Grammatical Case in Foreign Names in English Writing

Ken writes:
I’ve got a question about what to do about grammatical inflexions on foreign names when writing English.
After I got my PhD, I had a couple of articles from it published in an Austrian philosophy journal called Grazer Philosophische Studien (Graz Philosophical Studies –my PhD dissertation was about an Austrian philosopher based in Graz). Now, [...]

Unimportant Counterfactuals

Ken writes:
If I were the manager of a small bohemian performance arts venue that was considering introducing a ‘three strikes’ policy to discourage people from disrupting performances with inconsiderate coughing, my slogan would be:
‘One cough, Two cough, Far cough.’
If I were a shopkeeper in Bradford specializing in (South) Asian ladies’ attire, I’d call [...]

Ethical question

Dot writes: is it immoral to set exam questions you wouldn’t in a million years choose to answer yourself?
Answers on a postcard, please.

The slippery slide from imitation to make-believe

Ken writes:
Hugh is currently engaging in behaviours that are indeterminate between imitation and make-believe play. Dot has, I believe already mentioned, though not documented, one example: Hugh’s inchoate telephone play.
(sorry about the appalling composition of these photos, but he’s a moving target)
Hugh holds phones, but also tv remotes and similar sized objects, to his ear [...]

Common property

Dot writes: I’m prompted by Jeremy’s comment on my last post to pose a question: what would make people behave better in common spaces? I have wordily ranted before about how cross it makes me when people throw junk into rivers, or graffiti public buildings, or don’t clean up after their dogs, or leave broken [...]

Against all odds…

…I am really in quite a good mood this Saturday (writes Dot), despite the fact that:
1. after a sunny start it has become extremely windy, rainy and cold, meaning that our trip to Powerscourt Gardens never got further than the shop;
2. Hugh’s cold is now quite bad, and as a result he
2a. (aren’t I being [...]

Most precious words

Dot writes: as a minor sidetrack from supervising an extended essay, I’ve been reading a book about teaching children to write poetry (Read My Mind: Young Children, Poetry and Learning, by Fred Sedgwick). The position taken in the book is that getting children to write poetry means getting them to look attentively at the world [...]

Wish we were there…

Dot writes: in many ways it’s good to be home, but, on the other hand, only two weeks ago we were enjoying sights like these…

Hello frilly

Dot writes: a milestone: as of last Thursday, the day he turned fourteen months old, Hugh has officially finished breastfeeding. I’m not sure he has quite noticed yet. But I have. I have just bought myself three underwired, lacy, opening-only-at-the-back and completely-without-flaps bras. My breasts are just the same size as before I got pregnant, [...]

Colour Sudoku

Ken writes
Some time ago I speculated that it would be interestng to see a sudoku that uses colours instead of numbers. Well, I’ve found one here.
I definitely find it easier than the regular kind. I think the difference is felt most at the end of the puzzle when already quite a lot of the [...]