In response to our conversation about language chosen for a tombstone, listeners share proposed epitaphs for themselves and others. If you just can’t get enough of epitaphs, you can browse lots of back issues of the scholarly journal Markers, published by the Association for Gravestone Studies. A full run of back issues are available at Archive.org. This is part of a complete episode.
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According to Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American English (Bookshop|Amazon) by Ben Yagoda, the word smarmy, meaning “unctuous” or “ingratiating,” may come from a 19th-century magazine contest, in which readers sent in...
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