Ted Bunn
@tedbunn.bsky.social
From my doctor's office. I'm very curious about how they came up with the odd phrase "availed by you".
February 18, 2026 at 4:20 PM
From my doctor's office. I'm very curious about how they came up with the odd phrase "availed by you".
Talking about Roald Dahl with @zachweinersmith.bsky.social and @bobwieman.bsky.social reminded me of this audio clip of Dahl reading "The Magic Finger". I still laugh every time I hear it.
(File is a video file because I don't think you can upload audio files to Bluesky.)
(File is a video file because I don't think you can upload audio files to Bluesky.)
January 31, 2026 at 8:32 PM
Talking about Roald Dahl with @zachweinersmith.bsky.social and @bobwieman.bsky.social reminded me of this audio clip of Dahl reading "The Magic Finger". I still laugh every time I hear it.
(File is a video file because I don't think you can upload audio files to Bluesky.)
(File is a video file because I don't think you can upload audio files to Bluesky.)
Oh, here it is! babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=md...
January 23, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Oh, here it is! babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=md...
Among other things, Major General Stanley "knows the scientific names of beings animalculous". I always assumed that the last word was a concoction of WS Gilbert, but it turns out to be an actual word. OED citations:
January 23, 2026 at 3:10 PM
Among other things, Major General Stanley "knows the scientific names of beings animalculous". I always assumed that the last word was a concoction of WS Gilbert, but it turns out to be an actual word. OED citations:
I'm curious about Sam Weller's accent in the Pickwick Papers. He sometimes pronounces Vs as Ws and sometimes vice versa, as shown here ("wery" for "very" and "vay" for "way"). Is there, or was there, a real accent spoken by English people that had this property?
January 10, 2026 at 11:22 PM
I'm curious about Sam Weller's accent in the Pickwick Papers. He sometimes pronounces Vs as Ws and sometimes vice versa, as shown here ("wery" for "very" and "vay" for "way"). Is there, or was there, a real accent spoken by English people that had this property?
"He believed they were Noah's descendants" is a very odd thing to say. If you believe in Noah at all, then surely you believe that all humans are Noah's descendants.
December 18, 2025 at 4:30 PM
"He believed they were Noah's descendants" is a very odd thing to say. If you believe in Noah at all, then surely you believe that all humans are Noah's descendants.
Sarah Caudwell (whom you should read right now if you haven't yet) knew all about this.
December 2, 2025 at 3:27 AM
Sarah Caudwell (whom you should read right now if you haven't yet) knew all about this.
Can you liken something to itself?
December 1, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Can you liken something to itself?
It is regrettable that the governor of Virginia doesn't know the difference between "regretful" and "regrettable".
www.wric.com/news/politic...
www.wric.com/news/politic...
November 14, 2025 at 2:10 PM
It is regrettable that the governor of Virginia doesn't know the difference between "regretful" and "regrettable".
www.wric.com/news/politic...
www.wric.com/news/politic...
Ashley's and my NY Timeses this morning. Apparently we opened the app just on either side of the Times's decision to change the headline on Douthat's thing.
November 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Ashley's and my NY Timeses this morning. Apparently we opened the app just on either side of the Times's decision to change the headline on Douthat's thing.
I get inordinate pleasure every time these groups waste a tiny bit of money by sending things to me.
October 20, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I get inordinate pleasure every time these groups waste a tiny bit of money by sending things to me.
The main reason universities should say no to this deal is that it's a betrayal of what a university is all about. But in case any administrators aren't convinced by that, I hope they draw the right lesson from the second story: the Trump administration won't abide by any deal they make anyway.
October 3, 2025 at 3:10 PM
The main reason universities should say no to this deal is that it's a betrayal of what a university is all about. But in case any administrators aren't convinced by that, I hope they draw the right lesson from the second story: the Trump administration won't abide by any deal they make anyway.
As is so often the case, the best part of this SMBC comic is the extra panel you get by clicking on the big red button on the web site. www.smbc-comics.com/comic/priors
October 2, 2025 at 7:46 PM
As is so often the case, the best part of this SMBC comic is the extra panel you get by clicking on the big red button on the web site. www.smbc-comics.com/comic/priors
[Reposted this on my own feed, but I thought @zachweinersmith.bsky.social 's followers should all see it. From an actual conference proceedings.
August 26, 2025 at 6:29 PM
[Reposted this on my own feed, but I thought @zachweinersmith.bsky.social 's followers should all see it. From an actual conference proceedings.
Apparently I have to have the book returned by this date. I'll try to hurry.
August 15, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Apparently I have to have the book returned by this date. I'll try to hurry.
Surely a coincidence that Uber sent this email right after the NY Times expose of sexual assaults on Uber trips. (Note that they are providing ways to "feel" safe rather than to actually be safe.)
August 9, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Surely a coincidence that Uber sent this email right after the NY Times expose of sexual assaults on Uber trips. (Note that they are providing ways to "feel" safe rather than to actually be safe.)
This street in La Conner, Washington, is actually named Road Street. Someone wasn’t even trying.
August 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
This street in La Conner, Washington, is actually named Road Street. Someone wasn’t even trying.
As soon as the summer camps for little kids start on my campus, the dining hall is completely covered with wet floor signs. They don't even wait for someone to actually spill something, because they know it'll come along any minute.
June 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
As soon as the summer camps for little kids start on my campus, the dining hall is completely covered with wet floor signs. They don't even wait for someone to actually spill something, because they know it'll come along any minute.
Checking in at the doctor's office. I'm not going to lie: I'm tempted.
March 26, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Checking in at the doctor's office. I'm not going to lie: I'm tempted.
Still learning how BlueSky works. I reposted something of Phil Plait's just now, but it didn't include the image I thought it would, so it probably didn't make much sense. Here's the image.
March 14, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Still learning how BlueSky works. I reposted something of Phil Plait's just now, but it didn't include the image I thought it would, so it probably didn't make much sense. Here's the image.
(Reposting because there was something wonky about the way I did it the first time.)
February 23, 2025 at 9:51 PM
(Reposting because there was something wonky about the way I did it the first time.)
My university is very efficient. We were expecting bad weather today, but rather than waiting for the storm to start, they arranged for the building to start leaking 24 hours in advance.
February 11, 2025 at 3:26 PM
My university is very efficient. We were expecting bad weather today, but rather than waiting for the storm to start, they arranged for the building to start leaking 24 hours in advance.