See Howard in Indianapolis This Weekend!
Posted June 30th, 2008 by Howard Tayler
This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I’ll be at InConJunction, the Indianapolis Science Fiction and Fantasy Convention. I’ll have books, magnets, prints, and some originals available for sale and perusal, and of course I’ll be mouthing off at assorted panels.
Join me and John Scalzi as we discuss “Nurturing an Online Audience” Friday night! Hear me lecture on “The Free Content Business Model” Saturday afternoon! Or maybe for lunch on Saturday you’d like a nice sandwich of “Cartoon Physics?” I’ll post my complete schedule later this week (but not MUCH later — I get on a plane Thursday.) I hope to see you there!
Explore posts in the same categories: Conventions
June 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
You aren’t flying, are you?
If so, I must bus there for at least one day…
If you are driving (are you INSANE man??) you must stop by. There would be pizza!
June 30th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Huh,…. you know, I could READ the whole post… That would do wonders…. *rolls eyes*
June 30th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
Yes! I missed Penguicon then found out you would not have been there. I’m glad you’ll be here.
I’m the one who you did the extra art on the box. It did some good, my postman from hell didn’t fold it. :-D
June 30th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
“The Free Content Business Model” - I wish I could be there!
Is there any chance that some of it might find its way into the net?
July 1st, 2008 at 11:07 am
Alas, I will still be here at An Undisclosed Airbase in the Middle East.
Sorry I can’t make it.
I’ll catch up with Scalzi at LosCon.
Do say hi to Gail, though.
July 1st, 2008 at 12:20 pm
This is actually a comment about Tuesday’s strip. Sorry if this is the wrong place, Howard, feel free to move it somewhere more apropriate.
I do enjoy Etymology! So reading your strip about the origin of “Lieutenant” prompted me to do some research - being Australian, where it is pronounced “Lef-Tenant”. Now, no offence to the Americans, but in a country where I hear people talking about Notre Dame - pronounced “noder-daim”, I would tend to trust the Brit/Australian version first! But “lef” doesn’t make sense from the origin “lieu” (actually pronounced “lee-yu”). Apparently, the origin of the “lef”-tenant is “mysterious”…
lieutenant
c.1375, “one who takes the place of another,” from O.Fr. lieu tenant “substitute,” lit. “placeholder,” from lieu “place” + tenant, prp. of tenir “to hold.” The notion is of a “substitute” for higher authority. Specific military sense of “officer next in rank to a captain” is from 1578. Pronunciation with lef- is common in Britain, and spellings to reflect it date back to 14c., but the origin of it is mysterious.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
July 1st, 2008 at 9:12 pm
You would be in Indy a weekend I have to work.
July 1st, 2008 at 9:15 pm
Not quite sure where to post this comment, so I’ll do it here. Like ctann above, I’m posting about a word used in a strip - in this case, Wednesday’s. Howard, thank you for adding the word “termagant” to my vocabulary. Were I not already indebted to you for creating such a lasting source of entertainment, I would be in debt to you as the source of such valuable knowledge. Guess I’ll just have to keep buying your books, huh?
July 1st, 2008 at 11:06 pm
The suit in the middle (blue tie) in the first panel of Wednesday’s comic appears to not have any inking lines — or eyes, for that matter — it’s rather disconcerting. Was this intentional?
July 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 am
madAlric,
Faceless Muscle ™?
;)
July 2nd, 2008 at 3:14 am
ctann: the Midwest is even worse.
In IL:
Prairie de Rocher: Preree du rosher.
Le Roy: Leeroy.
Athens: Aythens.
Cairo: Cayro.
Marseilles: Marsails.
San Jose: San Joes.
In IN:
Valparaiso: Valparayzo.
In OH:
Lima: Liemuh
And of course, in MI:
Detroit: “Deetroyt” instead of “de twah,” which I believe is French for “Festering dung heap.”
July 2nd, 2008 at 5:04 am
“Detroit: “Deetroyt” instead of “de twah,” which I believe is French for “Festering dung heap.”” I think that’s what Michigan means. :P
I’m from Ohio, so I know these things. :P
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 am
Thanks, Howard, now I have another word for my grade one and grade five teachers.
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Wow! what am I thinking…
When I first read “Nurturing an Online Audience” I thought it said NEUTERING.
That sure would be an interesting discussion.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
PLEASE SIT CLOSER TO YOUR MONITOR. THIS WILL ONLY TAKE A MOMENT.
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:56 pm
MadAlric: *shrug* I just figured it was intended to show a sort of blurry ‘out of focus’ look, thus adding to the illusion of distance. The no eyes is kinda disconcerting now that you point it out though….
Howard: I actually had to go look up Termagant. Thanks for providing both an exciting and educational comic.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 pm
ctann: There’s three pronunciations:
USA: Loo-tenant
English-speaking :-þ countries, non-naval: Leff-tenant
Some navies: Luh-tenant
Note that the Toughs’ ranks are army ranks for enlisteds and navy ranks for commissioned officers. Galstandard West is presented to us translated into American, but AFAIK we have no information on what dialect or combination of dialects it’s based on, and the only information I’m aware of on how it differs from English is that a particular Ob’enn word that translates into English as “unrelenting” becomes “unyielding” if translated via Galstandard West.
We have no (or next to no) information about sound changes between present-day English and Galstandard West, but we also don’t know which pronunciation of lieutenant the GW word is based on.
I found two theories about the origin of “leftenant”:
* Spelling pronunciation: U and V weren’t distinguished until surprisingly recently.
* ‘Twas always thus: The Old French word “lieu” was occasionally spelt “luef”. Apparently it ended with a W sound that sometimes became V or F.
July 3rd, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Ugh, left out the / in </b>.
Fair enough not being able to edit, but there’s no preview either. Curse you, WordPress!
July 4th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
MadAlric:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1031062/Faceless-aliens-spotted-crowd-Wimbledon.html#
This explains the faceless muscle.