Word: odd
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1950
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...have a mind like blotting paper," British Lexicographer Eric Partridge once said. In the past dozen years, he has blotted up enough odd facts about words ("It becomes a dreadful habit") to fill a Dictionary of Slang, a Dictionary of Cliches and a Dictionary of the Underworld. Last week the latest product of his addiction was on U.S. bookshelves. Name into Word (Macmillan; $4.50) was a colorful catalogue of "proper names that have become common property...
Last week Sammy was taking on all comers. In the next six weeks, as Sammy made a coast-to-coast tour of 30-odd U.S. and Canadian cities, anyone with $2 and sufficient brass could have a go at him. In a really busy session, Sammy estimates that he trots 15 to 20 miles to make an average of 20 to 60 moves on each board. He likes to knock off 40 at a time, although recently at Germantown, Pa. he faced 75 in one evening...
...some ways, Dean Harry J, Carman of Columbia College,* Columbia University was a very odd sort of dean. He was a baggily dressed man with a Yankee twang and white hair that always seemed ruffled. He called distinguished visitors "you dear folks," said "peoples" when he meant "people"; and his eminent colleague, Historian Jacques Barzun, he insisted on calling Jake...
Stoutly denying any concern with politics, Evangelist Paden appealed to U.S. Ambassador James Dunn for help. In Dallas, 800-odd Churches of Christ members assembled, and 378 signed a protesting telegram to Secretary of State Dean Acheson. Texas Congressman Ed Gossett went with a delegation to the State Department where, he said, he warned officials that "if the Italian government runs this orphanage out of Italy, it may have a serious effect on congressional action on European aid funds...
Some practical computermen scoff at such picturesque talk, but others recall odd behavior in their own machines. Robert Seeber of I.B.M. says that his big computer has a very human foible: it hates to wake up in the morning. The operators turn it on, the tubes light up and reach a proper temperature, but the machine is not really awake. A problem sent through its sleepy wits does not get far. Red lights flash, indicating that the machine has made an error. The patient operators try the problem again. This time the machine thinks a little more clearly. At last...