iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Tom Freeman

Mark Wallace @wallaceme.bsky.social · 7h

It’s a little known fact that all the words associated with paying to see the Bayeux Tapestry are derived from Anglo-Saxon while all the words for being invited to see it by a corporate sponsor derive from French.

615437

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 8h

Well maybe the bagging area should learn to change its expectations

0213

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 9h

Finally finished writing my new dating profile

On the ground at tgdxsidd of sn alleyway is a bit of card with "NO FLAWS - FREE" written on it.

160

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 12h

Among the oddities of this micromanagerial rant is an awkwardly unsplit infinitive: "the cyclists are all meant beautifully to stop"

120

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 15h

This is the worst Cinderella reboot I've ever wtched

050

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 17h

I wonder if the popularity of the phrase "Chatham House rules" (as opposed to "the Chatham House rule") rose after the 1985 publication of The Cider House Rules

030

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 17h

Surely not beyond the wit of even Badenoch's team to run "Burnham in Polanski's pocket" ads

130

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 18h

tbh I think the supporting explanatory document is worse than the motion itself. Basically "words mean what I choose them to mean, and any attempt to suggest we're being antisemitic is typical Jewish deviousness"

Heading: "Responses to concerns raised regarding the Zionism is Racism motion"
Subheading: "Zionism can mean many different things."
Response begins: "Even if this were true, the opening paragraph of the motion (a) explicitly defines Zionism"

"Whether some Zionists might believe their ideology does not call for the ‘ongoing dehumanisation, displacement, dispossession, disenfranchisement and destruction of Palestinians’ is irrelevant: that is what Zionism in Palestine has produced, and continues to produce before our very own eyes.
In effect, those pushing for their own evidence-free definition of Zionism want to deny the Palestinians the right to define their own oppression and erasure – in terms consistent with both the historical record and their lived reality – because it would offend Jews who believe that a different Zionist Project in Palestine is somehow possible."

"Indeed, some have claimed that ‘for many Jewish people Zionism is less a well-defined ideology, and more of a sense that Jews should have a place that they call home, where they are no longer a persecuted minority, as they have been for millennia.’ In turn, they suggest that ‘regardless of how Zionism has played out in the real world … an unbridled attack on Zionism would … come across as an attack at that very basic right of aspiring to lead a safe and secure life.’
It is hard to know whether the sleight of hand here is deliberate or unintentional but it deftly illustrates the problem of (liberal) Zionism."

120

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

A lot of people don't appreciate all the subtle differences between British and American English. For instance, in the US, "zucchini" is what we Brits call a courgette, whereas we use that word (with a slightly different spelling) to mean a two-piece swimsuit for wearing to the zoo.

260

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Assurances, from the hungry leopards,

0132

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Strong "early ChatGPT release sets crossword" vibes here

030

Reposted by Tom Freeman

Dewie @judgedewie.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

OMG I had to check my work emails regarding an extra case in court tomorrow and I've just read this from an HR person. "on a knee to nose basis" A KNEE TO NOSE BASIS 😳

2493526638

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

One of the many social skills I lack is finding a level of slightly pleasant politeness for responding to someone who is relentlessly chatty and entirely uninteresting to me, without seeming either rude or keen to become besties

240

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I never knew it was possible to cringe so hard it gives you whiplash

Headline: "Badenoch spells out her six Tory principles: ‘I call it Kemistry’"

1263

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

No, no, no, no, no. You're supposed to ask him how many divisions he has.

010

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

When you shitpost into the abyss...

010

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

I've seen this on my timeline a few times today and it has gradually dawned on me that this is an actual, real thing that the actual Conservative party has really done, not just some weird rubbish that one of the more excitable young activists has grokked up for likes

1101

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

There's not actually anything bad about speaking German, which is a perfectly kromülisch language. The problem with being conquered by the nazis is that the nazis then spend forever tyrannising and killing you

1100

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"Creating a breathing space" and "holding your breath" are not actually the same thing

040

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

The cygnets are properly flying now, and they've discovered the reservoir, which hugely expands their playground. In fact, two more of them have flown off in the last couple of days. Two left! #NewRiverBirds

1111

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

"The only reason to give primacy to ethnic conceptions of Englishness...is to imply that some English people aren't actually English: that they don't belong in the same way." Dead right. This isn't a mere exercise in defining concepts; it's stacking the deck. www.independent.co.uk/voices/suell...

independent.co.uk

Suella Braverman can’t say I’m not English

The argument she stumped up on Question Time is insulting, idiotic and – yes – effectively racist, says Sonia Sodha

021

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I remember Chunnel being a thing for a while in the early days. Maybe the operators twisted media arms to drop it in favour of the official name because they didn't like the sound of it? Also, saying "Channel Tunnel" out loud is kind of satisfying

230

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think that if Suella Braverman really does refuse to self-identify as irrelevant, we shouldn't keep telling her she's wrong even if we do find it a bizarre choice. It is well within the venerable tradition of English crankery. Sorry, British crankery.

041

Reposted by Tom Freeman

Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Englishness & Britishness have never been fixed concepts. They have been redefined & debated for centuries. Shakespeare did it loads. John of Gaunt’s lament for an imagined glorious past England vs the present crap one from Richard II is like a really well written version of a Tory conference speech

This royal throne of kings, this scepter'd isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear'd by their breed and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home,
For Christian service and true chivalry,
As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry,
Of the world's ransom, blessed Mary's Son,
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:
England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
Of watery Neptune, is now bound in with shame,
With inky blots and rotten parchment bonds:
That England, that was wont to conquer others,
Hath made a shameful conquest of itself.
Ah, would the scandal vanish with my life,
How happy then were my ensuing death!

710224

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

This may seem brutal, but it's the only way to warn them off

The side of a boating lake. Two giant unicorn heads, for attaching to the front of paddle boats, stand on poles.

030

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The gods would surely punish Odysseus for this act of desecration

A paddle boat with a big swan head at the front, on top of which sits a gull. The head is caked with bird poo.

271

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I need something to stop those bond yield charts making me anxious *monkey's paw curls*

032

Reposted by Tom Freeman

Peter Sokolowski @petersokolowski.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I'm thrilled to announce my upcoming book: BY DEFINITION: The Surprising History of the English Dictionary To be published in February! read.macmillan.com/lp/by-defini...

129019

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Also, in light of how important the nuclear launch codes are, we're going to carve them onto the front of the triumphal arch

020

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Way better than that avant-garde rubbish "the tiger is out", damn thing doesn't even rhyme

061

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

I disliked the term "get-go" from the beginning

0171

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Probably my favourite song about sodium is Hey Jude

110

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Just received a cease-and-desist letter from Friedrich Nietzsche's ghost's lawyer

030

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I was just about to shoot the mother superior's plane down, but she fired a rocket at me first. It turns out that when you lock on to the abbess, the abbess also locks on to you.

282

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Here's the whole family the last day they were all together, having a chat about important swan stuff #NewRiverBirds

030

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

The cygnets are now realising their true strength, and are flying much more. One of them was injured, hitting a cable over the railway a quarter-mile away. Railway workers called the Swan Sanctuary and after a few stitches it's going to be ok. #NewRiverBirds

A post-op cygnet in a barn with some other injured swans.

100

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is so horrifically wrong. The correct term is "S.I."

040

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

It's not artificial. ChatGPT was born naturally and raised by organic farmers. Claude sprouted out of the bark of a willow tree. Gemini was discovered growing on a cave wall in near-total darkness. Grok hatched from an abandoned egg found in swampland in Florida.

030

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I really like the bit of his speech where he uncompromisingly denounced the racists who go around attacking immigrants, police officers, lifeboat volunteers and the rule of law. I mean, OK, technically that bit of the speech didn't actually exist, but we mustn't get hung up on philosophical niceties

090

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Interesting that the poll question makes the same misunderstanding of the new policy that I made when I heard Burnham announce it: not getting the third element, as stated by Alex here. Think this one's going to be quite hard to communicate.

Post from @alexclegg.bsky.social today: "Basically, the State Pension will rise by the highest of 2.5%, inflation, or what it needs to to maintain its proportion of average earnings from the start date."

100

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Well I think we should all thank Donald Trump for this bold initiative to increase the global supply of petrol

030

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

TBH I think to most people the words "I have a theory" come across as "I have a somewhat unusual idea that isn't really supported by any facts" #burnham

020

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I literally do not understand what he just said about pensions. Rise in line with the greater of prices or 2.5%, but also stay in line with earnings? Did I miss something? #burnham

100

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

The thing about not standing behind a lectern is that it obliges you to constantly decide what to do with your hands #burnham

1110

Tom Freeman @tomfreeman.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME TO STOP DOOMSCROLLING #burnham

030