Bags of Rubbish

Bad science is problem enough, but when the media gets hold of it, it can become worse science. It can become a part of an 'everybody knows that' truth which is, in reality, global myth. When that 'truth' circles back to the politicians, they may enact knee-jerk laws which cause more problems than they solve.

Such is the case with the British Government's attitude to environmental issues.

How to WRAP up the pollution problem, British Government style.

The Scientific Method : Discover a Syzygy

This is one of my musings on etymology.
The term 'musing' is derived from the notion that our ideas are inspired by the Muses.
That in turn gives the notion of a museum as a place in which a person might be inspired.
Welcome to the museum called the Chatter Box.

Syzygy comes from Late Latin syzygia, a conjunction, which in turn came from Greek syzygos, from syn, meaning 'together' and zygon meaning 'yoke'.

Syzygy  means 'aligned',  'conjoined' or unified.
It expresses a perception of unity arising from a coordination or alignment.

The True History of a Windbag


Ideas in etymology are like ideas in general.  Just as there is the carefully researched and formulated scientific theory as against 'just an idea', so with etymology. It is to be expected that as language becomes more widely researched, so the false etymologies still current will be displaced.

This blog is part 2 of an occasional series in false etymology, Part 1 may be found  here.

Of impacient Folys that wyll nat abyde correccioun
Unto our Folys Shyp let hym come hastely

Spinning a Yarn


Ideas in etymology are like ideas in general.  Just as there is the carefully researched and formulated scientific theory as against 'just an idea', so with etymology. It is to be expected that as language becomes more widely researched, so the false etymologies still current will be displaced.

This blog is part 1 of an occasional series in false etymology, Part 2  may be found  here.

Windbag The Sailor Spins a Yarn

The Age of Plastic

The term 'plastic' means, generally,  'easily moulded or shaped'.

Online dictionaries tend to show only a few of the very many variants and meanings of the term 'plastic'.
I have tried here to compile a list of the more frequent uses of the term  'plastic' across the internet.
That list may be found at the foot of this article.

The Plasticity of the Word 'Plastic'.

Please be warned.

The only link to science is really the single word "ornithologist".

Unless you are studying humour, that is.

For The Birds, a very short story worth reading.