Sep. 27th, 2006

the_gneech: (Default)
For your present, here's today's Forgotten English!

pulverable
That which may be reduced to fine powder. From Latin pulvis, pulveris, powder. Pulverous, consisting of, or like, dust or powder.
--Daniel Lyons's Dictionary of the English Language, 1897


Feast Day of St. Cosmas,
a patron of apothecaries, whose ranks in England included grocers and even purveyors of preserves and "non-perishable commodities" until 1617. Martha Bradley's The British Housewife, or The Cook, Housekeeper's, and Gardener's Companion (1756) described a commonly employed technique for making such medicines as "a powder for convulsive fits," whose sole ingredient was a plucked raven: "Pick off the feathers, gut it, and send it to the oven in a clean earthen dish. Let it be put in every time the oven is heated till it will rub to a fine powder. Of this powder, let the person afflicted take as much as will lie upon a silver groat every morning fasting, for nine days together. This is very seldom known to fail of giving relief, but as it is a disorder that often returns, it will be very proper to keep some of the powder always in the readiness."

-The Gneech

Mmm...

Sep. 27th, 2006 10:38 am
the_gneech: (Mad Red)
Buttery shortbread... *drool*

-TG
the_gneech: (Exterminate)
We've now finished disc two of The Rose Tyler Show (Guest-Starring The Doctor) Doctor Who, including the Slaveen two-parter and "Dalek". The Slaveen two-parter was good whenever the plot was around, but I am already getting quite tired of Rose. If I hear one more variation on "I might lose you, Rose" I'm going to start rooting for a cyberman to come along and blast her already.

I don't want the companion to just stand around and say "That's impossible!" or "Doctor, what does that mean?" or even just "Eek! A monster!" -- but I do want the companion to be a supporting character and for the Doctor to be moving the plot forward, rather than spending all his time fretting while the companion saves the day. The Doctor should be a lot more cerebral.

I also think the idea of "I am no longer a Dalek, therefore I must be EX-TER-MI-NATED! *kaboom*" should have been more explicit at the end, but that's just me.

-The Gneech

April 2025

S M T W T F S
  1 2345
6789 101112
13141516171819
20 212223242526
27282930   

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jul. 27th, 2025 01:51 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios