What sort of language is worthy of being inscribed in stone? A frieze on the James A. Farley Building in New York City is inscribed with Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds. This motto of the U.S. Postal Service is borrowed almost entirely from The Histories (Bookshop|Amazon) by the ancient historian Herodotus. An inscription on the Goodhue Building at the Los Angeles Public Library reads Books invite all; they constrain none. Homes in parts of Europe sometimes have the Latin inscription Parva sed apta mihi, which translates as “Small, but right for me.” Another inscription for a domicile is As the body is to the mind, so the house is to the body. This is part of a complete episode.
What makes a great first line of a book? How do the best authors put together an initial sentence that draws you in and makes you want to read more? We’re talking about the openings of such novels as George Orwell’s 1984...
To slip someone a mickey means to doctor a drink and give it to an unwitting recipient. The phrase goes back to Mickey Finn of the Lone Star Saloon in Chicago, who in the late 19th century was notorious for drugging certain customers and relieving...
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