Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
Times are not so Great
Google Ngram shows a dramatic decline in the frequency of use of the word “great,” overtaken by “small” in 1970 and “little” in 1980. Little surpassed small in 2008.
Quebec, Canada, Notarial Records, 1637-1935
Ancestry updated the collection on 29 August to contain 16,529,462 records.
Droughts don’t just dry up water — they drain livelihoods and weaken local economies
Deadline for OGS Presentation Proposals
To my friends with expert genealogical knowledge, a reminder that the Call for Speakers deadline for 2026 presentations for OGS provincial talks online is Monday, September 15. Details at https://ogs.on.ca/webinar-submissions/
America is a Gun
England is a cup of tea.
France, a wheel of ripened brie.
Greece, a short, squat olive tree.
America is a gun.
Brazil is football on the sand.
Argentina, Maradona’s hand.
Germany, an oompah band.
America is a gun.
Holland is a wooden shoe.
Hungary, a goulash stew.
Australia, a kangaroo.
America is a gun,
Japan is a thermal spring.
Scotland is a highland fling.
Oh, better to be anything
than America as a gun.
Brian Bilston
Thanks to the following for comments and tips: Anonymous, Brenda Turner, Christine Jackson, Gail, Glenn W., Mike More, Teresa, and Unknown.
