The Lexicographer's Rules

It seemed like a nonce term when I first read it, but the Dictionary of American Regional English says ferrididdle, also spelled fairydiddle and meaning a red squirrel or a flying squirrel, goes back to 1893.

El Mango reports at the LiveJournal group Linguaphiles, “A young Chinese couple are heading up the aisle, between them is a young black guy. The girl is looking for a seat, and the boyfriend directs her repeatedly to a pair of seats. Except that in Mandarin Chinese, ‘this one’ [ie: these seats here] is pronounced ni gerr. So the black guy, hearing what sounded like ‘nigger…nigger…NIGGER’ from behind him is less than pleased and a tussle kicks off: angry black guy versus confused and increasingly angry Chinese guy. The Chinese guy invites the black guy to get off at the next stop, and he agrees, but fortunately, other passengers step in to calm them down.” (Source Link)

"You do not manage a social wrong. You should be ending it." (Source Link)

Feedster launched a brand-new look and search engine today. Much improved! Although I must admit that when they let me have a sneak peek at it yesterday, I sent a list of pie-in-the-blue-sky ideas and wistful demands for a pony.

I’m not claiming prophet status or anything (I think the rule for that is life plus 70 years. Or is it ten years dead? I dunno.), but it’s so nice to see someone else independently arrive at an idea and make it real. The Battery Maritime Building is one-of-a-kind. It’s old New York. When you walk through lower Manhattan, judging the buildings with a critical eye—sierras and forests composed of nothing but glass, granite, and concrete—and then see the Battery Maritime Building, you get a little charge in your spine. Or at least I do. It looks even better contrast with the barf-inducing Staten Island Ferry terminal (officially the “Whitehall Ferry Terminal,” I believe) nearby, at least before the terminal’s renovation. So I’ve always thought that the Battery Maritime Building needed to be renovated, turned into a gallery of non-chain food joints, art shops, coffee lounges, and the like. And, voilà, my wish is granted.

I swear, if I had had a billion dollars in 1993-94, the housing boom and the renovation of New York City would have happened 10 years earlier.