Vest-Pocket Vocabulary

This Vest-Pocket word can be used literally to denote billowing ashes and smoke or figuratively to suggest something veiled by an obscuring and murky haze.

Match Smoke by Andrew Magill

Fuli’ginous, a. smoky; sooty.

Avatar of the eBook by Javier Candeira

Though some bibliophiles are threatened by the advent of the digital book, I can’t help but love books in all their forms. There are times when I’d rather jump on the subway with a paperback, but there are also times I’m grateful not to have to put down a 2-pound copy of The Count of Monte Cristo just because my bedtime arms have gotten too lazy to keep holding it up.

This roundup is an ecclectic mix of how the digital is changing how and what we read, the environmental impact of digital ereaders, the future form of literature and more. Have any thoughts on the future of reading? Let us know in the comments.

The Evolution and Future of Ereaders

Five Books on Electronic Literature

The Environmental Impact of Ereaders

The Future of Paper Books…and E-readers

Can the Internet Save the Book?

Twists & Turns of Phrase

If you’re riding shotgun these days, you’re probably in the front passenger seat of your buddy’s car.

Origins: But most of the lore agrees that this term dates back to the Wild West and refers to the person who would sit next to the driver of a stage coach, protecting whatever cargo they were carrying with a shotgun. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, though, the first recorded instance of this turn of phrase dates to 1913 when Alfred Henry Lewis wrote “If thar’s money aboard, an’ the express outfit wants it defended, they slams on some sport to ride shotgun that trip.”

Lewis, who was a lawyer and journalist, traveled through the American West, writing and publishing stories about the people and places he saw there in the early 20th century. And although 1913 is the earliest recorded use of this phrase, it wasn’t at all uncommon in the days before mass communications for vernacular like this to rattle around for quite a while before it could creep into the scriptures of journalism and fiction. So, who knows, the lore about this phrase cropping up in the heyday of the Wild West might just be true.

Well, it’s pretty busy in Word Blog land, which is why I haven’t been quite so diligent about posting new entries. I’m taking courses in digital publishing and scholarly publishing these days, and showing up for work, too, so there hasn’t been as much time to hang out here. When I finish these courses in early August, I’ll be the fancy holder of a certificate in publishing from Ryerson University and also  have a little more free time to throw around.

In the meantime, since I’m reading Pinker’s The Stuff of Thought at the moment, I thought I’d share this intriguing TED talk with you. Enjoy!

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary

I’ve spent the long weekend living it up: I rode my bike up to Kleinburg, checked out the McMichael Collection, ate extremely well, and I’m taking today off work.  This is certainly the perfect word to describe my decadent 5-day weekend.

Dap′atical, adj. sumptuous in living.

As you can see, I’ve been working behind the scenes lately to give the Word Blog a new look. I’ve had a lot of fun teaching myself a bit of CSS coding so that I can have more control over how the blog looks and what it can do.

It really is a new language and grammar for me and, though my fluency has a long way to go, I’m now confident that I can ask where the toilets are and order a coffee using only CSS. Still, I may have made the odd misstep in conjugation, so if you see any gaffs or glitches here I hope you’ll let me know. I’ll fix them up for you and, who knows, maybe one day I’ll be able to carry on whole CSS conversations about the weather.

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary

I’ve been flipping through a full-colour cookbook of vegetarian pasta dishes this afternoon, trying to think of what to make for dinner. I suspect that has biased my choice of Vest-Pocket Vocabulary this week.

Ciba′rious, adj. relating to food; eatable.

Twists & Turns of Phrase

A person who opens a can of worms tries to solve a problem, but in doing so creates a lot of new unanticipated complications.

For some reason I always see the image of the snake-in-a-can gag whenever I hear this turn of phrase, but this is clearly just my unusual brain at work. So I wonder just where this saying does come from…

Origins: Most sources agree that this phrase is likely tied to the difficulty folks have getting the lid back on a can of bait worms once it’s been opened—just when you’ve tucked one worm inside another three make a break for it.

Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary dates this turn of phrase to 1962 and, like many other sources, compares the phrase to the myth of Pandora’s box. Although the worms metaphorically represent tribulations and difficulties, I think it’s a bit of a stretch to compare them to the evils that flew out of Pandora’s box, and I’m pretty confident none of the worms represent humanity’s hope.

Vest-Pocket Vocabulary

Biblioma′nia, n. a rage for curious books.