This is very unfortunate. I was sort of counting on being Phyllis Schafly's girlfriend. Rats. Back to the drawing board.

This. I love Dratch to bits, but there is something about the way Krakowski can say "Every blonde actress has made a crime procedural pilot! Mine was called Goodlooking. I played Alexis Goodlooking. I was also good-looking, and my special ability was being good at looking for clues"... that slays me.

I giggled at "legal fishwife" so at the very least a minority of one didn't hate it. Maybe because my mother did and still does like to tell me to stop shouting because I sound like one. To my mind, it isn't intended as a jab at powerful females in general, which would be horrible and out of character, but it does…

Just to let you know, this is the funniest piece I've read on here for months. I was stifling giggles from the off, but it was the description of Fabrizio and Tommy that finally made me tip over into loud, teary, my-flatmates-think-I'm-nuts laughter. This made my night, so thanks.

The previous commenter is right in that "negre" is definitely less strong than the n word, although obviously still outdated and offensive. It was the sentiment which was the main problem. But frankly, I'm surprised this even drew any attention in a country where chocolate marshmallows are still called "tetes de…

This is so cute. Good work, mathletes.Plus, nice to see a story positive about BYU.

I think this is the one I had in mind: [www.nytimes.com]

Someone, I believe it may have been Nicholas B Kristof, wrote a really great, frank piece about this and how it is unfortunately true that men are far more likely to ignore the needs of their family/community and spend what could be school fee money etc. on booze or gambling. I mean, there are probably some…

If there is one difference between the UK and the US it is that Americans always emphasise how smart their pets are and we always emphasise how dumb they are :D

Well, it was, wasn't it? Or are all your heroes strictly late 20th century activists? By that logic, admiring President Obama will be considered terribly reactionary in fifty years because of his lack of support for gay marriage.

Sure, but he was born in 19 freakin' 11. I bet 90% of dudes born in 1911 were opposed to most of those measures too. My point is that it's really dumb to assume someone was a bad president based on one thing that you choose to focus on. Surely the only question is, was the country better off after he left office than…

Oh good, let's draw up a list of people born before the Civil Rights era who ever had an opinion racist by 21st century standards! And be careful - if you admire any of them, no matter what else they did in life, you may well be a racist! I'll start:

Yes, this is gross, but it's technically no more gross than anything that happens to most processed meat. If it were the chemicals or the process that bothered people, the whole Western meat industry would be in instant crisis. Instead, it's a really rather childish case of "Ewww! Slime!" that's going to lose hundreds…

In terms of meaning, it seems to be used as a mild euphemism for "doggone" or something ruder. But the etymology is a real mystery. It might take an expert in African languages to shed light on it, or it could be a corruption of any number of European languages. Or, most frustratingly, it could be utter nonsense :D

Have you got any new leads on the origins of mamlish? That one's always been a really puzzler.

As a huge fan of pre-war blues, thanks for this. Another interesting aspect of the dirty blues is the queer element. Not only did female blues singers like Bogan, Rainey and Smith sing about 'B.D' or 'bull-dyker' women and threaten "Gonna come a time when the women won't need no men", male artists such as Pinetop…

Only if you go in looking for it, IMO. With that perspective, almost any interaction between a man and a woman could be framed as a precursor to rape. As Katharine Hepburn said in The Philadelphia Story, "It might not take much imagination. Just of a certain kind."

Looking at again now, the guy's expression isn't remotely threatening. If the woman had looked slightly less horrified, this could easily have been dismissed as horseplay. I just can't imagine how it can have passed through meetings without anyone noticing the unfortunate implications. Nice apology though: short,…

It's a literal thing, not an insult. Not like "Commoner, get off of my lawn!" but like the House of Commons

Unless this was a very progressive gatecrash, surely the happy spouse's name was Frances? #corrections