Addenda

What I forgot, what's coming, and other odds and ends.

I need to regroup a bit as I’m writing this. Before I admitted that to myself, I was thinking today’d be the day for a piece on logodaedalists, aka word coiners. I’ve got plans for going through the rest of the topics I brought up in my last series in short order—which would be syllepsis, tongue twisters, weasel words, and Yiddishisms.

Don Hauptman sent me a few more useful tautologies. One variation on “We are who we are” is Popeye’s “I yam what I yam and that’s all that I yam,” which is a sentiment he shares with the Biblical God (“I AM THAT I AM”). Hauptman notes “I Am What I Am” is also a well-known gay anthem from La Cage aux Folles, and adds “keep on keeping on” and “same old same old.”

Sometimes when I’m running close to deadline and one or both of us is busy, I don’t share my posts with Janice until I’m finished. She had notes on two recent ones which came too late to implement. To my thoughts on the Justice League (International) cover, she added a simple observation—the angle shown in that cover is now considered the most flattering angle for selfies. The word selfies didn’t even exist when that cover came out, which just makes it look more prescient.

And to my thoughts on Friday the thirteenth, Janice notes that sometimes her birthday falls on that day! I’d gotten rid of my superstition about it long before I met her, but that’d certainly be another reason to dispel it.

A note on the “Years in Crosswords” series—I do plan to bring that to the present day at some point, but I’ve produced enough material for the next few issues of the Journal as it is, and right now my other work precludes that research-intensive project. I’m planning to get back to it when things ease up a bit—or when it’s time to put out “Year in Crosswords 2025,” whichever comes first. 😉

The logodaedalists piece should appear tomorrow. Until then!