84 Comments

Little known (or cared about) possible origin for "lick-or-rish." Apparently it was a cautionary aphorism in wide circulation in 20th c. Bulgaria dealing with the sexual perversion of then dictator, Todor Zhivkov. When summoned, you either complied or were packed off to the mountain village of RIsh.

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Totally silly explanation for the way we pronounce licorice. Why would we pronounce one word and one word only the way little kids do? Better explanation is that we misspell it. As for the letter s my daughter went down sides when she was little but not lides. Couldn’t pronounce her name correctly till she was 4 but it was the L that was the problem not the s.

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Happy Licorice Day, however you pronounce it.

https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/licorice-day/

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It's LIK-or-ish because, well, ish!

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“BEARS DON’T LOVE HONEY.  THEY LOVE BEES AND LARVAE.  THE HONEY GETS IN THE WAY, THOUGH THEY’LL EAT IT.  I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH.”

But that’s your beef with A.A. Milne, not The NY Times crossword. I believe the clue was Pooh-specific, and thus the answer should have been HUNNY. Apparently, this is plaguing me.

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For those who like the taste of anise but hate the physicality of liquorice (and the way the British spell it) --- and are unrequited in the bargain, I remind you that "Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder." No. No. Really. Too kind.

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"Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder."

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I’m paying for this?

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Let you in on a little secret. If you upgrade to "Fondling," you get access to the good stuff. Pat and Gene maintain an "OnlyFans" site for the big spenders. Whaddya expect for 50 bucks these days?

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On the math Q - both 200 % and 300% CAN be correct depending on the grammar of the sentence, NOT depending on the math. An investment that goes from being worth $1 to $3 has increased BY 200% (above its original value) and has also increased TO 300% (of its original value).

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From Gene’s 3/28 column about would you sell your vote for Trump if his next “ presidency will triple your stock market portfolio by 300%…?” Is that question “ well put?”

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Yes. Exactly. Well put.

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Who says “pizghetti”? I believe the correct mispronunciation is "bisketti." When I was 4 or 5, I thought spaghetti was a noodle dish we ate at home, whereas bisketti came from a can at my friend's house. Both tasty, but not all that similar. And unlike spaghetti, bisketti had meatballs. Then I happened to see an empty Chef Boyardee can. I remember feeling confused, then embarrassed.

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I pronounce it "lick-or-rish"

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I make no claim to be important, only to sometimes being funny, as proven by my having a zillion less inks than Chris Doyle.

And I know that typing in less instead of fewer wasn't that funny

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Thomas Jefferson was perhaps the most well-read person of his generation. Enlightened. Liberal humanist. Yet he enslaved his own children. Takes some serious moral pretzeling to justify that shit.

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>A: I once spent six weeks eating only vegan fud. It was okay. Then I stopped real quick.

Vegan Fud is how I pronounce it, to rhyme with bud. Why did you condemn yourself to six weeks of it? Lose a bet?

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I was participating in a Science Fair project with Molly. She won.

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You are a good and brave dad. In your place, I would have suggested she investigate the benefits or drawbacks of a diet limited to Lobster Thermidor and Prime Rib.

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I disagree with the percentage increase statement. A triplling is a 200% increase just as a doubling is a 100% increase. If a tripling were a 300% increase, a doubling would have to be a 200% increase to be internally consistent and I know of no one who considers a doubling a 200% increase.

I also object to any decreases greater than 100% unless somehow a value has gone negative.

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It depends on the wording. A tripling is, indeed, a 200% INCREASE, to a level 300% of the original amount. If you say "Increased by" it is not the same as saying "increased TO."

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And if something goes up by 50%, it doesn't go up by 1.5 times.

I also object to saying that a group of 50 people is "five times larger than" a group of 10 people. It's "five times as large as." "More than" and "less than" should be reserved for comparisons where you add or subtract, not where you'd multiply.

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There's a yummy Brit version of licorice called Pontefract Cakes. Soft and circular, like coins.

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"Lickerish" sounds to me like the state you reach after drinking too much alcohol: "Charlie got really lickerish last night, and peed in the roses."

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This reminds me of the joke about the solid gold urinals. Do You all know it? Guy gets home drunk and explains to his wife that he had a weird evening in a bar with solid gold urinals. She didn't believe him but he found a matchbook from the bar and called up. The bartender listened to him and said, "Hey, Murray, we have a lead on the guy who pissed in your trombone."

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