A story about two pairs of boots illustrates how rich people get richer in ways poor people can't

 A story about two pairs of boots illustrates how rich people get richer in ways poor people can't

"The reason that the rich were so rich, Vimes reasoned, was because they managed to spend less money.

Take boots, for example. He earned thirty-eight dollars a month plus allowances. A really good pair of leather boots cost fifty dollars. But an affordable pair of boots, which were sort of OK for a season or two and then leaked like hell when the cardboard gave out, cost about ten dollars. Those were the kind of boots Vimes always bought, and wore until the soles were so thin that he could tell where he was in Ankh-Morpork on a foggy night by the feel of the cobbles.

But the thing was that good boots lasted for years and years. A man who could afford fifty dollars had a pair of boots that’d still be keeping his feet dry in ten years’ time, while the poor man who could only afford cheap boots would have spent a hundred dollars on boots in the same time and would still have wet feet."

Shecky Greene, Legendary Las Vegas Standup Comedian Who Worked With Sinatra and Elvis, Dies at 97

 Shecky Greene, Legendary Las Vegas Standup Comedian Who Worked With Sinatra and Elvis, Dies at 97

Shecky Greene, the legendary standup comedian known for his long tenure as a Las Vegas headliner and for working with Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley, died Dec. 31 at his home in the city. He was 97.

Todays Thought

Fear prophets and those prepared to die for the truth, for as a rule they make many others die with them, often before them, at times instead of them. 

-Umberto Eco, philosopher and novelist (5 Jan 1932-2016)

Todays Thought

People who demand neutrality in any situation are usually not neutral but in favor of the status quo. 

-Max Eastman, journalist and poet (4 Jan 1883-1969)

Todays Thought

Still round the corner there may wait, / a new road or a secret gate. -

J.R.R. Tolkien, novelist and philologist (3 Jan 1892-1973)

Todays Thought

Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. 

-Isaac Asimov

Why Does ‘Will Not’ Become ‘Won’t’?

 

Why Does ‘Will Not’ Become ‘Won’t’?

In Old English there were two forms of the verb willan (“to wish” or “to will”)—wil- in the present and wold- in the past. Over the next few centuries there was a good deal of bouncing back and forth between those vowels (and others) in all forms of the word. At different times and places , will came out as wulle, wole, wool, welle, wel, wile, wyll, and even ull and ool.

There was less variation in the contracted form. From at least the 16th century, the preferred form was wonnot, from woll not, with occasional departures later to winnot, wunnot, or the expected willn’t. In the ever-changing landscape that is English, will won the battle of the woles/wulles/ools, but for the negative contraction, wonnot simply won out, and contracted further to the won’t we use today.

When you think about the effort it takes to actually pronounce the word willn’t, this isn’t so surprising at all.