Seamlessly Internettled

I snagged William Safire's new book Let a Simile Be Your Umbrella the other day and have found it to be an entertaining read as expected. However, he also reminded me of the Dictionary of American Regional English with it's soon to be published 4th volume. I didn't know that the lead editor, the deus machina behind DARE, Fred Cassidy had died last year leaving the project somewhat in turmoil but still moving 'on to Z'.

If you have a few bucks to burn, go up to AbeBooks and get a copy of vols. 1 - 3 and wallow in the pages of this utterly amazing dictionary or help identify a few terms or donate cold hard cash to DARE. You could also donate to The Dictionary Project which gives 3rd grade children a dictionary of their own since it would seem the US has billions to spend on bombs but not a similar amount to spend on teaching children to read and spell. One of the first presents I ever remember getting for Christmas was a Dictionary and an Encyclopaedia so this particular cause is near and dear. Nothing is quite as unimpressive as a computer nerd who can't find his ass with both hands and a flashlight much less spell or form a complex sentence with polysyllabic words.

You might also be amused to know that the word 'downsizing' has a surprising origin, especially considering the modern SUV:

"The word was born in a happy spirit. The United Auto Workers leader Leonard Woodcock was an early user, reported the quarterly American Speech, speaking of 'the down-sizing, as GM calls it' on Meet the Press on Sept. 5, 1976. A month later, an ad for Ford LTD's in Southern Living asked, 'Will down-sized cars have down-sized prices?' The raising of oil prices by the Shah of Iran in 1974 sped the need to reduce gas consumption, and Newsweek in 1978 reported "the rush to down-size cars to meet tougher fuel-efficiency standards.'"

Downsizing didn't make the lexicon of layoffs until 1990. :)