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.
"The Eldest Generosity girl bounces about a good deal on the music stool and plays wrong notes maliciously." From The Money-Spinner by Henry Seton Merriman and illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1896.
An illustration from The White Man's Foot by Grant Allen and illustrated by Joseph Finnemore (1888). The caption reads: "'Everything is correct,' he whispered."
Here's a precursor to either Retch or Hoik from the brilliant comedy series This is Jinsy, which we found in Carols of Cockayne by Henry Sambrooke Leigh 1874.