1. First, a post from the past: The ancient origins of African pygmies.
2. Weird search query of the week: “method man wife”.
3.Comment of the week, in response to The empires of American English:
I live in the Galesburg, Illinois area and here there still is a noticible boundary, that runs just north of Galesburg, between a more northern accent and mentality and a southern one . The area that Galesburg is in, and areas in Illinois south of it, were settled mainly by southerners who first received land grants from the government and later by other southerners that followed as well as some Germans. Although he had New England roots, Abraham Lincoln was one of these southerners, coming from Kentucky. To the north of Galesburg the area was settled mainly first by New Englanders and New Yorkers and later by Swedes and Germans. Also, Peoria, which is southeast of Galesburg is demographically very much like other river towns to the south, St. Louis, Louisville, and Cincinnati. While the Quad Cities (Moline, Davenport, IA), north of Galesburg, are demographicallly like smaller cities to the north, Rockford, Madison, WI etc. The maps shown though generalize too much. Chicago has its own accent, as does much of Wisconsin and also many parts of Southern Illinois has its own accent.
4) You going to Science Online 2011?
5) And finally, your weekly fluff fix:
