P.S. A Column On Things

By PAUL E. SCHINDLER JR. I am from Portland, Oregon, Beaumont ’66, Benson High ’70, MIT ’74. Some things are impossible to know, but it is impossible to know these things.

This and That

March 8, 2026

Humor: Marjorie Gottleib Wolfe, Queen Of Yiddish
Marjorie contributed humor to my column, starting in 2006, and eventually appearing more than 100 times, right up until her death in 2022. There is a page dedicated to her work that contains more posts than mine; for her appearances here, check out the category MGW.

Cathy’s Back… A little
Occasional Posts on Cathy Commiserations by Cathy Guisewite. Still as sharp as ever, albeit 2,000 followers are fewer than she used to have.

What Am I?
I have just learned that I am a sillograph, which means I write parodies.

Profanity
I was put in mind of this by the recent combination of foul language and an obscene gesture from a prominent American politician. Never has my mother seemed more right: “Profanity is the last resort of small minds.”

Posted at 9:00 pm Permalink 1 Comment

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I'd narrow that to common and cliched profanity. We got to a point a few decades ago where M-F'er was basically white noise for "I don't like you." It's completely divorced from its maternal incest-based origin. That's why I like creative swearing -- something that makes the target think about it. You call someone "dickcheese" or "assjuice," and it really connects.

Posted by: Robert E. MalchmanMarch 09, 2026 at 05:27 PM

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Paul E. Schindler Jr.

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