iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Cock-threshing. Shrovetide. Hocktide. I-mutations. Grimm’s Law. Octopodes. Pajamas. Private schools. Private parts—and resistance thereof. The origin of FOOTBALL has it all. I go medieval on it. Like this lil guy on an animal bladder, once used to play the game. mashedradish.com/2026/06/20/f...

Detail of a person inflating an animal bladder in Bruegel's 1560 painting, "Children's Games."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

The first handful of citations for FOOTBALL from the OED alone are fascinating. And brutal. The game was seen as violent and base—and therefore was often banned. Plus, the earliest known cite, from 1409, mentions FOOTBALL (‘foteballe’) alongside ... COCK-THRASHING (‘cokthresshyng’)!

A screenshot of the first four citations for the word "football" in the Oxford English Dictionary.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Wow, a legit (and dismaying) use case for the usually humorous verb DEFENESTRATE. Someone in my apartment building is defenestrating dog shit. Which also means, cruelly, they aren't taking their dog out.

As some of you may have noticed, we have recently experienced an ongoing issue involving the improper disposal of dog waste from a balcony within the community. It appears that bagged pet waste is being thrown from an upper-floor balcony, often landing on and splattering across the sidewalk and bridge leading into the 3rd Street tunnel below.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

It had been a (blessed) minute since I had to use Zoom. This is what I saw when I opened the app. It took me a (wretched) minute to find where I could, you know, do thing we do on Zoom.

A screenshot of the Zoom app showing a window crowded with offers and new features.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

In case you needed any more evidence that AI is—I'm going to use the word—evil: If you work or volunteer in a school or program connected to the Catholic Church, you have to complete frequent, regular trainings on child sexual abuse. The latest? "The Emerging Use of AI to Groom Targets." God.

A screenshot of an online training program showing a picture of a young girl holding a cellphone. At the bottom is a banner over which appears the following text: "The Emerging Use of AI To Groom Targets."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 14/05/2026

I love this sign students made for an anti-vaping campaign at the middle school where I teach. I love it on its own terms, but also because it alludes to Keith Haring's 1986 "Crack is Wack" mural in NYC. The similarity in the lettering does lead me to believe the allusion may have been knowing!

A hand-made sign reading "Vaping is Wack" in colorful, block letters.

A picture of Keith Harding's original 1986 "Crack is Wack" mural. From Keith Haring Foundation: https://www.haring.com/!/art-work/108-2

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Why eat noonmeat when you can have NUMMIT?!

A screen capture of the Oxford English Dictionary's entry for "nummit."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Why eat lunch when you can have NOONMEAT?

A screen capture of the entry for "noonmeat" in the Oxford English Dictionary.com

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

Splashdown. 1961. "The alighting of a spacecraft on the sea." (OED) Poetry.

A screen capture from the Oxford English Dictionary of the entry for "splashdown."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

One of my 8th graders today sped into class at 7:30am to find her best friend & rave about Bad Bunny’s halftime. She’s Latina, 1st language is Spanish, kept saying how “touching” it was, how happy she was for Bad Bunny. Was moved by his litany of Latin American countries & left this at dismissal:

Written in red dry-erase marker on a white board: “The only thing more powerful than hate love,” attributed to Bad Bunny.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

This is the Cézanne print framed and hanging above the toilet in George's private, accessible bathroom.

Cézanne's 'Still Life with a Curtain,' which depicts a jar next to bowls of oranges on a table covered loosely with a white cloth, all foregrounded before a green-brown curtain with a floral print.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

I can't stop thinking about how there is a Cézanne print in George's private, accessible bathroom in 'Seinfeld.'

A frame of George Constanza showing Jerry Seinfeld his private, accessible bathroom at work. Above the toilet is a framed print of Cézanne's 'Still Life with a Curtain,' which depicts a jar next to bowls of oranges on a table covered loosely with a white cloth, all foregrounded before a green-brown curtain with a floral print.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

I am become slang: “W Mr. Kelly[,] chat.”

“W Mr. Kelly Chat” written in red dry-erase marker on a whiteboard.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

Because I can definitely think of some IMPROPER adjectives to describe how balls- and tits-off-freezing it is. OED entry for the adjective 'cold' (1891, not fully revised):

The Oxford English Dictionary's unrevised entry for the adjective 'cold,' whose first definition reads: "The proper adjective expressing a well-known quality of the air or of other substances exciting one of the primary physical sensations, due to the abstraction of heat from the surface of the body: of a temperature sensibly lower than that of the living human body. Admitting degrees of intensity (colder, coldest)."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 25/01/2026

Exactly. Well put. Like this scene, which used the language of popular cinema to convey the sublime wonder, ours as theirs, of encountering these impossible creatures. It’s still moving! (I think the latest JP took some time for wonder, but not as indelible as this.)

A scene from Jurassic Park showing brachiosauruses and hadrosauridae at a tree-lined lake as viewed from the distance.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

Minneapolis solidarity march in downtown Cincinnati. “Feels like” is 2, hundreds turned out.

Basilica and temple in downtown Cincinnati as people march against ICE.

A man hold an upside-down US flag at an anti-ICE march at the Cincinnati City Hall.

The anti-ICE march goes past a church and skyscrapers in downtown Cincinnati.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Duty calls. When @ainlif.bsky.social asks you to consult DARE about ‘warm-up’s’ as a regionalism for ‘leftovers,’ you stop what you are doing.

A picture of the entry for ‘warm-ups’ on p. 859 of Volume V of the Dictionary of American Regional English.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

'America' first referred to what we now call South America. It was soon after extended to North America, too, as notably evidenced by Gerardus Mercator in his famed 1538 world map (featured).

Gerardus Mercator's 1538 map of the world, which applied the name "America" to North America as well as South America. One of two existing copies, this one is held by the New York Public Library.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

It was quite moving to see Braille’s tomb—except for his hands, which symbolically remained in his original burial place of Coupvray—in the crypt of the Panthéon in my visit to Paris late last year.

A picture of the tomb of Louis Braille in the crypt of the Panthéon in Paris.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 04/01/2026

One of my favorites, for reasons as layered as the poem itself, is no. 1651 ("A Word made Flesh is seldom"):

A picture of an annotated text of Emily Dickinson's poem no. 1651 ("A word made Flesh is seldom"):

A Word made Flesh is seldom
And tremblingly partook
Nor then perhaps reported
But have I not mistook
Each one of us has tasted
With ecstasies of stealth
The very food debated
To our specific strength –

A Word that breathes distinctly
Has not the power to die
Cohesive as the Spirit
It may expire if He –
“Made Flesh and dwelt among us”
Could condescension be
Like this consent of Language
This loved Philology.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

The Latin “Eboracum” might come from a Celtic toponym—meaning “place of the yew trees” —or eponym, after someone named “Eborus.” The word for “yew” in Proto-Celtic is reconstructed as “*eburos,” thought to be related to the German “Ebersche,” the rowan (tree).

A picture of a full yew tree bathed in warm sunlight.

From: https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/blogs/trees/everything-you-need-to-know-about-yew-trees?srsltid=AfmBOoriUbojPf7HqZbhl3bqikqMdYynraVn0cc3MsYoFLyqWncRX61A

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 02/01/2026

Etymologically, photos and footage of the swearing in showed the flag and seal of New York City, which I hadn’t really considered before. The seal includes the following text in Latin: “Sigillum Civitatis Novi Eboraci.” That, rather straightforwardly, means “The Seal of the City of New York.”

A black-and-white rendering of the Seal of the City of New York, showing an array of symbols encircled by the Latin text for "Seal of the City of New York."

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_New_York_City#/media/File:Seal_of_New_York_City_(B&W).svg

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

My doodle isn't previewing here, but I'm feeling generous:

A black-and-white hand-drawn sketch of a cartoon character standing next to a giant Advent calendar with flaps open to reveal the heads of similar cartoon characters.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

Poet/philosopher Fred Moten delivered an exceptional reading to a packed room at the University of Cincinnati tonight. Afterwards, in a way only he can, he connected the "in between of Heidegger and Derrida" to "tearing shit up in the club and church" to being "in the hold of the slave ship."

Fred Moten at a podium in the Elliston Poetry Room at the University of Cincinnati.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 04/12/2025

Oxford's selection of 'rage bait' as its 2025 Word of the Year brought to mind, of course, 'rage quit.' @merriam-webster.com dates that to 2005, which debuted some other words that, 20 years later, are more salient than ever—in concept if not in term.

A screenshot of Merriam-Webster's Time Traveler, showing words that so far first appeared in print in a given year. This screenshot shows 2005 and features the following terms: Blue Alert, butt-dial, crate-dig, didymo, glamping, LARC, locavore, microblogging, mumblecore, pre-exposure prophylaxis, rage quit, ransomware, rock snot, sexting, truther, truthiness, unvaxxed, upvote, vaccine hesitant, vodcast.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Powell and Pressburger posting like the cool kids in the title cards for their 1945 delight of a film, "I Know Where I'm Going!"

A title card to the 1945 film "I Know Where I'm Going!" It reads: Wendy Hiller / Roger Livesey in "i know where i'm going!" Note that the letter I in the title are lowercased.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

It's arrived—and it's gorgeous. I opened @merriam-webster.com's new Twelfth Collegiate at random, and the first word I came across was the second, verbal sense of "load." Huzzah! This spread also showcases some delights, like the illustrations and word lists.

A picture of the red linen front cover of Merriam-Webster's Twelfth Edition of its Collegiate Dictionary.

Merriam-Webster's Twelfth Edition of its Collegiate Dictionary opened to pp. 932–33, whose headwords span LLP to locate.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

/7 The OED first records the derived form (definitely including a bunch of Latinate suffixes) ‘affordability’ in 1910. Its first two citations really hit close to home. Affordability—long an issue, it bears repeating.

Screenshot of part of the Oxford English Dictionary's entry for 'affordability,' which it defines as "the quality of being affordable; inexpensiveness." The screenshot shoes the first two citations. The first from 1910 is from the "Indianapolis Star" and reads: "The affordability of the overland car." The second, from Hillsboro, OH's "Press-Gazette" in 1939, reads: "The affordability of the prices."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

You know, I really want to thank the Musée D'Orsay for helping me with my French. Félix Vallotton's 'Le Poker' and 'Le Toast' were not only beautiful, but also instructive. I jest; my French is incurable. (Sometimes I question my English, too,)

A photograph of the painting "Le Poker' by Félix Vallotton as displayed in the Musée D'Orsay in Paris, France.

A photograph of the painting "Le Toast' by Félix Vallotton as displayed in the Musée D'Orsay in Paris, France.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

No visit to Paris is complete, in my book, without a squeeze into the Abbey Bookshop. In mere moments, I encountered some @scalzi.com, behind which I was greeted by @bcdreyer.social and, towering above me, @misterslang.bsky.social. #goodcompany

A bookshelf in the Abbey Bookshop in Paris showing John Scalzi's "The Consuming Fire."

A bookshelf in the Abbey Bookshop in Paris showing Benjamin Dreyer's "Dreyer's English" in the reference section.

The top of a bookshelf in the Abbey Bookshop in Paris showing, in yellowing with red title, "Slang" by Jonathon Green.

The entrance of the Abbey Bookshop in Paris, showing a narrow store with tall shelves overflowing with books.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

Oh no. Not you now, too, Shakespeare.

A screen capture of Act 5, Scene 3 of Shakespeare's Richard III, lines 8–11.

Richard III (Duke of Gloucester): Up with my tent there! here will I lie tonight;
But where to-morrow? Well, all's one for that.
Who hath descried the number of the foe?

Duke of Norfolk: Six or seven thousand is their utmost power. "

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

Doing a Google search, or just having Chrome open, is an onslaught of force-fed AI pick-mes now:

Screen capture from Google Chrome URL bar, reading "Press tab then enter to ask AI Mode."

Screen capture from Google Chrome URL bar search drop down, reading "Explore in AI Mode" and showing two irrelevant suggestions next to a sparkling magnifying glass.

Screen capture from Google Chrome URL bar, reading "AI Mode" next to a sparkling magnifying glass.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

9/ Touchingly, the students all write me thank-you cards. This one from the last talk is one I treasure.

A picture of a hand-written thank-you note. It reads:

Mr. Kelly,

Thank you for taking the time to speak to my Morality Class. Your talk has stuck with me and was very impactful. The way you talked about masculinity was, in my opinion, spot on. In a world of junk influencers and toxic males, you were a breath of fresh air. To love, to forgive, to be vulnerable, these themes were present throughout your talk and I appreciate that. Those qualities are what it means to be a man.

Thanks again,

[signature intentionally cropped out]

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

STOOLBALL! Also, SUPPORT DICTIONARIES!

A screen capture of the Oxford English Dictionary's entry for 'stoolball.'

The definition reads: A team game resembling cricket, using a stool or (now usually) a board as a wicket, originally played chiefly by women and girls.

The entry adds the note:

The game originated in south-east England and was originally played at Easter, with a tansy-cake traditionally awarded to the winning side .

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

/8 English once had a verb, ‘bale,’ meaning “to dance.” The OED’s unrevised entry for that obsolete verb preserves—as older entries do—a bit of a gem. Bring back song-and-dance tennis! Might as well entertain ourselves before the void!

A screen capture of the Oxford English Dictionary's etymology for the verb 'bale,' which reads:

Summary
A borrowing from French.
Etymon: French baler.
< Old French baler (since 16th cent. baller) to dance (= Provençal balar, Italian ballare, Spanish bailar, Portuguese bailar) < late Latin (Isidore) ballāre to dance. Some think the Latin formed < Greek βαλλίζειν to dance, some < balla ball n.1, on the alleged ground that, in the Middle Ages, tennis was accompanied with dancing and song.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

2/ The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) cites ‘ballroom’ in 1719. Its first two citations hit close to home, don’t they?

A screen capture of the Oxford English Dictionary's definition of 'ballroom' and its first two citations.

Definition reads: A large room for formal dancing; a room in which balls are or may be held.

First citation is from 1719 from E.F. Haywood's 'Love In Excess'and reads: She return'd to the Ball Room, and was so out of Humour all the Night that she cou'd hardly be Commonly Civil to any Body.

SEcond citation is from a letter from November 30. 1736 in 'Fog's Weekly Journal' and reads: The Conspirators..were first to blow up the Ball-Room

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

And the scripture has arrived. 😍

A picture of the spines of the Blu-Ray edition of Dekalog, Tree of Life, Stalkee, and Taste of Cherry.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Man, this paragraph from the latest bulletin from the local Jesuit parish I sometimes frequent ...

A screen capture of a Jesuit parish church bulletin. Under the heading "Supporting Refugees and Migrants," it read: "Just over two years ago, our parish opened its doors to the Povstian family from Ukraine when they were seeking refuge from the ongoing war in their homeland. Although that war continues, current immigration policies prohibited
the Povstians from renewing their humanitarian parole and work authorization in the United States, so they have moved to Ireland to start anew. We will continue to support the Povstians from afar, and we ask that you please keep them and all refugee and migrant families in your prayers."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

The OED first cites “White House” for the US president's residence in 1811. But its citation from a letter by Abijah Bigelow, a Massachusetts Federalist congressman, in 1812 really stands out right now:

"There is much trouble at the white house, as we cal it, I mean the President's." The OED's second citation, as of 10/21/2025, of "white house" referring to the US president's residency. From March 18, 1812 letter by Abijah Bigelow captured in the Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

Great turnout and energy at the Cincinnati #NoKings rally. Here’s Ayman Soliman, former area children’s hospital chaplain and previously asylumed Egyptian immigrant who was detained by ICE in a regional facility for 73 days, addressing an expansive crowd on the significance of protest.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

PLAY. That’s my main takeaway from Herbie Hancock, whom I saw last night with a virtuosic band. At 85, his playing sounds better than ever—and he likes to play, to have a joyful fun with sound, more than ever. He also likes to play around in his stage banter. Riffing, as it were.

Herbie Hancock playing with his incredible band on a concert stage moodily lit in red and blue. Left to right: Herbie Hancock (keytar); Lionel Loueke (electric guitar); James Genus (electric bass); Terence Blanchard (trumpet). Out of view is drummer Jaylen Petinaud.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

In one of my many regular lookups of 'peak' vs. 'peek'* in my Mac's dictionary app (based on the 'New Oxford American Dictionary'), I was charmed by the self-reference of this usage note at 'peek.' *Sure, I _could_ memorize the difference, but I embrace the chaos of this beautiful, messy language.

Screenshot of the usage note at 'peek' in the MacOS dictionary app. The text reads: "The word meaning ‘look quickly or furtively’ and ‘a quick or furtive look’ is peek, not peak: ‘the sun peeks out only intermittently’; ‘a sneak peek at what's in store’. In some contexts, this error is very common: for example, almost a third of citations for the expression a sneak peek in the Oxford English Corpus are for the incorrect spelling (‘a sneak peak’)."

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

A little while back while on @etymonline.bsky.social the combination of "Logos" and "ghost" in the trending lookups immediately brought to mind the poet Jack Spicer. #iykyk

Screenshot of top-10 trending lookups on Etymonline.com showing "Logos" and "ghost" in the 6th and 7th positions.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

TIL Carl Linnaeus included BATS in his classification of Primates, which he so named because he deemed of the highest order. ('Primates' is ultimately based on Latin "'primus," meaning 'first, foremost.') Bats rule!

A screenshot of the etymology of "Primates" from the Oxford English Dictionary.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

Seems one Nathan Ames is credited with the earliest patent for the actual machine, the ‘Revolving Stairs,’ in 1859: worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/searc... cc @design-law.bsky.social 2/4

The 1859 patent for Nathan Ames's "Revolving Stairs," through three views of a drawing of the precursor to the escalator.

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

@darthbluesky.bsky.social some very good dogs come in the form of late 19th French paintings ennobling the laborers of the field

A picture of Charles-Émile Jacque’s 1880 oil painting, “The Shepherd and His Flock,” with a shaggy sheepdog at the bottom right

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John Kelly @mashedradish.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Here's a little curmudgeonly gem from the old OED on the etymology. (Samuel Rogers was a prominent English poet of his day.)

Screen shot of the etymology of "balcony" from the Oxford English Dictionary. The key highlight of the image is: "Till c1825 the pronunciation was regularly bælˈkəʊnɪ; but ˈbælkənɪ (once in Swift), ‘which,’ said Samuel Rogers, ‘makes me sick,’ is now established."

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