Blog – Page 46 – Deborah Makarios

November 20, 2019

Ah, the Pocket Book

Begin by defining my terms? What is this, an academic essay? No, but it is, alas, subject to the vagaries of the English language, which… well. Yes. Deary deary me.

According to Wikipedia, ‘pocket book’ can mean a coin purse, a handbag (also known as a purse, to aid confusion), a notebook kept in a pocket, or a published book of a pocketable size. So you could technically keep a pocket book (coin purse) in your pocket book (handbag) WITHOUT ANY POCKETS OR BOOKS BEING INVOLVED SERIOUSLY ENGLISH WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! Ahem.
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November 15, 2019

The Finest Comic Writer of the Present Age

Who did Jane Austen describe as “the finest comic writer of the present age?” The answer is: her older sister Cassandra.

My dearest Cassandra,
The letter which I have this moment received from you has diverted me beyond moderation. I could die of laughter at it, as they used to say at school. You are indeed the finest comic writer of the present age.

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November 12, 2019

Wardrobes the Way they Were

Time immemorial…. Has a lovely sound to it, doesn’t it? Like days of yore.

In fact, in British law, time immemorial is defined as everything before the sixth of July 1189. This was decided in 1275, presumably because by that point no one could remember anything before the sixth of July 1189 and it was therefore literally time immemorial – a time that no one living could remember.

Hunterian Psalter c. 1170 feasting — Don’t worry, no one remembers you taking the last piece of pizza in 1170.

It is interesting to consider what time immemorial would be these days. It’s so easy to forget how short a time, relatively speaking, things have been The Way Things Are. Mass transport, antibiotics, Queen Elizabeth II, the Internet… Fast fashion has only been around for a few decades, and yet how strange it now seems to have just a few carefully tended items of clothing, worn for years and infrequently replaced.

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