CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
"With one glance behind her, Pleasant went out quickly." We assume she didn't utter a pleasantry on her way out. From Dragon's Teeth by Clotilda Inez Mary Graves, 1891.
Here's some early evidence of the ghostly spirit spheres called "orbs," from the Pennsylvania College for Women's Pennsylvanian yearbook, 1918. (For some unbelievably weird yearbook imagery, see our How to Hoodoo Hack a Yearbook.) This should also be of interest:How to Believe in Your Elf.
Hey, let's take five and have these guys to do the math, eh? "Appreciable only by mathematicians," from The Purchase of the North Pole by Jules Verne, 1891.
Before diswashing liquids promised younger-looking hands, people were stuck "Holding each other's middle-aged hands." From Dandelion Cottage by Carroll Rankin, 1904.