Two Lucifers

 

 
The Fall of Lucifer, engraved by Gustave Doré
for Milton's 'Paradise Lost' (1876)

The association of Lucifer with the devil is the result of some historical chain reactions.Strictly speaking, the word Lucifer never appears in the original Hebrew Bible as a name for Satan, though the stoy begins with the Old Testament, specifically in the Book of Isaiah (Chapter 14).

Isaiah was writing a scathing condemnation, but not of a fallen angel. He was writing a taunt-song directed at a very human tyrant: the King of Babylon (likely Nebuchadnezzar II or Nabonidus), who had conquered Jerusalem and oppressed the Jewish people.

The king was notoriously arrogant, fancying himself a god on earth. Isaiah mocked this pride by comparing the king's inevitable political downfall to a star that thinks it owns the night sky, only to vanish when the sun comes up.In the original Hebrew text, Isaiah called the king Helel ben Shachar, which translates to "Shining One, Son of the Dawn." That is a reference to the Morning Star (Venus).

The word comes from two Latin roots: Lux (meaning "light") and Ferre (meaning "to bring" or "to carry"). In ancient Rome, Lucifer was simply the Latin name for the Morning Star (which is the planet Venus), because its bright appearance in the early dawn signaled the arrival of daylight. It literally translates to "the bringer of light."

In the late 4th century AD, a scholar named Jerome translated the Bible from its original Hebrew and Greek into Latin. This version became known as the Latin Vulgate. When Jerome reached Isaiah 14:12, he had to translate Helel ben Shachar ("Shining One, Son of the Dawn"). Because the Romans called the morning star lucifer (the light-bringer), Jerome translated the phrase literally into lower-case Latin prose:

"Quomodo cecidisti de caelo, lucifer, qui mane oriebaris?" (How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, who rose in the morning!)

At that point in history, lucifer was still just a common noun describing a planet, not a proper noun naming a demon. In fact, early Christians even used the word lucifer as a title for Jesus Christ (e.g., in Revelation 22:16, where Jesus calls himself "the bright morning star").

As the centuries rolled on, early Christian theologians—most notably Origen and St. Augustine—began reading the Old Testament through an allegorical lens. They looked at Isaiah's poetic description of someone "falling from heaven" because of supreme arrogance and decided it was too grandiose to describe a mere human king of Babylon. They argued that Isaiah was weaving a double meaning into the text: a description of a historical king on the surface, but a cosmic backstory for the origin of Satan underneath.

Slowly, readers stopped treating lucifer as a descriptive Latin adjective and began capitalizing it as a proper name: Lucifer, the archangel who rebelled against God out of pride and was cast out of heaven.

By the time the Bible was translated into English (most famously the King James Version in 1611), the translators chose not to translate the Latin word back into "Morning Star." Instead, they left the Latin word intact, printing it as a proper name:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!"

The final, definitive lock on the name in the English-speaking world didn't come from theology, but from literature. In 1667, John Milton published his epic poem Paradise Lost. Milton took these scattered biblical verses and wove a massive, dramatic narrative detailing Lucifer’s pride, his rebellion, his fall, and his subsequent transformation into Satan.

Milton's brilliant characterization was so incredibly influential that it shaped the modern Western imagination. For most people today, the distinction between the historical Latin translation and the literary character has completely blurred—making "Lucifer" permanently synonymous with the Devil.

Using lucifer to describe a match sounds rather dark and sinister. Matches being called "lucifers" actually comes from the literal Latin and some 19th-century branding. No Devil or Biblical connections. 

When inventors in the early 1800s finally figured out how to create portable, self-igniting fire on the tip of a wooden stick, "light-bringer" was an incredibly fitting description. 

In 1826, an English chemist named John Walker invented the first friction match. They were a massive scientific breakthrough, but Walker never patented them. Seeing an opening in the market, a clever London businessman named Samuel Jones copied Walker's design, tweaked the chemical formula slightly, and began commercially manufacturing them in 1829.

Jones needed a striking name for his new product. Leaning into that literal Latin meaning of bringing light to the darkness, he patented them as "Jones's Lucifers."

The product was an absolute sensation. Because they were among the first widely available commercial matches in Britain, the brand name "Lucifer" quickly became a generic term for any friction match, much like how we use "Kleenex" for tissues or "Band-Aid" for bandages today.

While Samuel Jones chose the name for its poetic "light-bringing" definition, everyday citizens couldn't help but notice some irony. These early friction matches were made using a harsh chemical mixture of potassium chlorate and antimony sulfide. When you struck them against sandpaper, they didn't light smoothly—they ignited with a violent, energetic pop, showered dangerous sparks, and released a suffocating, foul-smelling cloud of sulfurous smoke. To the Victorian public, striking one of these matches literally felt like conjuring a tiny, smelly burst of hellfire right in your living room. The double meaning was too perfect to ignore, and the nickname stuck around for generations.

Todd Rundgren and Runt

Todd Rundgren is a prolific rock musician, songwriter, and producer who continues to defy classification or genre. The vast majority of his albums are released as solo efforts, but he did have three bands along the way.

I wrote about his first band, Nazz, in an earlier post. They had 3 albums and several hits, including "Open My Eyes" and "Hello, It's Me." They broke up in 1969, and Todd was almost ready to go solo, but he formed Runt. 

The first Runt album was basically a solo album. Todd played nearly all the instruments, wrote all the songs, and produced the record. The other members were really supporting players. The official lineup was: Tony Sales on bass and his brother Hunt Sales on drums. They weren't really a permanent band, but were hired for the sessions. 

Titling the album "Runt" on the cover but showing only Todd certainly made it look like a solo album. The name “Runt” was self‑deprecating humor, and Todd has said he felt like the odd one out in the music scene at the time.

He was trying to reinvent himself after Nazz. The name Runt also reflected the minimal, makeshift nature of the group. Todd was breaking away from the psychedelic pop of Nazz and leaning into a more ballad-oriented style. 

He has made it clear that hearing Laura Nyro's album Eli and the Thirteenth Confession "blew his mind, and you can feel her stylistic influence especially in the 1969-1972 years. 

The “second Runt album” is Runt: The Ballad of Todd Rundgren (1971), which once again includes the band and Todd's name up front. It is a lush, emotionally intimate, piano‑driven record that marks Todd’s first major leap toward the songwriting sophistication he later perfected on Something/Anything?. Again, it's not a “band” album at all, as it’s essentially Todd alone. These ballads have orchestral touches, soul influences, and a confessional tone.

Pseudonyms: Sports

Some athletes have chosen to use pseudonyms. These are not to be confused with nicknames. For example, Cal Ripken, Jr., who played in 2,632 consecutive games over 16 seasons without a game off, earned the nickname “Iron Man.” 

A pseudonym is a more formal, permanent, and oftentimes a legal name change. 

Some sports pseudonyms include:

Joe Louis (formerly Joseph Louis Barrow)
Chi Chi Rodriguez (Juan Antonio Rodriguez)
Chipper Jones (Larry Wayne Jones, Jr.)
Whitey Ford (Edward Charles Ford)
Babe Ruth (George Herman Ruth, Jr.)
Casey Stengel (Charles Dillon Stengel; originally named after the initials of his hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, or "K.C.")
Chad Ochocinco (Chad Javon Johnson)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro)

A few interesting name change stories:

Yogi Berra ( born Lawrence Peter Berra) grew up in St. Louis, and while playing in American Legion baseball, he received the nickname "Yogi" from his friend Jack Maguire. After seeing a newsreel about India, Jack said that Larry resembled a Hindu yogi whenever he sat around with arms and legs crossed while waiting to bat or when he looked sad after a losing game.

Here is a rather complicated - and confusing - sports name change. Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar, a former football running back played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1996 to 2000 with the Miami Dolphins, Cleveland Browns, and Indianapolis Colts. He was previously known as Karim Abdul-Jabbar and was born Sharmon Shah. In 1995, Sharmon Shah, a Muslim, was given the name "Karim Abdul-Jabbar" by his Imam. In his NFL debut, some viewers and even some commentators mistakenly believed that he was the son of former basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Both had attended UCLA. 

Basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had played at UCLA under the name (Ferdinand) Lew(is) Alcindor. In 1968, Alcindor converted to Sunni Islam, but he did not begin publicly using his Arabic name until 1971.

Cloud Cult

Feel Good Ghosts Tea-Partying Through Tornadoes

Cloud Cult is an experimental indie rock band originally from Duluth and later based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Led by singer-songwriter Craig Minowa, the group's name was inspired by ancient prophecies of indigenous North Americans.  

Minowa, who has identified as having 1/16th Native American ancestry, has noted that the band's name and early philosophy were heavily influenced by indigenous spiritualities and a deep ecological respect for the land.  

Their early albums, such as Who Killed Puck, incorporated these philosophies into the music’s spiritual themes. The band is also well-known for its strict environmental practices, reflecting an indigenous-inspired respect for the natural world.  

The band is unique for including visual artists on stage who create paintings during live performances, which are then auctioned off to support charities or environmental causes. Much of their work also deals with themes of grief and purpose following the tragic loss of Minowa's young son in 2002. 

Their website is cloudcult.com

On stage 2017 By Jonathunder - Own work, GFDL 1.2, Link

Blah Blah Blah and Yada Yada

Saying "blah blah blah" (it seems to be said in threes) or "yada yada" (in twos and threes) sounds like total nonsense, but here we want to know more.

If you’re telling a long-winded story or giving confusing directions, someone might say "blah blah blah.”  “Blah” functions as a nothing word. “Blah” as a noun is defined as “silly or pretentious nonsense.” As an adjective, it means “dull and unattractive," as in "What a blah day."

It’s a 20th-century word, and its earliest written accounts in the Oxford English Dictionary come from a 1918 diary. It may have come from the French word blasé, which has been carried over into English, meaning “apathetic to pleasure or life, especially as a result of excessive indulgence or enjoyment.” If you’re feeling blah or blasé about something in your life, it may be because it’s boring or repetitive. 

You might hear someone say that they "have the blahs,” which is a colloquial phrase for mild depression. Punk rocker Iggy Pop released an album called “Blah-Blah-Blah,”and the title track “Blah-Blah-Blah” spoke to disaffection with the world.

I have also heard people use this phrase as a sentence ending, meaning a kind boring et cetera. "We wanted to go to dinner, couldn't decide on a place, stayed home and blah, blah, blah."

That last usage makes me think of "yada yada," which is most closely associated with an episode of the TV series Seinfeld. George's new girlfriend Marcy, likes to say "yada yada yada" to shorten her stories. Marcy tells him that her ex-boyfriend had visited her the night before, "and yada yada yada, I'm really tired today." That leaves the tadas up to interpretation. Did March have sex with her ex?

While Seinfeld popularized the phrase in the 1997 episode "The Yada Yada," it definitely did not invent it. Its linguistic roots are generally agreed to be that "yada yada" is an onomatopoeic evolution of the British word "yatter," which means to talk pointlessly or at length. This likely stems from the older word "chatter." By the 1940s and 50s, variations like "yatter-yatter" or "yaddega-yaddega" were appearing in American slang and comedy routines to mimic the sound of someone droning on.

1940s and 0s Vaudeville comedians often used "yadda yadda" or "yatata yatata" as a "button" for a joke—a way to signal that a character was talking too much without the comedian having to write actual dialogue for them.

It was used in a 1980 commercial for Federal Express, and it appeared in the 1989 film Parenthood, where a character says, "Then it's yada yada yada, and you're out the door."

There is often a misconception that "yada yada" is a Yiddish phrase. While it sounds phonetically similar to many Yiddish expressions and was frequently used by Jewish comedians in the Borscht Belt circuit, it is not actually a Yiddish word. Its popularity in New York-centric comedy helped create that association. The Seinfeld writers reportedly picked up the phrase because it was a common "filler" used by people in the industry when they were pitching scripts and didn't want to explain every minor plot point.

Pulling Out All the Stops

Though someone saying that they are “Pulling Out All the Stops” today probably means they will be making a huge effort, the real meaning is much more musical.

In the late 19th century, organists used stops to change volume on a pipe organ when they played. 

Organ stops are mechanisms—drawknobs, levers, or tablets—that allow an organist to select specific sets of pipes (ranks) to play, enabling a massive variety of timbres and volumes. Each set, or "stop," has a unique sound, typically classified into principal, flute, string, or reed families. They are designated by pitch (e.g., 8ft, 4ft)

So, pulling out all the stops is the loudest an organ can play. Go for it!

Really want to dig deep into that organ part? Watch here.

The Mythology of Absinthe

His glass has the milky version produced by the ritual,
while hers is still straight green absinthe.

In late 19th-century Paris, absinthe was the drink of choice for the avant-garde. Because it was high-proof and relatively cheap, it became the fuel for the "Green Hour" (L'Heure Verte), a daily ritual in cafes. It was immortalized by figures like Vincent van Gogh, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, and a number of poets and writers as being a drink to summon "the Muse."

Unlike wine, absinthe required a specific, almost alchemical ritual that involved dripping iced water over a sugar cube perched on a slotted spoon, which made the drink turn cloudy white. This theatricality made it feel more like a potion than a beverage. The myth was solidified by a very successful propaganda campaign. In the late 19th century, the French wine industry was nearly destroyed by a blight (phylloxera). As wine prices soared, people turned to absinthe.

But once the wine industry recovered, they viewed absinthe as a direct threat to their market share. They teamed up with the growing Temperance movement to portray absinthe as a "cocaine-like" drug that turned men into criminals. The final blow might have come in 1905, when a Swiss man murdered his family after a day of drinking. While he had consumed a massive amount of wine and brandy, the media focused exclusively on the two glasses of absinthe he had drunk. This "Absinthe Murder" led to the drink being banned in most of Europe and the U.S. by 1915.

That ban stayed in place for nearly a century, which only fueled the mystery. When it was finally legalized again in the late 1990s and early 2000s, people realized it was essentially just a very strong, anise-flavored spirit—but by then, the legend of the "forbidden" hallucinogenic green liquor was already permanent.

Absinthe is legal to purchase in the United States, but only in a specific, regulated form. The key requirement is that any absinthe sold in the U.S. must be “thujone‑free,” meaning it contains less than 10 parts per million (ppm) of thujone, the compound found in wormwood. This standard was set by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the FDA.  legalclar... +1

What “legal absinthe” means in the U.S. is that wormwood is allowed, but the final spirit must test as thujone‑free (<10 ppm). Since 2007, producers have been allowed to use the word absinthe on labels again, as long as they meet federal requirements. Labels cannot imply hallucinations, mind‑altering effects, or use “absinthe” as the sole brand name. Many states allow retail sales, though local alcohol laws vary.

So, is this “true” absinthe? It depends on what you mean by true. Traditional European absinthe often contains more thujone (up to ~35–38 mg/L). U.S. absinthe must stay under 10 mg/L, but chemically and flavor‑wise, it’s otherwise made the same way using wormwood, anise, and fennel, which give it a unique "licorice" kind of taste.

Modern research shows the old myths about hallucinations were exaggerated; the effects were mostly due to very high alcohol content, not thujone. The primary botanical in absinthe is Artemisia absinthium (Grand Wormwood). Wormwood contains a chemical compound called thujone. In the 1800s, doctors performed flawed experiments on animals, injecting them with high concentrations of wormwood oil. This caused seizures, leading scientists to claim that absinthe was a dangerous neurotoxin that caused "absinthism"—a condition characterized by hallucinations and madness.

Modern analysis shows that traditional absinthe contains only trace amounts of thujone—far too little to cause hallucinations. The "madness" seen in users was actually just severe chronic alcoholism, combined with the fact that absinthe was often bottled at 45% to 74% alcohol. Modern American absinthes typically range from 45% to 75% ABV (Alcohol by Volume), which translates to 90 to 150 proof. While that might seem startlingly high compared to a standard bottle of 80-proof vodka or gin, there is a functional reason for the high alcohol content.

The high proof isn't just for "kick"—it’s a chemical necessity for the botanicals. The signature ingredients (anise, fennel, and grand wormwood) are rich in essential oils. These oils stay dissolved in high-proof spirit but would separate or "louch" prematurely if the alcohol content were lower. This is why absinthe turns milky when you add icy water in that old ritual. By lowering the ABV to around 11%–15% in the glass, the oils are forced out of the solution, creating that famous cloudy appearance and releasing the floral aromas, though some people go for the stronger alcoholic straight absinthe.

Read more about how poets and writers were associated with absinthe
and la fée verte, the Green Fairy, a muse who whispered inspiration to drinkers.

Simon & Garfunkel and Tom and Jerry

Simon and Garfunkel doesn't seem to be a name that needs any explanation. Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. But they were originally known as the duo "Tom and Jerry" and that might require an origin story, especially for younger readers here.

They formed the group Tom and Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl." The two were friends throughout childhood and grew up in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, just blocks away from each other. They met in elementary school in 1953, when they both appeared in the school play Alice in Wonderland (Simon as the White Rabbit, Garfunkel as the Cheshire Cat). They were classmates at Parsons Junior High School and Forest Hills High School, and began performing together in their junior year as Tom and Jerry, with Simon as Jerry Landis (whose last name he borrowed from a girl he had been dating) and Garfunkel as Tom Graph (so called because he was fond of tracking or "graphing" hits on the pop charts. But "Tom and Jerry" was also known at the time as the name of a popular cartoon duo and animated show. Tom & Jerry is a compilation album released in 2002 that contains songs from their early career.

They began writing their own songs in 1955, and made their first professional recording, "Hey, Schoolgirl", for Big Records in 1957. It was released on 45 rpm and 78 rpm vinyl records, with the flip-side song "Dancin' Wild." The recording sold 100,000 copies and hit #49 on the Billboard Magazine charts. These early songs were heavily influenced by The Everly Brothers. They got to perform their hit on TV's American Bandstand, right after Jerry Lee Lewis performed "Great Balls of Fire".

However, they weren't as successful after that initial rush. After high school, the duo went to separate colleges - Simon at Queens College and Garfunkel at Columbia University. 

Though still friends, it was mostly Simon continuing to write and perform. By 1963, they had established themselves as Simon & Garfunkel (with & in place of and) as part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene. But they didn't release music under their own names until October 1964 with the debut of their studio album, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M.

Three of Simon's songs - "Sparrow", "Bleecker Street", and "He Was My Brother" are typical of that period. "He Was My Brother" was later dedicated to Andrew Goodman, a friend of both Simon and Garfunkel and a classmate of Simon's at Queens College, who was one of three civil rights workers murdered in Mississippi on June 21, 1964.

Those were three of the five original songs by Simon that were on their first album for Columbia Records, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M, which initially sold very poorly when it was released. It wasn't until a year later—when producer Tom Wilson overdubbed electric instruments onto the acoustic track "The Sound of Silence,"—that the duo became superstars and the first album went on to good sales.

They are well known for their close vocal harmonies and were among the most popular recording artists of the 1960s. Their biggest hits from five original albums include: "The Sound of Silence", "Bridge over Troubled Water", "I Am a Rock", "Homeward Bound", "A Hazy Shade of Winter", "Mrs. Robinson", "The Boxer", "Cecilia", and "Scarborough Fair/Canticle."

Many compilations, live albums and special editions of their music have been released since they dissolved the duo in 1970, and though they have reunited several times since then, currently they only have solo careers. They have received several Grammys and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

Paul Simon has continued to record, perform, and win Grammy Awards. His first solo release - simply called Paul Simon - was released in 1972. Some of his most popular albums are Still Crazy After All These Years, There Goes Rhymin' Simon , and Graceland.

Paul's official site is http://www.paulsimon.com

Art Garfunkel went on to act in several films, including Carnal Knowledge, Catch-22 and Bad Timing. 
He has released solo albums in a more pop vocal style. Some of his popular albums are Breakaway, Angel Clare, Watermark, and Fate for Breakfast. He has also published Still Water: Prose Poems.

Artie's official site is http://www.artgarfunkel.com

FURTHER READING  Simon and Garfunkel: Old Friends : A Dual Biography

Toast

One noun form of "toast" is the common bread that has been heated and made crispier. It makes sense since the verb "toast" means to cook or brown (food, especially bread or cheese) by exposure to a grill, fire, or other source of radiant heat.

But there is also the noun used connected to a drink to the health or in honor of (someone or something) by raising one's glass together with others. These well-wishes, offered to an individual or a group, typically commemorate a significant life event, such as a wedding, graduation, or birthday. There is the drink and also the speech. The speeches are traditional rather than standardized, with different contexts and cultures providing templates that toasters can amend as they see fit. The lone constant is that toasts are usually concluded by a call to drink in honor of that event. 

But why call that drink and speech a toast?

The toasting tradition dates back to at least ancient Greece. The term “toasting” is a metonym: Toast was frequently placed in wine to reduce its acidity and add flavor. Over time, the ingredient became shorthand for the speeches many made with wine in their hands.

Metonym and Synecdoche

A metonym is a figure of speech in which an object or concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with it, rather than by its own name.

Unlike a metaphor, which relies on similarity (e.g., "life is a rollercoaster"), a metonym relies on association or proximity.

Some Common Examples of Metonymy

• The White House stands for The U.S. Presidential Administration based on the building where the work happens.
• Hollywood = The American film industry because of the geographic location synonymous with movies.
• Silicon Valley = the tech industry because it is the region where many tech giants are based.

Metonymy and Synecdoche are often confused. While a metonym uses a related concept (like "The Crown" for a King), a synecdoche uses a specific part to represent the whole (like "wheels" for a car).

Pilates

Pilates might seem like something that just appeared on the exercise scene recently, but it goes back 100 years.

After the outbreak of World War I, Joseph Hubertus Pilates, a German physical trainer and inventor, was interned as an enemy alien on the Isle of Man. During his three-plus years at the internment camp, Pilates developed a regimen of muscle strengthening through slow and precise stretching and physical movements, using minimal equipment. To allow those who were confined to their beds to exercise.

He used springs and straps from the beds as resistance training, greatly aiding their rehabilitation. He later opened a fitness studio in New York City in 1925, offering the exercise system he developed during the war to the general public. 

He went on to patent 26 exercise apparatuses, and his eponymous Pilates regime gained worldwide popularity. 

The Smiths

The Smiths are often described as the most important band of the 1980s that never truly "went mainstream" in the traditional sense. It was a brief, five-year flash of fame from 1982 to 1987. 

The band was formed when guitarist Johnny Marr knocked on the door of Morrissey, a shy, bookish writer in Manchester. Along with bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce, they created a sound that systematically dismantled the synth-heavy, glitzy "New Romantic" pop of the era.

The band got its name from lead singer Morrissey. He chose "The Smiths" because it was a very ordinary, common name, a deliberate contrast to the more flamboyant and elaborate band names popular in the 1980s. He wanted the name to represent "ordinary folk."

In just five years, they released four studio albums—The Smiths, Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead, and Strangeways, Here We Come—plus several legendary compilations. They stayed on an independent label (Rough Trade), maintained complete control over their iconic "indie-film" cover art, and famously refused to use synthesizers, relying instead on Marr's "jangle-pop" guitar layers.

The Smiths were the first "indie" band to prove you could be uncompromising, literate, and deeply depressed, and still be popular.

Like many great partnerships, the tension between the "moping" poet (Morrissey) and the musical architect (Marr) became unsustainable. They split in 1987 at the height of their powers, famously never reuniting since.

Part of their appeal is in the way the music sounds like a sunny afternoon, but the lyrics feel like a rainy midnight. Morrissey gave a voice to the shy, the alienated, and the "clumsy and shy." He made it fashionable to be bookish and miserable, often using sharp, dark humor to poke fun at his own despair.

Johnny Marr provided the genius. His style was intricate and melodic, often sounding like multiple guitarists playing at once. You could dance to songs or just listen to the lyrics about loneliness.

In an era of big hair and aggressive masculinity, they celebrated a "genderless" or soft-focus version of rock that paved the way for Britpop and modern Indie.

Picking "bests" is a loser's game, but you can always list favorites. Here are 5. Feel free to comment on your own favorites.

"There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (1986) Widely considered the band’s masterpiece, this track from The Queen Is Dead perfectly balances Johnny Marr’s lush, cinematic arrangement with Morrissey’s lyrics about romantic devotion. It’s the ultimate "morbidly romantic" anthem.

"How Soon Is Now?" (1984)  Originally a B-side, this song became the band's most recognizable hit globally. It features an iconic, pulsing tremolo guitar effect that was unlike anything else in the 80s. Lyrically, it’s the definitive anthem for anyone who has ever felt like an outsider at a club: "You go and you stand on your own, and you leave on your own..."

"This Charming Man" (1983)  The song that truly introduced the world to the "Smiths sound." It’s upbeat, jangly, and remarkably catchy, featuring one of Johnny Marr’s most celebrated guitar riffs. It captured the band's unique blend of sexual ambiguity and kitchen-sink realism.

"Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want" (1984). At under two minutes, this is one of the shortest songs in their catalog, but also one of the most poignant. It’s a simple, mandolin-heavy plea for a break in life that has resonated in countless movie soundtracks (most notably Ferris Bueller's Day Off and 500 Days of Summer).

"Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" (1984). This song title became a shorthand for the band's entire persona. It’s a witty, ironic take on the drudgery of daily life and the feeling of being unhappy even when things are technically "fine."

Why Are TV Pilots Called Pilots?

"Pilot” is a word most often associated with a person who flies a plane. It can be used as a verb meaning “to act as a guide to” or “to set the course of,” which makes sense with the airplane pilot theme.

 "Pilot" originally comes from the Greek pedon, meaning “steering oar.” It has been used in English as a verb in the sense of guiding direction as far back as the 1510s. Around 1907, it became a noun meaning “one who flies an airplane.” 

The phrase “pilot studies” is common in the field of research to determine the feasibility of a scientific theory. 

Less clearly, it can also be used to describe the first episode of a TV series.

The OED's earliest example dates to a 1953 edition of Sponsor magazine (aimed at TV advertisers). “As an indication of new show costs, the pilot for ABC’s new Danny Thomas situation-comedy film came to a higher tab than I Love Lucy.” 

Why are these TV episodes called "pilots"? It is another etymological mystery. I couldn't find agreement on an origin. They do seem to be designed “to set the course of” the series. They are a kind of “test flight” for the show's concept. They are similar to a “pilot study."

The TV industry has a "Pilot Season," which is the annual time for testing new show ideas. It traditionally was from January to April, but streaming services have disrupted this rhythm, producing pilots year-round. A pilot episode is a standalone sample for a potential series. networks use them to decide which ones get picked up for full seasons. Some of these pilots never get picked up, and that one episode is all there is of the concept, and they are never seen by the public. 

Writers pitch ideas in summer, networks order scripts in fall, pilots are filmed in winter and executives review and choose which shows to greenlight by spring. These pilot episodes are often quite different from the rest of the series, as the writers are figuring out the concept. 

Why are these TV episodes called "pilots"? It is another etymological mystery. I couldn't find agreement on an origin. They do seem to be designed “to set the course of” the series. They are a kind of “test flight” for the show's concept. They are similar to a “pilot study."

Watch the pilot for Seinfeld (a series I love), which was when the series was going to be called "The Seinfeld Chronicles," and you'll see many differences.

For example, the pilot features a waitress named Claire instead of Elaine Benes. Elaine was added later to balance the cast with a stronger female presence. Kramer’s name was originally “Kessler” due to legal concerns about using the real name of Larry David’s neighbor. The quirky traits that define Kramer were also less pronounced. George is more of a neurotic Woody Allen type in the pilot, rather than the Larry David-inspired character he becomes later. Instead of Monk’s Café, the gang hangs out at a generic luncheonette. The pilot leans heavily on Jerry’s stand-up routines to frame the story. It lacks the interwoven plotlines and ironic twists that later became signature to the show’s storytelling. The dialogue is slower, the humor more subdued, and the overall vibe more conventional than the sharp, self-aware rhythm that defined later episodes.

In the Nick of Time

Sometimes I come across an origin story that makes me shake my head and wonder, "Is this for real?" That was how I felt when reading about the phrase “In the Nick of Time” which has come to mean an action performed just before it is too late. 

It seems to have originated in the 18th century. People kept track of the money they owed to creditors with a stick - a tally The stick was carved with the number of days you had until the loan was due. If you paid before the last nick, then you didn’t owe interest on the debt. You made it in the nick of time.

Loanwords and Other Borrowings

I have posted a series of articles here recently about the words that have entered English from French, a process that began with the French-Norman conquest of England in 1066. Some people might refer to those words as "loanwords." But are they loanwords? 

A loanword is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. 

"Loan" or "borrow" may seem like odd descriptive words considering that nothing is taken away from the donor language and there is no expectation of returning anything, as in our typical usage of those words.

I had to research the term, and it gets more complicated. Loanwords may be contrasted with calques, in which a word is borrowed into the recipient language by being directly translated from the donor language rather than being adopted in (an approximation of) its original form. 

Some calques in English:
A word, skyscraper, from French gratte-ciel, literally to “scrape-sky.
A phrase, "moment of truth" from Spanish, "el momento de la verdad," meaning a critical turning point.
Superman comes from the German Übermensch, a Nietzschean concept, that later becomes the comic hero.
Brainwashing originates with the Chinese xǐnǎo (洗脑), literally translated as “wash brain.” 
Adam’s apple is a Latin borrowing of pomum Adami, a Biblical reference to the forbidden fruit.

The word "loanword" is itself a calque from German lehnwort, meaning a word borrowed from another language.

We also distinguish loanwords from cognates, which are words in two or more related languages that are similar because they share an etymological origin in the ancestral language, rather than because one borrowed the word from the other.

Here are a few -
          English  | Cognate Language  |  Cognate Word and Meaning

• Animal Spanish/French animal A living creature
• Hospital French/Spanish hôpital / hospital Medical facility
• Family French/Spanish famille / familia Group of related people
• Minute French/Spanish minute / minuto Unit of time
• Telephone French/Spanish téléphone / teléfono Communication device

Examples of loanwords in the English language:
 café (from French café, which means "coffee"), bazaar (from Persian bāzār, which means "market"), and kindergarten (from German Kindergarten, which literally means "children's garden"). 

Here's an oddity - the word calque is a loanword, while the word loanword is a calque
Calque comes from the French noun calque ("tracing; imitation; close copy"). Loanword and the phrase loan translation are translated from German nouns Lehnwort and Lehnübersetzung (German: [ˈleːnʔybɐˌzɛt͡sʊŋ]

Loans of multi-word phrases, such as the English use of the French term déjà vu, are known as adoptions, adaptations, or lexical borrowings.

Although colloquial and informal register loanwords are typically spread by word-of-mouth, technical or academic loanwords tend to be first used in written language, often for scholarly, scientific, or literary purposes.

Pen Names

Pseudonyms are "false" names or names that are not the true (given) names of an individual. They are one of a larger group of -onyms and -nyms (like synonyms and antonyms) in English - many more than we were taught in school.

Pseudonyms, when used by an author, are called pen names.

Some Famous Pen Names

Richard Bachman is Stephen King, 20th century American horror author

Acton Bell, Currer Bell, and Ellis Bell were the names used by Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë, and Emily Brontë

Mary Westmacott is Agatha Christie, 20th century British mystery writer

Anthony Burgess is John Burgess Wilson, 20th century British writer, author of A Clockwork Orange.

Lewis Carroll is Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, 19th century British author, mathematician, known best for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Sue Denim is used by Dav Pilkey, a writer and illustrator of the popular "Captain Underpants" children's book series and is also used by science fiction writer Lewis Shiner. Sue Denim is a parody of the word pseudonym itself.

Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen), 20th century Danish author of Out of Africa

H.D. (Hilda Doolittle), 20th-century American poet, novelist and memoirist

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), 19th-century English novelist

C. S. Forester (Cecil Smith), 20th-century writer of the Captain Horatio Hornblower novels and The African Queen

O. Henry (William Sidney Porter), American author of short stories and novels

Hergé (Georges Remi), 20th-century Belgian comics writer and artist, famous worldwide for creating the Tintin series of books

Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Friedman), and Abigail Van Buren/Dear Abby (Pauline Esther Friedman Phillips), advice columnists

Stan Lee (Stanley Martin Lieber), comic book pioneer & Spiderman creator

Molière (Jean Baptiste Poquelin), 17th-century French theater writer, director and actor, and writer of comic satire.

George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair), 20th-century British author of Animal Farm and 1984

Ellery Queen     Frederic Dannay, and Manfred B. Lee shared this pen name for their 20th century detective fiction

Saki (Hector Hugh Munro), 20th-century British short story writer and satirist

George Sand (Armandine Lucie Aurore Dupin), 19th-century French novelist and early feminist

Dr. Seuss (Theodore Seuss Geisel), also used "Theo. LeSieg", 20th-century American writer and cartoonist best known for his books

Lemony Snicket is the listed author of A Series of Unfortunate Events but is really the pen name of Daniel Handler

Stendhal (Marie-Henri Beyle), 19th-century French writer

Mark Twain    Samuel Langhorn Clemens (also used "Sieur Louis de Conte" for his fictional biography of Joan of Arc) 19th-century American humorist, writer and lecturer

Voltaire (François-Marie Arouet), 18th-century French Enlightenment writer, deist and philosopher.