Khipu

A very interesting article from Slate about Khipu, the ancient Peruvian system of "writing" with knotted strings.

Questioning the Inca Paradox

The Wordy Shipmates

Sarah Vowell talking about her book on the early years of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Titled The Wordy Shipmates, the book focuses on the writings of the early settlers, including John Winthrop's sermon "A Model of Christian Charity". 17th Century New Englanders argued about justification by grace, the way people today argue about a balance budget. The subject may change, but the argument remains the same.

No matter what topic Vowell decides to write about, she can always make it engaging.This book was published a couple years ago, but I just got around to reading it.

Kinetic Typography

From Rogers Creations, a video of a Stephen Fry polemic on language.

Happy Birthday KJV

This year is the 400th anniversary of the completion of the King James version of the Bible. Though many now use trendier translations of the Bible, the KJV is still one of the most important influences on the English language.

Two good books that deal with the English translation of the Bible are: God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson, and Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired by Benson Bobrick.

To mark this anniversary here is a list of 78 phrases that passed into the English language from English translations of the Bible.

78 everyday phrases that have a biblical origin

Lucy Kellaway on Apple

One of my favorite commentators is Lucy Kellaway from the Financial Times. She is describe on the web site: "the FT's management columnist, pokes fun at management fads and jargon, and celebrates the ups and downs of office life." Here are two of her recent podcast that deal with Apple.

Words to describe the glory of Apple

Time to spit out more praise for Apple

People Who Became Nouns

From LIFE, a set of images representing 51 people whose names live on as references to cars, scientific measurements, prostitutes and various and sundry other things. Since it is election time, I am including the picture of the infamous Elbridge Gerry below on the link. The image of the Gerry-Mander may well have been reproduced in more history books than just about any other image.

People Who Became Nouns

Helen Keller

From today's The Writer's Almanac with Garrison Keillor:

It was on this day in 1904 that Helen Keller graduated from Radcliffe, the first blind and deaf student to graduate from any college anywhere.

Here is a video of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan demonstrating how she learned to talk.

The Demon Pass

The House has apparently decide to pass the health care bill with two votes, instead of using the "Deem and Pass" option, which would have passed both bills with one vote. I have to wonder how much of the uproar over this has to do with the fact that when you hear anyone talk about this it sounds like the Democrats want to use the "Demon Pass" for health care. Makes it sound like Nancy Pelosi has been possessed by the Devil.

Dunbar's Number and Facebook

How many Facebook friends is too many?

And the Word of the Decade Is . . .

An interesting article on the meeting of the Linguistic Society of America in Baltimore.

American Dialect Society picks 'tweet,' 'Google' as top words for 2009, decade