About Me

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I led workshops at the British Library2003-2019, on literature, language, art, history, and the culture of the book; and now teach the the English language at educational institutions, particularly the Bishopsgate Institute, online and in-person. I research language usage during the First World War, and lead the Languages and the First World War project. Author of Discovering Words, Discovering Words in the Kitchen, Evolving English Explored, Team Talk - sporting words & their origins, Trench Talk - the Language of the First World War (with Peter Doyle); How to Cure the Plague; The Finishing Touch; and Words and the First World War; Tommy French. As an artist I work in printmaking, performance, public engagement, curating and intervention; and I lead museum tours.

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Friday 25 May 2012

That stuff that happens

More in sadness than anger I am reflecting on the week's events, having received a phone message two days ago to say that my email had been hacked. There is naturally a bit of anger, and a bit of sadness because the email provider I have moved to doesn't use a very clear design layout. But, after many years' worry about what happens when email collapses, I have found that it isn't so bad. I may, of course, be the unwitting victim of having my identity stolen and tossed round cyberspace like litter in the wind, in which case expect in the near future notices of outrage more than anger.


In the meantime, here's a choice morsel from Gideon Harvey's The Family Physician and the House Apothecary (1676), with my sentiments towards the perpetrators of cybercrime everywhere:


‘Take a Beet root, or a Cabbage root, cut it according to the length and shape of your fore-finger, that is, Taper; only a little pointed at one end; dust it about with a little Salt powdered fine, and put it up your Fundament.’

  

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