D’you mind if I jabber about words a bit? No? Thanks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are gulch<\/em> and gully<\/em> related? A gulch<\/a><\/em> is a “deep ravine,” derived from Middle English gulchen<\/em> “to gush forth; to drink greedily.” A gully<\/a><\/em> is “channel in earth made by running water,” possibly a variant of Middle English golet<\/em> “water channel.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n Douglas Harper of the Online Eytmological Dictionary notes there is no relational root between these words, except for the sound. We seem to associate gul<\/em> with the rush of liquid or swallowing, such as gullet<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Is there any difference in the meaning of these words? If someone described a large ditch beside a country road as a gully<\/em>, would there ever be a reason to say, “That’s more of a gulch”? Webster’s defines ravine<\/em> as “a small narrow steep-sided valley that is larger than a gully and smaller than a canyon and that is usually worn by running water.” A gulch<\/em> is a “deep cleft,” often with water or notable for being dry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, uh, yeah. You firing up the grill this weekend?<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2021 e-reader roundup<\/strong>: Kobo Sage, Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Paperwhite reviews \u2013 Six Colors<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Revisionism<\/strong>: China is preparing to teach their Middle Schoolers that Hong Kong was never a British Colony<\/a>. \u201cHong Kong has been Chinese territory since ancient times,\u201d says one new textbook seen by the AP. \u201cWhile Hong Kong was occupied by the British following the Opium War, it remained Chinese territory.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Culture<\/strong>: Your local niche is not the whole culture, Yair Rosenberg wrote earlier this year. Most people “just consume culture that they like and go on with their day<\/a>. If someone can\u2019t appreciate popular culture in this way, they will have trouble understanding why most of it is popular with its audience. This doesn\u2019t mean we cannot or should not consider other issues\u2014like the politics of certain creators or creative choices\u2014when evaluating art. We should! But if a critic allows those to dominate and color every piece of commentary they write, they will gradually become alienated from the very culture they\u2019re attempting to cover.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watergate at 50<\/strong>: “Chuck Colson certainly earned his early reputation<\/a> as Nixon\u2019s ‘hatchet man,’ a tough, ruthless, and loyal operative. . . . Everything, however\u2014and I mean everything<\/em>\u2014changed in the wake of Watergate. “<\/p>\n\n\n\n