Useful dribs and drabs

The unfailingly interesting Language Hat links to a fine scholarly take on the roots of standalone X (chi) for "Christ."

That said, and with visions of positive and significant empirical results dancing in the assembled heads, the TV at HEADSUP-L Manor will be tuned in to Fox News's coverage of the Dover ruling tonight for sure. (Accommodation vs. cognitive dissonance: two theories enter, one theory leaves!) Amateurs study tactics; professionals study neologistics.

Nothing like the occasional low rumble of thunder from the judicial branch, is there?

"The students, parents, and teachers of the Dover Area School District deserved better than to be dragged into this legal maelstrom, with its resulting utter waste of monetary and personal resources. ... It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."

And finally, in a bona fide sign of the Apocalypse, Bob Schieffer discusses the role of network TV journalism today: "Probably we can’t tell the viewers any new news, but we can help them put it into context."

Take the baby, Mary; river's rising.