STRESSED spelled backward is DESSERTS.
Language
Rongorongo
Statues aren’t the only mystery on Easter Island. Tablets found on the island bear a mysterious script, known as rongorongo, that has never been successfully deciphered.
Some scholars have pointed out similarities between the strange characters and the prehistoric script of the Indus Valley in India, 6,000 miles away, but others dispute this.
The islanders themselves give eager and varying accounts to archaeologists and historians, and perhaps they themselves don’t know. Some say that rongorongo means peace-peace, and that the documents record treaties, perhaps with visitors to the island.
So far, none of the attempts at translation have withstood peer review.
In a Word
sagittipotent
adj. having great ability in archery
The World’s Shortest Telegram
Curious how a new book was selling, Victor Hugo wired his publisher:
?
He got this reply:
!
In a Word
supellectile
adj. of the nature of furniture
In a Word
stiricide
n. the falling of icicles from a house
“An Orthographic Lament”
If an S and an I and an O and a U
With an X at the end spell Su;
And an E and a Y and an E spell I,
Pray what is a speller to do?
Then, if also an S and an I and a G
And an HED spell side,
There’s nothing much left for a speller to do
But to go and commit siouxeyesighed.
— Charles Follen Adams
In a Word
sinapistic
adj. consisting of mustard
In a Word
spatchcock
v. to insert into a text too hurriedly
British Swearing
The top 10 most offensive British profanities, according to a 2000 study:
- cunt
- motherfucker
- fuck
- wanker
- nigger
- bastard
- prick
- bollocks
- arsehole
- Paki
Only 10 percent regarded crap as “very severe”; 32 percent said it was “not swearing.”