What is Churchillian Drift?

I was reminded of “Churchillian Drift” while reading the comments on Aphorisms by Ben Franklin. Churchillian Drift is a precursor to Anatole’s Axiom (scroll down the Corrections & Clarifications page for a short discourse on the subject) devised by British gnomologist Nigel Rees, and explained by him in his piece ‘Policing Word Abuse’: “Long ago, [...]

Aphorisms by Anna Kamienska

Jim Finnegan, proprietor of the always enlightening ursprache blog as well as the aphoristically amazing Tramp Freighter, sends news of the “aphoristic entries (or ‘entreaties’?)” of Anna Kamienska (1920-1986), from the June 2010 issue of Poetry, translated and introduced by Clare Cavanagh. “Many of [Kamienska's] aphorisms are infused with grief at the loss of her [...]

Aphorisms by Ben Franklin

“Ben Franklin Is a Big Fat Idiot” is an entertaining re-appreciation of America’s founding aphorist by Joe Queenan. Queenan rightly points out that Big Fat Ben often purloined his sayings from sages past, and not all of the Great Man’s maxims are equally great. I don’t think this should in any way diminish Franklin’s reputation [...]

xkcd on The Difference between Similes and Metaphors

xkcd is a “webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language” and has one of the funniest, and most accurate, takes on the difference between similes and metaphors I’ve ever read. It’s also not too shabby on puns, either. xkcd is “a CNU graduate with a degree in physics. Before starting xkcd, I worked on robots [...]

Aphorisms by George Santayana

Jim Finnegan, proprietor of the always enlightening ursprache blog as well as the aphoristically amazing Tramp Freighter, sends news of a new book on philosopher-aphorist George Santayana: The Genteel Tradition in American Philosophy and Character and Opinion in the United States. This article from City Pulse describes the book, a collection of scholarly essays, and [...]

Aphorisms by Franz Kafka

Jim Finnegan, proprietor of the ursprache blog, read The Zürau Aphorisms of Franz Kafka (Schocken Books, 2006), translated by Michael Hofmann, on a plane recently and sent these thoughts: “The original aphorisms, though known of and posthumously published but only partly, were discovered in a folder in an archive in the new Bodleian Library at [...]

Aphorisms by Thomas Fitzgerald

Thomas Fitzgerald has cooked up an original mix of aphorisms (what he calls “the stuff of life”) and bread recipes (what has long been known as the staff of life). Daily Bread consists of 705 original aphorisms and a clutch of recipes from some of America’s foremost bread makers. “We might look upon aphorisms and [...]

More Aphorisms by Eric Nelson

Eric Nelson, whom you may recall from this 2009 post, is back with some more of his haiku-like aphorisms. Some of these sayings have unmistakeable Zen overtones, such as the aphorism below about the green mountain. Yet others, like the one about chickens and hawks, are much more in the proverbial tradition. An interesting combination, [...]

Aphorisms by Charles Simic

This just in from Jim Finnegan, proprietor of the ursprache blog: “Charles Simic was born in 1938 in Belgrade, Serbia (Yugoslavia at the time). His family came to the U.S. in 1954 and settled in Chicago. He has published numerous books of poetry and critical prose, and has won major awards for his poetry, a [...]

Metaphors, Aphorisms, and Volcanoes

There is a metaphor and an aphorism for everything, including volcanic eruptions. In thinking about the eruption of Iceland’s volcano, I was reminded of The Prose Edda, the 13th century Icelandic epic by Snorri Sturluson. The Prose Edda is a handbook for aspiring poets and, according to Snorri, by far the most important thing for [...]


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