language

the archivist May 16, 2017

In our Global Archive series, we get to know the world a little better, one country (or territory) at a time. Today’s installment: Russia! So let’s start at the very beginning. Modern Russia has origins in about the 8th century CE. Vikings (called Varangians by the Greeks) came to rule over the people known as […]

the archivist March 9, 2015

I wish our clever young poets would remember my homely definitions of prose and poetry; that is, prose,—words in their best order; poetry,—the best words in their best order. –Samuel Taylor Coleridge So many people, many of whom enjoy other forms of the arts, are quick to declare, “I hate poetry.” I suspect that what […]

the archivist May 13, 2011

Excerpts from an ineptly written Portuguese-to-English phrasebook. “Nobody can add to the absurdity of this book, nobody can imitate it successfully, nobody can hope to produce its fellow; it is perfect.” -Mark Twain via 22 Words http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=nicolericom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=1932416110

the archivist October 13, 2010

“President Philip (who is without a doctoral degree and who has little if any experience teaching or researching)” via The Crisis of the Humanities Officially Arrives – NYTimes.com. GRRRR. This makes me so angry, partly because SUNY Albany has a good Russian program (one of their faculty co-wrote my favorite textbook series, Nachalo), and partly […]