John Kelly

I went to high school with Vivek. Same year. Shared classes. I'm beyond disgusted by his Acton ad, but I'm not surprised he made it—and doubled down on it. He carried himself in school as if his glory was inevitable, his every act irreproachable—a gift, even. This is where I see the ad coming from.

I'd say he should have heeded the ancient lessons of hubris we read in Sophocles and Shakespeare in those classes. But this gives Vivek too much credit. For even those playwrights fashioned something of the sympathetic in their tragic heroes. Sociopathic entitlement to success reveals a villain.

My district curriculum currently allows for core curriculum "up to one novel" per year. (State testing, state testing, state testing.) This is even as, just tonight, I talked a parent, who thanked me for getting her daughter to love reading books again. (Subvert, subvert, subvert.)

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John Kelly reposted

mashedradish.comAround the etymological world with the new gentoo penguinGreek butts, Welsh heads, Spanish nicknames, Scandinavian screeches, Latin plumpness, French explorers, and Portuguese epithets

"Southeastern gentoo"? ♫ The Welsh head is connected to the Greek butt. ♫ The Greek butt is connected to the Portuguese epithet. ♫ The Portuguese epithet is connected to the ... you get the idea. mashedradish.com/2026/10/14/s...

Lesson after lesson, school day after school day, I am utterly humbled by just *how hard* it is to teach writing. And so I am in a state of constant awe of the miracle and wonder of written expression that surrounds me.

One of the great joys of teaching is seeing a student, even at 11, form and show voice—that specific, unique, and idiosyncratic that they, and only they, have in making sense of this life and world we share through writing.

mashedradish.comWhat is the Origin of "Tilcayo," the Newly Discovered Cat Species?Where does the name of the newly identified tilcayo, a unique cat species from Bolivia that resembles a leopard in a miniature form, come from?

Sometimes it’s enough for a name just to be the name. On "tilcayo," the newly identified cat species: mashedradish.com/2026/10/01/t...

John Kelly reposted

Strong Language

@stronglang.bsky.social

FTA: @mashedradish.bsky.social with more abusive language from the Bard stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/07/10/m...

stronglang.wordpress.com“More man? Plague, plague!”: How to curse like a misanthropeShakespeare’s The Life of Timon of Athens is an overlooked gem in his corpus. Though less accomplished than many of his other tragedies, this moral drama is distinctive – and timely – in its focus …

19 Sept

Just finished Tarjei Vesaas's 'The Birds' for the first time. Damn. I need a minute to catch my breath.

stronglang.wordpress.comFour hundred years later, the Bard’s “pizzle” is still nice and stiffFour hundred years ago today, Shakespeare shuffled off this mortal coil. Across the globe, bardolators are observing the date – if not the whole month, nay, year – with various celebrations of his …

15 Sept

Cue one of my lessons this very week, where I literally put on a slide: "We don't read for IXL and standardized tests. We read to make meaning in our lives."

John Downes-Angus@johndownesangus.bsky.social

This would be a difficult story to report, because nobody would want to go on the record about it, but the actually important story about American schools is the persistence of thousands of teachers who give their kids what we know they need despite the barrage of mandates, standards, tests, etc—

John Kelly reposted

Strong Language

@stronglang.bsky.social

8 Sept

FTA: How can Shakespeare be rude? Let @mashedradish.bsky.social count the ways stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/04/23/f...

mashedradish.comThe divine gift of “Dolly”“Dolly” is pet form of an Ancient Greek-derived name later repurposed for toys and film cameras.

5 Sept

“Dolly” is pet form of an Ancient Greek-derived name later repurposed for toys and film cameras. A belated etymological tribute: mashedradish.com/2026/09/04/d...

1 Sept

It really says something about this moment when my sixth-graders, in response to a prompt on "If you could change one rule in your life...," were responding about food and gas being free because prices are so high for their families.

23 Aug

I teach Grade 6 English. EVERY parent/guardian I met at our recent family night was RELIEVED and HEARTENED when I told them, verbatim: "In reading class, we read. In writing class, we write. I minimize time on screens and computers. Goodness knows they get enough of that everywhere else in life."

Marcus Luther@marcusluther.bsky.social

Do not forget: this vision of education—students with headphones on staring at screens—is VERY unpopular, especially right now. The vast majority of students don't want it. The vast majority of teachers don't want it. The vast majority of families don't want it. That's the story.

mashedradish.com“Teacher” and “student”: an etymological show-and-tellStudents need a “push” in more ways than one.

22 Aug

The origin of the word STUDENT seems like something a teacher would have cooked up. mashedradish.com/2026/08/22/t...

stronglang.wordpress.comGoing down the coney holeEaster: It’s a fuckable feast. For its Christian observers, of course, Easter marks the salvific resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. A cornerstone of the faith, the holiday teems with symbo…

20 Aug

First day of school for the middle schoolers. During independent reading (yeah, we read books right away in my classes), not one but two—TWO—students in separate classes chose the big, beautiful American Heritage Dictionary in my classroom library's reference section. Gonna be a good year.

John Kelly reposted

Strong Language

@stronglang.bsky.social

11 Aug

FTA: @mashedradish.bsky.social find a connection between bunnies and pussies stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/03/26/g...

mashedradish.comThe word “lettuce” is made of “milk”The etymology of “lettuce” takes us from tiny seeds to the entire galaxy.

3 Aug

I wrote about the diarrhea. OK, I wrote about lettuce, which means I wrote about how the word is literally "milk." mashedradish.com/2026/08/03/l...

lynneguist.substack.comSoc(cer) it to me!This time: football/soccer, the US's 250th, lotsa links, and Nick Cave distraction

1 Aug

"AI gooning"

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John Kelly reposted

Lynne Murphy

@lynneguist.bsky.social

1 Aug

Accidentally deleted my newsletter announcement post—once more with feeling, thanks @byagoda.bsky.social @ebrenner.bsky.social @michaelerard.bsky.social @mashedradish.bsky.social @wordorigins.bsky.social Nick Cave and Fernando Pessoa! lynneguist.substack.com/p/soccer-it-...

cnn.comWhat makes a journey an ‘odyssey’ anyway? | CNNThe word “odyssey” today often evokes a long, spirited adventure that doesn’t reflect the misery Odysseus endured in Homer’s epic poem.

27 July

"... a lot of just want to see the Cyclops already!" Me, riffing in a fun interview with CNN about the origin and evolution of the word 'odyssey.' www.cnn.com/2026/07/23/e...

22 July

Today in staring at words too closely like their the sun: KEEP. What even are you, KEEP? I shield my eyes.

mashedradish.comThe etymological odyssey of “Odysseus”Tell me, O Muse, of the origin of the name of the man of many devices. And why Latin calls him “Ulysses,” if you don’t mind.

20 July

Mythic origin of ODYSSEUS given in Odyssey is HATED (BY GODS & MEN). Folk etymology, though heavy with valences. Actual origin? Obscure. Could be Pre-Greek *OD/LUKYEU-, probably referring to some Bronze Age dude who did a thing, hero worship ballooning from there. mashedradish.com/2026/07/18/o...

mashedradish.comThe etymological odyssey of “Odysseus”Tell me, O Muse, of the origin of the name of the man of many devices. And why Latin calls him “Ulysses,” if you don’t mind.

18 July

Well, this turned out to be an adventure. mashedradish.com/2026/07/18/o...

6 July

RESCIND < Latin RESCINDERE, meaning TEAR OFF and by extension REPEAL. Its past participle is RESCISSUS. That form ultimately sets up the English RESCISSION. Oh, the -SCIND-/-SCISS- (TO CUT, SPLIT) part of this all is ultimately related to the English SHIT. You can put the rest together.

John Kelly reposted

John Warner

@biblioracle.bsky.social

Not sure what this says about me, but the more I explore the capacities of generative AI the less it interests me. I'm not denying its potential power, just that how it does what it does is not nearly as interesting as the thoughts and expressions of some other, any other, human being.

philadelphiaencyclopedia.orgSesquicentennial International Exposition (1926) - Encyclopedia of Greater PhiladelphiaIn 1926, Philadelphia hosted the Sesquicentennial, a world’s fair, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

America celebrated a SESQUICENTENNIAL (150 years) in 1926. It was a world's fair in Philadelphia—and it was also a bust, though nowhere nearly as bad as whatever is (or isn't) happening on the National Mall. philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/sesqu...

John Kelly@mashedradish.bsky.social

I mean, we could have gone with DUCENTIQUINQUAGINTENNIAL... mashedradish.com/2026/07/04/s...

mashedradish.comSemiquincentennial: the origins of an America-sized wordThis big word for a big milestone is made up of lots of little Latin roots.

mashedradish.comSemiquincentennial: the origins of an America-sized wordThis big word for a big milestone is made up of lots of little Latin roots.

I mean, we could have gone with DUCENTIQUINQUAGINTENNIAL... mashedradish.com/2026/07/04/s...

So, SEMI- is from Latin for "half." I did not know that English once had its own native cognate to SEMI0: SAM-. It was used in words like SAM-HALE (half whole; sick) and SAM-SODDEN (half-baked; stupid). It may survive in SAND-BLIND (half-blind), altered by SAND.

@irishlittimes.bsky.social

3 July

Everyone now and again, apropos of literally nothing, I like to remember that the word "crisp" comes from the Latin for "curled." How 'bout that?

John Kelly reposted

Irish Literary Times

30 June

There were more people at Bloomsday that actually read Ulysses.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

there were more people in my garage watching the World Cup last weekend

cnn.comWhy does a ‘draw’ sometimes feel like a win? | CNNSome of the most thrilling matches in this World Cup have resulted in a 0-0 score. Thanks, Cape Verde!

It was great talking to CNN's Harmeet Kaur on why we call a DRAW, as in TIE, a DRAW: www.cnn.com/2026/06/24/s...

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DRAW probably connected to WITHDRAW, as in one party drawing back form another in a context? DRAW is Old English (dragan). Earliest senses are of PULLING and DRAGGING. DRAG likely related. TIE is also Old English (tigan; teag). Senses like now.

Fun fact: we DRAW pictures because we are pulling a pencil or like across paper! For more on the topic, here's one from the archives: mashedradish.com/2016/10/10/w...

cnn.comWhy does a ‘draw’ sometimes feel like a win? | CNNSome of the most thrilling matches in this World Cup have resulted in a 0-0 score. Thanks, Cape Verde!

It was great talking to CNN's Harmeet Kaur on why we call a DRAW, as in TIE, a DRAW: www.cnn.com/2026/06/24/s...

For DRAW, oldest sense is implied in DRAWN MATCH, as OED attests in 1610. Appears in a letter between two diplomats in which writer likens unresolved parliamentary debate to cockfighting.

For TIE, OED finds it in 1680 in a gaming encyclopedia in context of a trick-taking and bluffing card game called Putt. Why TIE settles in North American English and DRAW UK and elsewhere? Unclear. Maybe special cricket senses of DRAW had influence. Distinction seems to settle in by late 1800s.

Very interesting: - OED first attests DREADLOCKS in 1960 - DREAD + LOCKS (of hair) - DREAD part may refer to Rastafarians' DREAD (fear, awe) of God (Jah) Also: - DREAD is from Old English ONDRÆDAN, "to advise against" - O/AND- (against) + RÆDAN (advise), source of READ (!!!)

John Kelly reposted

Not a ton to say about the etymology of ALGAE as such. From the Latin ALGA, "seaweed," whose deeper roots are obscure. The plural of ALGA in Latin is ALGAE. Borrowed in early 1500s, used in singular early until, as now, the plural form took over.

22 June

This prompted me to look up its etymology. Neat! USHER comes from French "doorkeeper" (cf. huissier), ultimately from Latin OSTIUM (door), related to OS (mouth).

Benjamin Dreyer@bcdreyer.social

I would've guessed that "usher" was a verb before it was a noun, but I would've guessed wrong. 🤷🏻‍♂️

22 June

French ^for "doorkeeper"

What are other examples of English words that feature a change in consonant pronunciation between singular forms, as with singular ALGA's 'hard g' and the plural ALGAE's 'soft g'? (Original Latin is a hard g. Suspect 'soft g' form prevails due to English phonological conditions, biases?)

John Kelly@mashedradish.bsky.social

mashedradish.com“Football”: a simple word with striking rootsCock-threshing. Shrovetide. Hocktide. I-mutations. Grimm’s Law. Octopodes. Pajamas. Private schools, private parts, and the resistance thereof. The origin of “football” has it all…

English FATHER and Latin PATER? Related? You better believe they are. And something known as Grimm's Law explains how. And why not read about it in the context of ... the etymology of FOOTBALL? mashedradish.com/2026/06/20/f...

John Kelly reposted

20 June

Cock-threshing. Shrovetide. Hocktide. I-mutations. Grimm’s Law. Octopodes. Pajamas. Private schools. Private parts—and resistance thereof. The origin of FOOTBALL has it all. I go medieval on it. Like this lil guy on an animal bladder, once used to play the game. mashedradish.com/2026/06/20/f...

20 June

18 June

Very interesting to me that DISLIKE, with its Latin-derived prefix, effectively supplanted the native MISLIKE. DISLIKE is recorded in the late 1500s. MISLIKE goes back to Old English (MISLICIAN). MIS- here is a Germanic prefix (bad, lack), not Greek-based one for "hate." LICIAN = to be pleasing.