Jesse Sheidlower

@jessesword

Lexicographer. The F-Word (new edition Nov. ’24!), sfdictionary.com, ex-OED, coder (mainly Perl and Python), Threesome Tollbooth #cocktail bar manager, adjunct @ Columbia. "Appealingly obsessive" — NYT

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Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· 5d

Best birthday present ever: Friends who live upstate foraged like $10,000 worth of chanterelles from their mountainside, and gave me a sack of them.

A cutting board heaping with chanterelle mushrooms

A frying pan full of a fuckton of butter and chanterelles.

A black-and-white plate with scrambled eggs with chanterelles, with chopped parsley on top.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· 6d

Happy birthday to me.

The ending of Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains" (pre-1997 editions but not the first magazine appearance; these had different dates):

Smoke and silence. A great quantity of smoke.
Dawn showed faintly in the east. Among the ruins, one wall stood alone. Within the wall, a last voice said, over and over again and again, even as the sun rose to shine upon the heaped rubble and steam:
"Today is August 5, 2026, today is August 5, 2026, today is..."

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· 7d

Happy "There Will Come Soft Rains" Day! Ray Bradbury's greatest short story takes place on August 4, 2026 (in most editions; see alt text). If you haven't seen it, you must watch this incredibly disturbing animated Soviet version (Uzbekfilm, 1984.) www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oxP...

Image of text, from Ray Bradbury's "There Will Come Soft Rains":

"Today is August 4, 2026," said a second voice from the kitchen ceiling, "in the city of Allendale, California." It repeated the date three times for memory's sake. "Today is Mr. Featherstone's birthday. Today is the anniversary of Tilita's marriage. Insurance is payable, as are the water, gas, and light bills."

(The date was April 28, 1985 in the original printing; very recent editions give the date as August 4, 2057.)

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· 11d

Was just realizing how many books by my friends I currently have on my desk! Yay Bluesky! @moudhy.bsky.social @norsebysw.bsky.social @dannybate.com @susiedentwords.bsky.social (N.B. I've only met one of these in person, and haven't even corresponded with others. Nonetheless they're my friends.)

Picture of my desk, with Moudhy Al-Rashid's _Between Two Rivers_, Jackson Crawford's _The Poetic Edda_, Danny Bate's _Why Q Needs U_, and Susie Dent's _Guilty By Definition_ arranged on display. There's another stack of books behind it, and you can also see a speaker and a corner of a monitor; in the background there's a couple of bookcases, an 1890s cognac poster, a chair, etc.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· 22d

Fuckin' AI and Republicans, man. When I was young, vegetables were cheap and safe, and writers and editors were important and valued. Now letters are free and tomatoes are a fortune.

Photo of a bodega display menu, focused on an "Add Extra" section, with "Tomatoes" for $50 (not "$.50"), "Letters" [sic] for "$free", and "Cheese" for $75.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Jun 25

Name a film with a title that is a full sentence.

Poster for the film "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Jun 16

Check this shit out! I'm squatting and there's this serious-ass death bird screaming at me three feet away!

Picture of a squat rack with a window behind it, and a raptor standing on the window ledge

Picture of a window with a raptor standing on the ledge

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Jun 13

Took my daughter to Trek Long Island. There were lots of nerds. I got lots of love and "fezzes are cool!" from fans of the Eleventh Doctor.

Selfie of me in a jacket, bow tie, and fez, and a smiling young woman in a Star Trek lieutenant commander costume.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Jun 9

Oh, my sweet summer child.

Screenshot of a featured Stack Exchange post: "Am I already too old to consider pursuing an academic career?"

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Jun 3

Footnote of the day, from Chandler's 1811 _Life of William Waynflete, Bishop of Winchester_: in which we learn that in 1502 the Fellows of Magdalen College Oxford hired professional astrologers to find out who had stolen £112 from the bursary. I think it was an inside job: the astrologers did it.

To Richard Arderne, Thomas Knolles, and Laurence Stubbs
succeeded as bursars, 18 Hen. VII, John Stokysley, John Hygdon, and John Drewett. This year the chest in the bursary was
robbed of £112. They were sworn to the loss, and then their account was passed, but with a reserve in case proof should be found
against them. In the account-book of the next year are the fol-
lowing entries respecting this business.

"Solut cuidam scholastico qut (quatenus) misso ad quendam astrologum consulendum pro bonis coll" ablatis superiori anno xvid."

"In regardis 2bus astrologis calculantibus pro eisdem bonis coll xx6."

"Pro vino dato astrologis variis vicibus per billam xiid."
"Uni astrologo de Westmynstre pro furto recuperando, xiii. iiiid".

(Not sure of all the superscripts, sorry.)

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Jun 2

Every lexicographer's online profile:

Screenshot of an "About me" section, with a link labelled "+ Add preferred buggy whip size"

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· May 20

Finally, finally made it to southern Carroll Gardens and had @hels.bsky.social's beloved Vegitalian sandwich at Court Street Grocers, and OMG it's so good! Messy, though. Will definitely be doing this again.

Picture of a long sandwich cut in half and wrapped in paper, on my desk

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· May 14

From Ian Ogilvy's _Loose Chippings_ (1996):

'The worst? Oh—jolly good, sis. Ha ha. A boyfriend, eh? Well, well. What a turn up for the books. I don't mind telling you, my gob is smacked and my gast is flabbered and my thunder is struck—'
'Thank you, Henry.'

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· May 9

Filet Mignon with heroin sauce! Codfish balls with powdered morphine sulphate! Veal loaf a la cocanus! If this were a @jayasaxena.com article about the San Francisco dining from last week, I'd be giggling myself to death about it, but it's from 1916.

Clipping from an article in the San Francisco Examiner, 29 Feb. 1916: "Morphine Served A la Carte to Cafe Patrons / Sleuth Confiscated Mashed Potatoes and Penetrates Secret Menu of Drug Feast." About an SF restaurant serving opiates in some dishes.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· May 7

But…. But…. I still have some papers to finish!

Screenshot of an old periodical* with a headline reading "TIME WAS UP." and the subhed "It was Quit Coffee or Die."

* The Delineator, May 1901.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 30

Today in Books You Didn't Know Existed:

Image of the title page of _'Isms: A Dictionary of Words Ending in -ISM, -OLOGY and -PHOBIA: With Some Similar Terms Arranged in Subject Order_ published by the Libraries and Arts Committee, Sheffield City Libraries, 1963.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 29

Proof that my life is more exciting than yours, losers: I antedated the OED's entry for "phillumeny"—the hobby of collecting matchbooks or similar items—from 1951 to 1949. And tweaked the definition. (Credit to Paul Lukas's Inconspicuous Consumption for getting me onto the subject.)

Picture of a bunch of matchbooks, taken from Paul Lukas's _Inconspicuous Consumption_.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 28

Emails I did not finish (or, really, start) reading:

Screenshot of an email with the subject line "Freelance Native Linguist Opportunity with [REDACTED]", continuing "Hi,
I’m reaching out on behalf of [REDACTED]. We are currently hiring native linguists / language consultants for a paid remote project in the speech AI evaluation space. We are looking for support in the US English Language.

The role involves reviewing and refining sentence sets, checking for natural spoken usage, and guiding us on how use-case-specific communication is typically expressed in your language and country context.

We are looking for native speakers with strong linguistic intuition. A Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in Linguistics, Language Studies, Translation, Localization, Literature, Communication, or a related field would be preferred. Relevant certifications"

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 27

If @scalzi.com has convinced you that living in a church in Ohio is a cool thing to do, here's a pretty metal one in Cincinnati for you: www.zillow.com/homedetails/...

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 26

Shared by a friend on Facebook: Gary Snyder posing a few weeks ago with his copy of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary. He turns 96 on May 8.

Picture of an elderly man in a rural-looking cabin posing next to a copy of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary (the original version, two volumes in a slipcase with magnifying glass)

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 25

OED:

Screenshot of the first non-bracketed quote in the OED for First World War:

"*1918*

To call it The German War was too much flattery for the Boche. I suggested The World War as a shade better title, and finally we mutually agreed to call it The First World War in order to prevent the millennium folk from forgetting that the history of the world was the history of war.

C. à C. Repington, _Diary_ 10 September in _First World War_ (1920) vol. II. xxxvii. 391"

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 24

Well, this was a lot easier than going to Barcelona.

Photograph of the flier and menu for the pop-up of Paradiso, the Barcelona cocktail bar, in residency at MAD Bar in New York. Forgive me for not transcribing the elaborate menu.

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 20

Meegan Ochs (Phil Ochs's daughter) dancing while the Reverend Gary Davis plays guitar. NYC, ca1968.

Photo of an older black man sitting in a chair wearing sunglasses and a hat and a suit, playing a 12-string guitar, while a young blonde girl in a gingham dress dances next to him

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 17

The OED has a first example of "forty-foot pole" in 1838, with "ten-foot pole" in 1864. The first example of "wouldn't touch it with a bargepole" is 1861 (rare in US). Both are thus far earlier than Krusty, who was jocularly adding "clown" to the earlier expression.

Screenshot of the OED entry for "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole" + variants.

P.2.
1838–
Originally U.S. I wouldn't touch it (also him, her, etc.) with a ten-foot (also forty-foot) pole: I refuse to have anything to do with (a person or thing). Cf. I wouldn't touch it (also him, her, etc.) with a barge pole at barge pole n. Phrases

1838

She was jest as good as mine, till you com a goin arter her, and now I can't touch her with a forty foot pole.

Huron Reflector (Norwalk, Ohio) 19 June
1843

Senator Lahm, and Representatives Kilgore and Martin,..would not touch it [sc. a piece of legislation] with a ten foot pole. They knew it would not work.

Ohio Repository (Canton, Ohio) 5 October

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 13

Got to see Stephin Merritt of @themagfields.bsky.social playing "The Book of Love" on a cigar-box ukulele, at Wesley Stace (a.k.a. John Wesley Harding)'s Cabinet of Wonders. Great, great show, many other awesome acts that I didn't photograph.

Photo of Stephin Merritt playing a ukulele on a stage, in front of a screen projecting a live-artwork accompaniment

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Apr 7

Oh look, a new book, on its publication day.

Picture of my hand holding a copy of Ben Lerner's novel _Transcription_

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Mar 24

There's an OED entry for that.

Partial screenshot of the OED entry for "gel" n.(1), etymologized as "Representing a regional (southern English), affected, or (specifically English) upper-class and upper-middle-class pronunciation of girl n." and defined as "British. A girl, a young woman; spec. an upper-class or aristocratic young Englishwoman."

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Mar 23

<sigh> Have we been living without it, though?

Partial screenshot of the OED entry for _somewhy_, labelled "rare", and defined as "For some reason or reasons", with two mid-19th C. quotations, one of which is from Robert Browning. (Note that this is an unrevised entry, so more research will definitely show more evidence.)

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Mar 21

Book I am very excited to have received

Photo of a copy of Umberto Eco's The Infinity of Lists, on a glass desktop with my hand holding it in place

Jesse Sheidlower@jessesword· Mar 19

This is some amazing municipal signage (stolen from a friend elsewhere): You are absolutely forbidden from playing bocce on this lawn bowling court, but here are incredibly detailed driving instructions to a place where you can play bocce.