The Great Black Swamp (also known simply as the Black Swamp) was a glacially fed wetland in northwest Ohio, sections of lower Michigan, and extreme northeast Indiana, that existed from the end of the Wisconsin glaciation until the late 19th century.  The area was about 25 miles (40 km) wide (north to south) and 100 miles (160 km) long, covering an estimated 1,500 square miles (4,000 km).  Gradually drained and settled in the second half of the 19th century, it is now highly productive farmland.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Black_Swamp   

The pica is a typographic unit of measure corresponding to approximately ¹⁄₆ of an inch, or from ¹⁄₆₈ to ¹⁄₇₃ of a foot.  One pica is further divided into 12 points.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pica_(typography)  Pica is also an eating disorder in which a person eats things not usually considered food.    

The Crooked Forest is a grove of oddly-shaped pine trees located in the village of Nowe Czarnowo near the town of Gryfino, West Pomerania, in north-western Poland.  It is a protected natural monument of Poland.  This grove of 400 pines was planted around 1930.  Each pine tree bends sharply to the north, just above ground level, then curves back upright after a sideways excursion of one to three meters (3–9 feet).  The curved pines are enclosed by a surrounding forest of straight pine trees.  It is generally believed that some form of human tool or technique was used to make the trees grow or bend this way, but the method has never been determined, and remains a mystery to this day.  See graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooked_Forest   

The term “Drum Horse” has been traditionally used in Britain to refer to heavy riding horses that are members of the Band of Life Guards regiment of the Household Cavalry, carrying large kettle drums and a fully equipped drummer through a large crowd during certain processions, exhibitions, or ceremonies of state.  The type of horses favored for this job has changed over the years, although the basic criteria of large size, strength, and even disposition remain same.  In the US, Drum horses as a breed are now redefined for use in driving and riding disciplines.  These are elegant horses combining the height and size of the Clydesdale and Shire with the color of the Gypsy Vanner.  See many pictures at https://www.horsebreedspictures.com/drum-horse.asp    

The Gypsy Vanner Horse is a beautiful breed envisioned by the Gypsies of Great Britain.  This horse was selectively bred for over half a century from a vision to create the perfect horse to pull the Gypsy caravan.  In 1996 the first Gypsy Vanner Horses came to North America and the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society was established as a registry for the breed.  At that time the breed did not have a name, and the name Gypsy Vanner Horse was chosen, because the breed was a Gypsy’s “vanner horse”, bred to pull the colorful caraVAN.  https://vanners.org/the-breed/ 

A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

infodemic  (in-fuh/foh-DEM-ik) noun  A glut of mostly unreliable, rapidly spreading information relating to an event, crisis, disease, etc.  A blend of information + epidemic, coined by the author and columnist David J. Rothkopf in a Washington Post column about the SARS epidemic.  Earliest documented use:  2003.   

interrobang or interabang  (in-TER-uh-bang)  noun  A punctuation mark (‽) formed by a question mark (?) superimposed on an exclamation point (!).  Coined in the TYPEtalks Magazine in which the editor Martin K. Speckter (1915-1988), an advertising executive, selected the word interrobang from the suggestions sent by the readers.  From interrogation point (question mark) + bang (slang for exclamation point).  Earliest documented use:  1962. 

hibernal  (hy-BUHR-nuhl)  adjective  Of or relating to winter.  From Latin hibernus (wintry), from Latin hiems (winter).  Ultimately from the Indo-European root ghei- (winter), which is the ancestor of words such as hibernate, hibernaculum, hiemal, chimera, and the Himalayas, from Sanskrit him (snow) + alaya (abode).  Earliest documented use:  before 1626.   

The second head of chambers in the Rumpole stories was Samuel Ballard, known less than affectionally to Rumpole as “Soapy Sam” and/or “Bollard”.  Thank you, Muse reader!   

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2685  June 19, 2023