sci fi or fantasy

A collection of 25 posts

espionage history

Gazogène

resistance and romance novels

sci fi or fantasy

Propagating the faith

propaganda and romance novels

animal words

Donkey pepper

donkeys, herbs, romance novels

historical romance

The Perpetrator

on obscure word origins, by which I mean where my child learns the things he knows, and, of course, romance novels

ancient history

Ox turning

Writing forward and backward and upside down, in letters and telegrams and meows, and, of course, romance novels

historical romance

Buildings and books

le livre et l'édifice, but more importantly, romance novels

sci fi or fantasy

Rarities

learning new words from an old sci-fi novel, and, as usual, romance novels

fantasy romance

Crepid

"Creep" and romance novels

animal words

Butterfly ties

Butterflies and romance novels

contemporary romance

Chicanery

trickery, urban planning, and romance novels

French history

the devil's hot-bed

spies, romance, and hot beds

sci fi or fantasy

No word, just books

No word this time, just three excellent books.

expressions

Ratatam

nursery rhymes, a romance novel, some fantasy novels, and Graham Greene again

sci fi or fantasy

Answerable

on The Left Hand of Darkness, Ravishing the Heiress, and Make Room for Love

US history

Corcas

etymological mysteries and romance novels

fashion

On cravats

Croatia, must-have historical romance accessories, and romance novels

expressions

I do cock a snook, but not at thee

rude gestures, death, and romance novels

animal words

Big-eared rabbit-eared

a small Australian marsupial, language names, and romance novels

contemporary romance

Fending for yourself

on the word "fend" and two excellent romance novels

fantasy romance

Apparitions

ANDROID, n. There are androids in one of this week’s small-r romances. This newsletter has covered “robot” and “construct” before, so I figured it was time to look up “android,” even though it’s pretty etymologically straightforward. Andro- as in “man,” -oid as in “having the form or

contemporary romance

Myschyvys

MISCHIEVOUS, adj. Now that I’ve put this word in the title of a novel that will be published on Tuesday, I have to come clean: I can’t ever type it right on the first try and I was pronouncing it wrong (sorry, as good descriptivists, we say “in

food words

Snits

Hello, Word Suitcase readers! This newsletter normally arrives in your inbox on Sunday, which today is not. In theory it also comes every two weeks. I meant to send this last weekend, but our household was struck by back-to-back illnesses, the second of which was covid. We’re

body or sex words

Legally obscene

This week’s Word Suitcase is sexually explicit. Or perhaps I should say “more sexually explicit than usual.” CUNT, n. It was inevitable that I’d write about this word eventually, I think. This time last year, I was writing about “pudendum” and “the obscenest picture the world possesses,” so

art history

"the obscenest picture the world possesses"

PUDENDUM, n. I recently finished reading Ross King’s The Judgment of Paris, a nonfiction book about Impressionism and French history, in particular the artists Édouard Manet and Henri Meissonier. I loved it, not just because there were several etymologies mentioned, most memorably the one in this long excerpt (page

body or sex words

Let's have a bouba

BOOBS, n. This term for breasts shows up in print in US English for the first time in 1929, which means people were saying it before that. “Boobies” is older than just plain “boobs,” and it’s a variation on “bubbies,” which goes all the way back to the 1600s