Humble Pie in a Hot July

New York Times columnist Stephen J. Dubner has learned a new meaning for the word "pasty," after criticizing The Economist for a supposed typo. And what might have been a public Word War actually turned out to be a Food Fight, as his education arrived by FedEx in the form of a delicious meat pie.

Hogwarts comes into the tale, also. Go read the column, here.

And after you read it, enjoy the delicious responses offered by his readers, too.

I should acknowledge my debt to Language Log, and GF, who warned, "Beware economists bearing linguistic gifts," and supplied the link when he commented on an article there by G.K. Pullum on "More passive complaints — misidentifying 5 passives out of 5".

(Scroll down to find the article and the comments following it. Another well-done post, "Context is everything," by Mark Liberman, on a far more serious matter, has since been published above it.)

The incredible heat wave continues here in Tennessee, and across the U.S. But this morning I've found a way to cope with it: Stay indoors, surf the web, and get lucky with a delightful site about pasties and pastries.