Meanwhile

A monthly newsletter about language, teaching, editing, reading and anything else I’ve coaxed up from the silt.

Meanwhile in May
is here!

While going about Adverbs business, I encounter news, titbits and tricks that might not be chunky enough for a whole post or article but are still full of interest. Each month, this is where they find a home.

This month: migraines via Ancient Greek, the case for reviving megrim and a rebellion against dried-out definitions. Plus: Philip Pullman and migraine poetry as consolation, a deeply cursed AI summary of Meanwhile and a chaotic cat.

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Migraines via Ancient Greek, the case for reviving megrim and a rebellion against dried-out definitions. Plus: Philip Pullman and migraine poetry as consolation, a deeply cursed AI summary of Meanwhile and a chaotic cat.
The English Bible’s role in shaping our language, a very specific Catholic word, and a handful of everyday phrases coined by early Bible translators. Plus: parentheses vs em dashes, a quick guide to brackets, AI ‘sounding human’ and some very fancy pants.
Albums for therapeutic cooking (eating optional), ‘a’ vs ‘an’ when introducing acronyms and initialisms and the rarer English infixes (with cameos from Homer Simpson and Big Boi). Plus: Sylvia Plath and Darwin being relatable as per, advice for reading ruts and a very persuasive 1893 bicycle ad.
The rare English infix, collateral adjectives, a guide to escaping capitalism and (sigh) Wuthering Heights.
Comparative and superlative adjectives, compound swear words (and what makes them stick), fonts, conditional love songs and a Christie/Wodehouse paradox.
English words and their unintuitive pronunciation, poetry as a master key to jailbreaking LLMs, punctuating Christmas carols, my top cosy Christmas reads and a useful – very useful – rhetorical device that makes your writing memorable.
A short one this month: in vs of, Dante’s divine besties, six-seven and J. Alfred Prufrock as a trans character.
This month: banned books, the twelve buttocks of Brave New World, incomprehensibility as a weapon, me vs Tom Wolfe, an English word with a brain-bonking 645 meanings, the rare instance of an apostrophe indicating a plural and Raye’s newest single marking a wider trend in how we punctuate questions.
Nidification, the best short story I’ve read in yonks and a brief history of nature writing. Also, my favourite tiny books for reading on the bus, Father’s Day and AI finally letting us put aside childish things like art to realise our potential as dredge operators.
Spume, a weepy poem, Outlook’s latest attempt to sabotage your grammar, Palestinian essays, a story-pairing I love, Chicago style updates and Wodehouse’s enchanting distaste for the constabulary.

Meanwhile

Meanwhile in Mayis here!

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May 2025 – A lump of pure sound.

April 2026 – Beauty is not enough.

March 2026 – Rested, caught up and human.

February 2026 – To feel the earth's spine.

January 2026 – Duck! Here comes another year.

December 2025 — How fast the stream flows.

November 2025 – The Norway of the year.

October 2025 – Any wonderful unexpected thing.

September 2025 – The ache for the larger life.

August 2025 – The odd uneven time.

Meanwhile in May
is here!