Everyone can say what they wanna say
Indignity Vol. 5, No. 109
A DENIAL DEP'T.
Some Words and Phrases Missing From the Familiar Songs Accompanying the Big Eighth-Grade-and-Under Dance Program, Ranked
- "Give a damn"
- "Behind a cigarette"
- "My libido"
- "Let's sink another drink"
- "Load up on guns"
- "Albino"
- "Mulatto"
SIDE PIECES DEP'T.
Tom Scocca
Over at Flaming Hydra, I wrote about discovering that I couldn't really say what the word "veritable" means:
I pulled down the big American Heritage Dictionary I got when I was in middle school myself and was taking a summer course about etymology: "ver•i•ta•ble: adj. Unquestionable; actual; true."
What? No. Wrong. Questionable, not actual, false. I may have fumbled to express what veritable might mean, but it definitely didn't mean that. Veritable has "truth" in it, as any entry-level student of etymology would know, cf. verify, verity. Nevertheless, while Bill Gates has an actual fortune, no one would say Bill Gates has a veritable fortune.
WEATHER REVIEWS
New York City, June 16, 2025
★ The last morning of getting everyone up and out to a normal school day was nearly dark enough to have been the depths of November. The cold air coming in made it seem like a good idea to put on thick socks, and the humidity made the wearing of the thick socks seem unwise after all. Out on the sidewalk flies swarmed the dead body of a big rat, belly tipped upward and teeth bared. Down in Soho the streets were dim and oddly empty. After dinner, a gummy sort of rain was falling in the headlights, minor enough to ignore. Uptown it had gathered strength till the lack of a hood on the jacket became one more point of regret. By bedtime, it was a noisy downpour.
EASY LISTENING DEP'T.
HERE IS TODAY'S Indignity Morning Podcast!
Tom Scocca
HERE IS THE Indignity Morning Podcast archive!
TOM SCOCCA
ADVICE DEP'T.
HEY! DO YOU like advice columns? They don't happen unless you send in some letters! Surely you have something you want to justify to yourself, or to the world at large. Now is the perfect time to share it with everyone else through The Sophist, the columnist who is not here to correct you, but to tell you why you're right. Direct your questions to The Sophist, at indignity@indignity.net, and get the answers you want.
SANDWICH CORRESPONDENCE DEP'T.
INDIGNITY ENCOURAGES SANDWICH correspondence from the readers of Indignity. A recent recipe from our current source material, The New Annie Dennis Cook Book, by Annie E. Dennis, published in 1921, and now available at archive.org for the delectation of all, inspired Indignity reader and sandwich aficionado Zach to assemble a sandwich and report the result.
Subject: SANDWICH RECIPES DEP'T: Plate Sandwich
After mentally filing many, many sandwich recipes away for future consumption and then just not making them, I’ve finally been confronted with a sandwich that, on the merits of its name and the availability of ingredients in my pantry, I could readily “cook” in my kitchen.
The bread, a pain au levain boule from Clear Flour, was purchased over the weekend while I was out of town. Fresh would be a bit of a stretch, but the interior was still soft. Since I made this Thursday, and the bread was eaten throughout the week, I was left with a slender heel and a hard crust, so achieving “thin” slices was difficult.
The filling was a mix of a handful of dates (whichever organic ones I bought at Costco) and a grated cow’s milk cheese: Monte Veronese Malga DOP
The instructions were vague (“Spread…grated cheese and a layer of finely chopped dates”) so I combined the dates and grated cheese together:
And then spread this over the buttered bread.
I moved the dates from the pantry to the fridge last week because we lack central air and the kitchen gets hot, which made it hard to mix initially, but by the time I went to spread it had warmed, making it easier to move across the bread.
Here is the finished sandwich. A Plate Sandwich, plated:
As for taste, I think we all know the savory sweet combo, which this has in spades. It smacks of combining several items off a charcuterie board, in your mouth, all at once. Paired with a kale salad, this made a halfway decent quick dinner for one.
Happy snacking,
Zach
If you decide to prepare a sandwich inspired by the Indignity Sandwich Recipes Dep't., be sure to send a note and a picture or two to indignity@indignity.net.
SANDWICH RECIPES DEP'T.
WE PRESENT INSTRUCTIONS in aid of the assembly of sandwiches selected from The New Annie Dennis Cook Book , by Annie E. Dennis, published in 1921, and now available at archive.org for the delectation of all.
Salmon Sandwiches
Pick the salmon to pieces, season with mayonnaise, salt and pepper. Spread on slice of bread, put thin slices of cucumber on this, and then another slice of bread with mayonnaise. Put together and serve.
SELF-SERVING SELF-PROMOTION DEP'T.
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