy-phens, such as be-gin, any-thing, and of course Al-ice. More one-syl-la-ble texts can be found at PG: see this search, which finds The Pilgrim’s Progress, Robinson Crusoe, The Swiss Family Robinson, a history of the U.S., and lives of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the Presi-dents.

    The White Queen in Through the Looking Glass does rather bet-ter, of course:

    “Of course you know your A B C?” said the Red Queen.

    “To be sure I do.” said Alice.

    “So do I,” the White Queen whispered: “we’ll often say it over together, dear. And I’ll tell you a secret—I can read words of one letter! Isn’t that grand! However, don’t be discouraged. You’ll come to it in time.”

  10. I have a copy of the one-syllable Pilgrim’s Progress, but it’s out of reach right now.

    The early Beatles could get pretty close (“Love Me Do”, ruined by “always”). Probably someone else of that era wrote truly monosyllabic songs.

  11. Chunks of “If You Could Read My Mind” get fairly close:

    If you could read my mind, love
    What a tale my thoughts could tell
    Just like an old time movie
    ‘Bout a ghost from a wishing well
    In a castle dark or a fortress strong
    With chains upon my feet
    You know that ghost is me
    And I will never be set free
    As long as I am a ghost, you can’t see
    […]

    I never thought I could act this way
    And I’ve got to say that I just don’t get it
    I don’t know where we went wrong
    But the feeling’s gone and I just can’t get it back

  12. The first stanza of Gerry and the Pacemakers’ “How Do You Do It?” (and, let’s face it, the only part anybody knows) is impeccable:

    How do you do what you do to me?
    I wish I knew
    If I knew how you do it to me, I’d do it to you

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