Bullies are discussed a lot these days, but they aren’t something new. Tormenters have been around for a long time … especially in literature. Let’s take an inside look at the characters who are bullies and learn about their consequences. Marion Hawthorne In the 1964 children’s novel, Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh, Marion Hawthorne is a smart-mouthed, entitled classroom bully. It’s never determined why she is …
From existential threats to existential choices “I’m trash!” was the insistent cry of Forky, the googly-eyed spork whose struggle to be a toy was at the heart of the summer blockbuster Toy Story 4. Forky’s plight was entertaining, yes, but it also resonated with a deeper sentiment—and word—that defined so much of 2019. We know what you must be thinking: Forky? The dictionary? 2019? Well, …
Now more than ever, there’s a firehose of slang terms flowing from TikTok vids, Twitch streams, Twitter memes, and the other outlets of the extremely online. What’s a menty b? Why are TikTokers adding -ussy to everything? What does it mean to be told to touch grass? You might be sorry you asked, but we’re going to explain it all. We’ll also provide insights into …
Hocus pocus, abracadabra, alakazam! These are the words we invoke when magic is at work—even if it might just be a card trick at home. While a few of these words and phrases have wholly crossed over into entertainment magic or originated there from the start (e.g., presto change-o), some of these words are rooted in older commands that called upon higher powers to influence …
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! That cheer-boosting adage works for some people, but others are perfectly happy sucking sour lemons. Literature is full of chipper lemonade-makers, but there’s something about those lemon-sucking grumps that draws readers in. Is it their angsty sarcasm? Their jaded world-weariness? Their stubborn dedication to doom-and-gloom even when everything else is giggles and rainbows? Are Negative Nancys somehow more …
“One toke over the line . . .” That 1971 hit by the duo Brewer and Shipley was written as a paean to marijuana. On Last.fm, Tom Shipley commented, “‘When we wrote ‘One Toke Over the Line,’ I think we were one toke over the line.” Back in that day, marijuana was lumped in with all sorts of drugs deemed to be forbidden. But now, …
There’s nothing worse than getting ensconced in a book that’s building up to a big moment … only to be interrupted and have to put it down before the most exciting part. Are you missing out on the climatic moment? Or was it the climactic scene that got disturbed before you could read it through? Although they look and sound alike, these two adjectives are …
