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Take Our Word For It Issue 143
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Melanie Crowley
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Dec 12, 2001 22:29 PST
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Take Our Word For It Issue 143
http://www.takeourword.com
For Mac users who have trouble with our regular homepage:
http://www.takeourword.com/indexmac.html
**Greetings**
We're healthy and back!
**This Week's Issue**
NOTE: The links in this newsletter are good for Dec. 12-19 only.
In Spotlight, we discuss thieves' slang
http://www.takeourword.com/page1.html
In Words to the Wise,we bring you the following new words:
investment
http://www.takeourword.com/page2.html#investment
consonant and vowel
http://www.takeourword.com/page2.html#consonantvowel
-ber as in September, October, etc.
http://www.takeourword.com/page2.html#-ber
and get the hell out of Dodge
http://www.takeourword.com/page2.html#Dodge
In Curmudgeons' Corner Malcolm Tent flaunts his knowledge of flount
http://www.takeourword.com/page3.html
In Sez You... we hear from readers about gem groups; more Tagalog
plurals; Menzies; lost letters; Gaul and Wales; the land of roosters;
manual automatic doors; a thorn sighting; Websense again; and Russian
plurals.
http://www.takeourword.com/page4.html
In Laughing Stock we see slow men at work
http://www.takeourword.com/page5.html
**Newsletter-Only Book Review**
This week we give you the promised review of "Alpha Beta: How 26
Letters Shaped the Western World", by John Man.
Mr. Man says in his foreward: "This book is about one of humanity's
greatest ideas - the idea of alphabet - and its most widespread form:
the system of letters you are now reading. Three features of the idea
stand out: its uniqueness, its simplicity, and its adaptability. From
the alphabet's earliest manifestation 4000 years ago, all other
alphabets take their cue; and all reflect the idea's underlying
simplicity." That's probably a good summation of the book.
Man has an engaging style and tells a good story. He uses some personal
experiences, throws in some information about how we know what we know
about the alphabet (e.g., who found the best decoder rings, etc.), and
then proceeds to tell the alphabet's story, starting in Babylon, moving
to Egypt and Greece, and so on. He peppers the history with simplified
linguistic discussions. He also includes a map in the frontispiece and
nice appendices comparing alphabets and ideograms. The book is actually
quite absorbing! If you are interested in the origins of our alphabet,
this book is for you. It is available in our book store at
http://www.takeourword.com/bookStore.html
**Laughing Stock**
We encourage you to send us funny clippings or e-mails that you run
across, because if we use yours in Laughing Stock, you will win a $10
gift certificate to Amazon.com! This week's issue of TOWFI contains a
winning entry in Laughing Stock. Thanks to John Kerst!
**Donations**
The 50% to the Red Cross (or other deserving charity assisting those
affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks) special is still on! If
you enjoy Take Our Word For It and read it even semi-regularly, we
encourage you to give -- even just a few dollars -- as your donations go
a long way toward keeping TOWFI going.
The TOWFI bookmarks are ready! We'll be sending them this weekend.
Thank you for your patience!
Until next time,
Take Our Word For It!
Melanie and Mike
http://www.takeourword.com
http://www.takeourword.com/indexmac.html
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