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And of course, Caterpickles’ very own Official Junior Photojournalist: The Five-Year-Old Howell
Category Archives: Linguistics
In which we advance our pet search and have some fun with idioms
As you know, we here at Caterpickles Central have an opening (or two) for a new pet. As it’s pretty much the first time in three decades that I haven’t had a feline roommate limiting my pet adoption options, we … Continue reading
Backwards Letters: Normal development or early indicator of dyslexia?
The Five-Year-Old hates, just hates, writing in lower case. I can’t get her to do it. Nothing works. Not even M&Ms. I’m sure her teacher would appreciate it if I pressed the issue of lower-case writing at home. But on … Continue reading
“Why is it called that?”: The Flea Market Edition
A special guest question from Daddyo. On learning that Natick, Massachusetts has a flea market that runs from April to October on the first Sunday of each month, Daddyo naturally wanted to know: “Why is it called a flea market?” … Continue reading
“Why is it called that?”: The Chickenpox Edition
This question is far too old and my notes far too scanty to give you any reliable context for how it came up. But I can make a few guesses. Since what notes I have on this topic date from … Continue reading
Posted in Health, Linguistics
Tagged chickenpox, how did chickenpox get its name, varicella
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“Why is it called that?”: The Dragon & Dragonfly Edition
This summer we were so busy chasing bunnies I got kind of behind on this blog’s core task: answering The Five-Year-Old’s questions. For those of you who like to keep score on these things, The Five-Year-Old’s pending question queue is … Continue reading
Classic Caterpickles: “Why isn’t the laundromat a real mat for laundry?”
It’s summer, I have The Five-Year-Old to myself, and I’m taking full advantage of it. Today I’m running another Classic Caterpickle — a blatant attempt to give myself a day off by rerunning a year-old Caterpickle that I hope you’ll … Continue reading
Posted in Ask the iPhone, Linguistics
Tagged Laundry, Self-service laundry, Vending, Washing machine, words, WordWorld
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“Why is it called ‘punctuation’?”
Lately, The Five-Year-Old has been saving some of her best questions for the bedtime fending-off-sleep process. These questions nearly all have to do with the naming of things. “Why are monarchs called ‘monarchs’?” “Why are beetles called ‘beetles’?” And today’s … Continue reading
Posted in Linguistics
Tagged Ben Jonson, Chaucer, punctuation, why is it called punctuation
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“Did kittens get their name in Britain?”
Sometime last year, The Five-Year-Old discovered the highly informative children’s book series “The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That.” The books relay all kinds of fun facts about the natural world in a Seussian rhyme scheme. The … Continue reading
“Mommyo, what does ‘gravitationally improbable’ mean?”
gravitationally improbable (grv-tshnˈalē m-prb-bl) adj. phrase that which is unlikely to occur outside of Kitty World due to the limiting effect of gravity Example: The Four-Year-Old’s stegosaurus made a gravitationally improbable leap over the Lincoln log fence. *Thanks to the … Continue reading
Posted in Linguistics
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Michael Howell
Shala Howell
