Word of the Day -- Peeping Tom

Today's word of the day is actually a phrase of the day, Peeping Tom.  It has an interesting history, one that I was unfamiliar with until I read it in this great book, Morris/Dictionary of Word Origins and Phrases.  This has been a staple of my bedside for more years than I care to remember, but for some reason I had not read this one until a short while ago.  Here it is verbatim:

Peeping Tom goes back to one of the most celebrated legends of the Anglo-Saxon period of British history.  Leofric, Lord of Coventry, imposed exorbitant taxes upon his subjects.  his wife, Lady Godiva, was sympathetic to the complaints of her subjects and repeatedly pleaded with him to reduce their tax burden.  He refused but eventually, more to make her be quiet than anything else, said that he would cut taxes if she agreed to ride unclad through the streets of Coventry.  To Leofric's astonishment, she accepted the challenge and, after asking that all townspeople stay indoors and close their shutters while she rode, she made the ride on a white horse.  Everyone honored her request except the town tailor, Tom, who peeped through the shutters and, as legend has it, was stricken blind for his impudence.  And yes, the taxes were lowered. 

So, as origins go, this one is a little far fetched.  But as sometimes in life, the story might be better than the truth. 

Daily Cosplay

Aquaman has really let himself go!

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Who Was this Man?

He had a horse

and some bad ass weapons

Its all Relative

The tyrannosaurus rex, heralded as the King of Dinosaurs, was some 20 feet all and averaged 40 feet long. His skull alone was 5 feet long. A bite delivered could be up to 4 tons per square inch.  The female tended to be larger than the male, though we are not sure of their range or if they hunted in pairs or singly.

It was a fearsome predator by any definition.

Interestingly however a 68 million years old fossil of one of these monsters was discovered. The fossil had a small sample of flesh on it (presumably from the t-rex). After DNA studies were conducted it seems the closest living relative to the tyrannosaurus rex is the modern day chicken. See more here.

What's more interesting is the bone structure of the animals. The bone structure of the bird is rather unique, putting walking force on the shin instead of thigh, something the t-rex did as well. (

Turkey here:

Word of the Day -- Skulk

Today's word, skulk, is a good word for gamers and those wishing to get around quietly for any manner of reasons.  It means to move in a stealthy or furtive manner and there is plenty of that going on in Castles & Crusades. But this is no ordinary word.  Can you name three things that the word "skulk" has in common with all of these other words: booth, brink, cog, flit, give, kid, meek, scab, seem, skull and wing? If you noticed that all of the terms on that list have just one syllable, then you've got the first (easy) similarity, but the next two are likely to prove a little harder to guess. Do you give up? All of the words listed above are of Scandinavian origin and all were first recorded in English in the 13th century. As for "skulk," its closest known Scandinavian relative is the Norwegian dialect word "skulka," which means "to lie in wait" or "lurk."

Cliff Village

This is something like the approach to the castle that the party is attacking in tonight's game. They actually have breached the walls of the old ruined berg, but getting there was quite a chore. Whatever you do, this should be in your game in some capacity or the other. 

Very cool.

A Great Moment in Cinema

Daily Cosplay

The All Father

And the first of the Bearded Kings called upon the All Father;  he came to them upon the wings of a large, white bird with piercing eyes, an Aust in the dwarven tongue, translated in the Vulgate as, Owl. Alighting upon a tree before them, the Aust watched over the dwarves a great while. He then took a form more familiar to the Bearded Kings so that he could teach them the knowledge for which they yearned.

Ever after the Dwarves of Aihrde looked to the Aust as a holy bird and when it struck them to honor the All Father in form, more often than not, it was in the form of a white owl.

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