PLEASE DO NOT BE A DOG.
— Sign, Paris park
Language
In a Word
deasil
adj. clockwise
In a Word
abscotchalater
n. one hiding from the police
In a Word
floccify
v. to consider worthless
Backstabbed
If you’re the trusting sort, you might be pleased to carry this recommendation from Cardinal Richelieu to the French ambassador at Rome.
You wouldn’t last long, though. Rather than scan each line straight across, the ambassador would fold the page in half and read the truth about you in the left column.
(From Charles Bombaugh, Gleanings From the Harvest-Fields of Literature, 1860)
In a Word
infandous
adj. too horrible to mention
In a Word
preantepenultimate
adj. fourth from last
In a Word
breedbate
n. one who seeks an argument
That Oughta Do It
SWIMMING POOL SUGGESTIONS
Open 24 hours. Lifeguard on duty 8AM to 8PM.
Drowning absolutely prohibited.
— Sign, Plantation Bay Resort, Philippines
STOP
From Charles Bombaugh, Facts and Fancies for the Curious From the Harvest-Fields of Literature, 1905:
The following sentence won a prize offered in England for the longest twelve-word telegram:
ADMINISTRATOR-GENERAL’S COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY INTERCOMMUNICATIONS UNCIRCUMSTANTIATED. QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL’S DISPROPORTIONABLENESS CHARACTERISTICALLY CONTRA-DISTINGUISHED UNCONSTITUTIONALIST’S INCOMPREHENSIBILITIES.
It is said that the telegraph authorities accepted it as a dispatch of twelve words.