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.
In the famous nursery rhyme, the little lamb gets all the credit for following Mary everywhere, but this 1896 illustration sets the record straight: Mary's sheepdog deserves some acclaim for directing the action.
Did you know that the very first joke in the great comedy film The 'Burbs occurs in the opening credits? The typographically literate will notice that the apostrophe has been replaced with a grave accent, alluding to what the Klopeks dig in their spooky backyard. (Film still courtesy of DVDBeaver.)
Meanwhile, here's an illustration from Across the Channel by James Crowther (1888). The caption reads: "The opened grave."
An illustration from A Fatal Fiddle by Edward Heron Allen (1890). The caption reads: "He had seen the hand on the former occasion—there it was—wandering from shelf to shelf."
"All the arts by God forbidden, all the knowledge hid in darkness, I reveal!" From The Devil's Case by Robert Williams Buchanan, 1896.Speaking of which, what exactly are a snowball's chances in hell? See A Snowball's Chance in Hell.