two years

Today, the Mashed Radish turns two. I think the blog is really growing up.

My brother, Andrew, has given my words shape, line, texture, and color with his deft and delightful doodles. They’ve really added a lot personality, don’t you think? Thanks, brother! A number of my posts have become cross-posts, as I have been contributing to the OxfordWords blog at Oxford Dictionaries and Strong Language, a sweary blog about swearing. I hope that these posts have lead you to some new writers, blogs, and projects. The group at Strong Language is a tremendously talented bunch, no? It’s an honor to be writing alongside them. Speaking of honor: Oxford Dictionaries Online? Let’s just say about every post here begins with three letters: the OED.

While my writing has branched out through those two blogs, I think my writing here has matured, focusing on topical etymologies as my own small lens to think about current events–and using current events as a lens to think about words and language. Speaking of branching out, so have my readers here, reaching close to 5,000 followers. Each like, each comment, each compliment, each question–each is a shared act of curiosity, of word nerd-dom, of the little, electrifying huh‘s and ah-ha‘s and I’ll-be‘s that make me excited to continue into year three. There is a lot of choice out there today. There is a lot to read and enjoy. There is a lot of noise competing for our attention. So, whether you are scrolling through a new post while waiting in line at the post office or reading it over a cup of coffee at your computer before kicking work into gear, thank you.

Above all, however, I want to thank my wife (and blog widow), Amanda, whom I never give enough credit for supporting me and my writing.

Year two 

Below, you can read through the list of words, roots, or topics I covered in year two. You get something of a buzzword, catchword, or keyword “news reel” for May 2014-15. I’ve linked each word to its post:

-lock
*gno- (part i)
hitch
*gno- (part ii)
norm
soccer
goal
*sekw- (part i)
*sekw- (part ii)
gavel
independence
court
border
immigration
amnesty & coyote
rockets & missiles
tomato
virus
vaccine
comedy & tragedy
Punctuation..?
Ferguson
loot
Bongo, Bongo
school
punctuation (part i)
dread
nought
aye
Lexicon Valley
yes
strategy & target
quarantine
job
docket
czar
protocol
panic
candy
poll
veteran
spices
drubbing & shellacking
vape
everyday Quechua: Coke, jerky, & DNA
ciao, slave!
exam
test
bus
Strong Language
embargo
twelve words of Christmas
new
treadmill
“big goddamn car”
diet
cartoon
language (for your ears)
crude
loophole
Davy Crockett in a hot-air balloon
hawk vs. patriot
measles
culprit
anchor
Mardi Gras
beagle
swear jars & springtime
jar
akimbo
ease
jumbo
Background checks: everyday words with legal origins
mushing
corned
Buddha, eBay, & ombudsmen
farang
nuclear
I have eaten ‘crap now’
gyrocopter
race
dragon
errand & racy
thug
curfew

Whew!

 m ∫ r ∫