Month: July 2014

If so, fear not, you’re not alone. In fact, it would be quite difficult to be alone with this one. Despite its rather ominous-sounding title, ‘gargalesis’ is actually “heavy tickling, often resulting in laughter”. So it’s more than likely going to require at least two people to get a bad case of this condition.

And it has a sibling. To perform or receive a feathery ‘light tickling’ (and actually, sometimes they’re even worse) goes by the name, KNISMESIS. The names themselves have very scientific origins, coined in 1897 by a couple of psychologists clearly with too much time on their hands. As words, they’re pretty rare – confined usually to medical journals and smarty-pants know-it-all blogs.

Happy birthday America; 238 years old and looking good (although it could be all that Botox you’ve had done on your West coast).

You truly are the land of the free. Home of the brave. Land of colorful humor, high fiber, cozy pajamas and gray aging neighbors. Home of the 50-story theaters, favorite jewelry, organized travelers, snowplows, sizable paychecks and open dialog.

Sigh. Land of the red-underlined-word. Okay America, it’s one thing to take a stroll on the sidewalk with your fanny pack during Fall. (Period.) But why, when it comes to spelling, is it You (Ess-Aye) vs The Rest of the World?