tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25249501917259761902024-03-10T06:51:43.036+00:00The Art of WordsRamblings about words, art, books, the media and Golden Age detective stories. Buy me a kofi at: https://ko-fi.com/lucyrfisher Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.comBlogger1194125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-67166879965770223912024-03-04T16:05:00.001+00:002024-03-04T16:05:16.946+00:00Grammar: Lists Writers are bad at lists – perhaps because they're worrying about Oxford commas, or have been told they can't have more than one "and" in a sentence. If you want a rule, here's one: Lists must go "noun, noun and noun", or "verb, verb and verb". Your list can't go noun, noun and verb. Make it noun and noun, and verb. Note comma before the last "and".Children are dying from dirty water, poor Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-9905578626668173012024-02-19T20:55:00.004+00:002024-03-07T21:23:50.079+00:00Syndromes We Don't Have a Name For 10: OrganisationsLike gangs, fundamentalist sects demand substantial "sacrifices" as proof of loyalty. (Athena Andreadis)It is with great sadness and regret that I have to report the @sheffielduni executive board had decided to press ahead with their plan to close @UniShefArch and move only two small elements of our teaching into dispersed departments where they shall surely wither and quickly die. Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0London, UK51.5072178 -0.127586216.469743960880621 -70.44008620000001 86.544691639119378 70.184913800000018tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-81100629891008859602024-02-15T18:13:00.003+00:002024-02-15T18:13:47.271+00:00Received Ideas in Quotes 37“Aye!” said Nancy, “If you listen to sea yarns, young shaver, you’ve got to sort out what’s yarn and what’s spindrift.” (Worzel Gummidge and the Treasure Ship, Barbara Euphan Todd. Spindrift is "windblown sea spray", says the Free Dictionary. Nancy is a ship’s figurehead.)@naomirwolf: I was excited to see the new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm but sadly the formerly compelling cast all look Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-31774971798248344562024-02-13T18:18:00.003+00:002024-03-01T12:44:29.171+00:00 Talkin’ ’Bout my – GenerationI know who I am – a Boomer. When I was a teenager, suddenly there were more young people than usual, thanks to the "post-war Baby Boom". There was a Generation Gap, meaning that we couldn’t trust anybody over 30. “I hope I die before I get old,” sang the Kinks. We were hippies. We had the Summer of Love (over by September, say those who were there). Behold, we were going to make all things new.&Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-35806372446076216742024-02-08T22:31:00.000+00:002024-02-08T22:31:54.430+00:00The Mystery of the Kneeling Woman by Moray DaltonMoray Dalton’s The Mystery of the Kneeling Woman is set in a small village surrounded by wet, wintry and rather sinister woods. Cottages are “picturesque but insanitary” (earth closet in the garden). A small boy finds a dying man while searching for conkers. Meanwhile someone has brained a local recluse, Mr Killick. Enter Hugh Collier from the Yard to battle with the Chief Constable and the Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-60555682105517843152024-02-01T14:10:00.001+00:002024-02-01T14:10:09.521+00:00Darkness Falls from the Air, by Nigel BalchinNigel Balchin was a civil servant and government/business advisor who wrote popular novels on the side. In the early days of the Blitz, middle-class characters, occupied by their jobs and affairs, carry on visiting their favourite restaurants, conveniently sited in basements. There isn’t much of a plot, and I kept expecting a mandarin to be found brained by a Remington typewriter, mystery to be Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-50895474239056250742024-01-15T15:11:00.002+00:002024-01-15T15:11:44.711+00:00Inventions and Reinventions 12REINVENTWhat we really need to bring back is 1950s style Espresso Cafés full of Mods and Beatniks. (@JSmithy64)Printed menus.Discount cards.Large clocks in shops and cafés, and on public buildings. Air conditioning for all public buildings, houses and flats.Long socks for men, to avoid "ankle gap".Likewise, does the trade in mattress toppers and office chair arm extensions tell Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-17653987356746306962024-01-14T16:31:00.000+00:002024-01-14T16:31:05.394+00:00Reasons to Be Cheerful 2023: 322023 has been an Annus Horribilis. Is there anything to be happy about?Here's a timeline of women's rights regarding money. 1612 Last person burned at the stake for heresy in England. (Pic shows a "Salem witch costume".)1677 Parliament repeals the writ De Heretico Comburendo, which made burning at the stake the punishment for heresy.1774 Austria became the first European nation to introduce Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-66634723115291446512024-01-05T17:21:00.002+00:002024-01-06T13:19:00.450+00:00Received Ideas: Skepticism 38We should be skeptical about those "facts" and stories that "everybody knows".We are the inheritors of so much inaccurate information and manipulated history. It conditions all areas of our lives, from personal interaction, to how we engage locally, nationally and globally. I’m constantly checking my assumptions, the sources of information and intent behind it. (Historian @Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-62861395002356179032024-01-05T17:20:00.003+00:002024-01-05T17:20:52.340+00:00Received Ideas about History 37Women gave birth at ten, men went off to war at five, and the average Englishman died before he was born. (The Reduced Shakespeare Company)It’s not safe to drink tap water abroad. (Still lingers.)Gladiatorial contests always ended with the death of one of the participants. (Weren’t gladiators slaves and valuable properties?)Flaming torches were used for lighting indoors. (See Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-25492206777214752652024-01-05T17:09:00.002+00:002024-01-05T17:09:49.309+00:00More Received Ideas 36Shakespeare is hard to understand because he wrote in Old English.The canonical books of the Christian Bible were chosen at the Council of Nicaea.Buddhism is a philosophy not a religion.Documents signed in purple ink are not legally binding.Feminists don't need protecting.The official foot was based on the length of the reigning King’s foot.There were no Jews in Palestine before 1948. Jews are Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-79648302298657920782024-01-05T08:37:00.000+00:002024-01-05T08:37:00.706+00:00Received Ideas in Quotes 35The Emperor is naked, Santa isn’t real, I don't believe in fairies and I hate Big Brother.I held a door open for a lady. Youngish. “I can manage myself,” she said. “Fair enough.” I said. “Give me a minute,” as I ushered her back through door and closed it. I then walked away. It felt like a small victory. (@benonwine. And many others on this template, though I doubt this version ever Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-74405700532364256752024-01-03T11:36:00.007+00:002024-01-04T23:55:21.033+00:00Received Ideas in Conversation 34Building the Dome on the Florence cathedral (Duomo) was a gamble. They didn’t know how. Architect Brunelleschi brought an egg, broke it at the bottom so it stands erect. That was the plan lol. As you see it is egg shaped. It worked too, for 550 yrs now. (@PatrickBreukers)That seems like a misread of the egg story. My recollection was that someone asked Brunelleschi how he would do it and didn't Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-41135652099427021822023-12-24T15:50:00.008+00:002024-01-12T17:40:45.111+00:00Grammar: Meet the AntecedentsWho he? What that? Who they? Harold Ross, founder of the New Yorker, used to write this in the margin of galley proofs. He wasn't surprisingly ignorant of modern life, he was pointing out that the writer had used a pronoun without an antecedent.Most writers are terrified of repeating themselves. They know that "elegant variation" is allowed, but think it means replacing names and places with "it,Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-74595446144098916502023-12-24T10:29:00.001+00:002023-12-27T20:01:22.232+00:00Predictions for 2024Journalists will write about the following:The world's first wind-powered cargo ship has set off on her maiden voyage, using her giant metal 'wings' to fly through the ocean. The WindWings have been fitted onto Mitsubishi-owned Pyxis Ocean - chartered by Cargill - and was designed by a team of British Olympic sailors. It has been built by Yara Marine Tech, and the WindWings are expected to save Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-5898348803733405082023-12-17T13:08:00.004+00:002023-12-25T13:01:35.019+00:00Hey Guys, It's Nearly 2024!So if my name is joint on a credit card, health insurance, or any other account but my husband opened the account and is therefore the primary holder they won’t speak to me without his permission even though I’m the one paying the bill and this is not the 1950s. (@AileenWeintraub)It's nearly 2024 and some men resent Mary Earps for winning Sports Personality of the Year in a women-only sport whileLucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-48619874478292241222023-12-16T14:52:00.001+00:002023-12-16T14:52:18.108+00:00The Veiled Virgin The Veiled Virgin is a sculpture by Giovanni Strazza (1818–1875), carved in Rome in the mid-19th century. Such figures were popular in that era. Then as now, people asked "How could a human being create such a thing?"Here's how:Make a clay model of your figure. Let it dry a bit. Take a length of fine cloth and dip it in clay slip (diluted clay). Drape it over the figure - you have one chanceLucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-79631274501006900462023-12-14T09:47:00.001+00:002023-12-14T14:34:37.243+00:00Syndromes: Mad Management 2Popped into my old office this evening to see how they had repurposed our former Humanities offices now we are required to hotdesk... 6 months on. Oh, it's not being used at alI I see. (@odavies9)My mum wins the worst training day ever award. When she worked for the council they paid for them to spend the day in the forest. On arrival they were presented with clown costumes which they had to wearLucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-70572197740604391962023-12-03T15:24:00.011+00:002024-01-01T16:48:22.681+00:00Buzzwords of 2023Anybody not giving a toss about the Coronation in May, or is it just me? (@DoctorJevvy Jan 23 2023)passive voice: People have moved on from “passive voice” in headlines to “burying the lead”. (They're still complaining about the passive voice – they think it means "not laying blame". Or "not condemning atrocities".)pluck: Survivors of the Turkey earthquake are being “plucked” from the rubbleLucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-68733049652902508112023-11-09T15:08:00.004+00:002023-12-03T19:11:13.818+00:00Agatha Christie: MisunderstandingsHaslemere High Street The County, the country, the country house, the village...One of the many reasons given for despising Agatha Christie is that “She set all her stories in country houses and English villages and among the aristocracy.” American academics and critics talk about “English country villages” when Dorothy Sayers and Christie set stories in provincial towns – more Haslemere Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-7598665970923656862023-10-29T13:14:00.000+00:002023-10-29T13:14:17.780+00:00When Wilt Thou Save the People?When wilt Thou save the people?O God of mercy, when?Not kings and lords, but nations,Not thrones and crowns, but men!Flowers of Thy heart, O God, are they;Let them not pass, like weeds, away;Their heritage a sunless day:O God, save the people!Shall crime bring crime forever,Strength aiding still the strong?Is it Thy will, O Father,That man shall toil for wrong?No, say Thy mountains; No, Thy skiesLucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-3912204817757918402023-10-22T19:25:00.002+01:002023-12-04T10:52:09.507+00:00Inspirational Quotes 106: InstructionsA boy scout should be acceptable at a dinner dance and invaluable in a shipwreck. (Robert Baden-Powell)A journey may take you backwards, downhill, or round and round in circles. (The Dalai Lama) Any decisions you make will follow you like a shadow. (@TheRoyalButler)Asking someone how you can help them could change their life. (Chloe Bellerby)At some point stuff's going to happen to you Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-41469109079816161082023-10-21T17:20:00.030+01:002023-10-21T18:25:16.053+01:00Inspirational Quotes 105You know those useless platitudes that people hand out as advice? Here are some that might actually help."Be yourself" is always the worst advice in life. (Sathnam Sanghera)Be yourself, but try to please as much as possible. (Edith Head)An inevitable part of being a catch is one’s physical appearance. (The Times, 2022)Bullies get worse as time goes on. (@TheRoyalButler)Every generation Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-36745157995731528142023-10-19T15:39:00.003+01:002023-10-19T23:01:35.023+01:00Technophobia 13: I'm Not So CleverIt’s 2022 and I don’t know how to hang up a phone call. How do you get back to the screen with the red phone symbol? (You can tweak a setting so that you can hang up a call by pressing the power button. Done it. But why should I have to?) I had to show a friend how to answer a phone call, and it took me several tries to work it out myself, ringing the mobile from the land line to work out that Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2524950191725976190.post-67093618256567969482023-10-19T15:32:00.004+01:002023-11-12T01:28:08.362+00:00Technophobia 12Man in TICKET OFFICE (crossed out and replaced with INFO HUB): OK, one more time: Go home and log on to our website from your computer, create an account and purchase your ticket with your credit or debit card, download the ticket to a smartphone, then come back at the allocated time... Just what part of “easier and more convenient” don’t you get?I won’t get a Kindle because everything you Lucy R. Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08632983296994349550noreply@blogger.com0