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.
"It seemed as if that little voice inside had fairly shouted in his ears: 'I am afraid.'" From The Adventures of Chatterer the Red Squirrel by Thorton W. Burgess and illustrated by Harrison Cady, 1919.
"The very nervous hand." It's not the hand of a nervous person, the caption says, but a hand that is itself very nervous or even the embodiment of nervousness. Therefore, the illustration is transformed into a talisman, akin to the Hand of Fatima. From New Discoveries in Palmistry by Joseph Bryant Hargett, 1901.
Thanks to Feminine-Faced-Salamander over at Tumblr for calling our "Separated At Birth?" category "my absolute favorite series" of web posts. "What a collection. It's such a fun game."