10 June 2012

Farewell!












All bad things come to an end – and, as you’ve probably already surmised from the lack of updates over the last six months, My First Dictionary has pretty much finished its run.

It’s down to a mixture of factors. Throughout the course of the blog, I’ve been steadily and inevitably running out of pictures to steal from the original children’s dictionary. Perhaps more devastatingly (and more obviously) I’ve also been running out of ideas. There’s only so many ways to kill a child, as sick humorists and serial killers far greater than I have no doubt discovered. Kittens are easier to kill – they stun easily and tend not to arouse as much suspicion when they disappear – but I fear we’re wandering slightly off-topic now.

I won’t say I’ll never pop back here if inspiration suddenly hits (there’s nothing like a little lump of coal-black nastiness to dampen the Christmas spirit in December, say) but this is it for now. The book’s still in print and offers plenty of words and definitions you can’t find on the blog, as well as flash cards, exercises and other goodies.

If you’re really missing your fix of nasty things happening to innocent people, you’re welcome to stop by my new blog,
The Baby Died, which reprints fascinatingly horrible news snippets from times (thankfully) past. It’s not intended to be a laugh-fest but if, like me, you find yourself psychologically incapable of suppressing some sort of giggle at the thought of a gruesome accident, there’s a certain streak of irresponsible humour to be had.

Thanks for all your support, comments and alternative captions over the years. It’s been a blast. See you in the funnies,
Ross

24 comments:

Pete T said...

Gutted. Always enjoyed your 'rare' entries.
Good luck with the future.
Pete

Roy Schulze said...

Thanks for all the great work, Ross.

AlexPup said...

It's with a bitter taste in mouth that I'm saying now that you are and will be missed, Ross. YOU, and I mean it, have inspired me to create my creepyenglish.blogspot.com . I sincerely hope that your Muse will revisit you again and again.
Thank you from the bottom of my molested heart. ;)

Mandy Brigwell said...

It's been great - thanks!

J-L Overney said...

Thank you Ross for all these great laughs.
See you soon, i we don't get killed!
J-L

Anonymous said...

Thanks. Just like that. :)

Mladen said...

It's been fun! Much success in your future endeavours... Cheers, Mladen

Anonymous said...

I have really really enjoyed this blog - sad to hear it's going! Good luck in whatever you do next :)

Dukkha said...

Hi Ross, i really like what you were doing. Do you know the name of the artists?. Huggs from Argentina.

Sharon said...

Thank you for your sick sense of humour! I have truely enjoyed each post. Good luck!

Gaktak said...

Pitty that this is over... hope that the Muses find their Baseball bat so you once again find yourself hit with inspiration!

Ross Horsley said...

Thanks everyone :)

Dukkha, I've never been able to get the actual name of the artist/artists but the book the pictures come from is called THE GIANT PICTURE DICTIONARY FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, published by the James & Jonathan Company, 1949.

flexilexi said...

I'm in possession of this fine dictionary and can tell you that the illustrations are by Anna Camesas and Mary Jungbeck.
An entry from this dictionary sums up my feelings about the blog and the book:
We thank people who have been kind to us.
We give them thanks.
We tell them that we are pleased.

Shayne said...

Very sad to see the blog end, Ross. Thanks for the fun!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for everything!

Anonymous said...

oh... bummer..
how sad to read this. For the ones with this sense of humour it's a sad day indeed
all the best & thanks for all the past works.
peter/b

Christina M said...

This is sad news. I love this site and my husband bought me the book for my birthday. We sat and giggled over it insanely (while keeping it hidden from the kids).

Good luck with the new blog.

Christina

apples_are_oranges said...

There's time to stay and time to move on. Thanks for all your great work.

uglifruit said...

Ross,

It's been emotional (and I thoroughly enjoyed singing for you).

All the best with your endeavours, and thanks for all the twisted smiles.

Andy (uglifruit)

natural said...

Thanks very nice

ernährungsplan said...

good comment

RSA QLD said...

That's totally funny! Thanks for sharing this to us.

Marc said...

You provided me with hours upon hours of gut-wrenching, maniacal laughter and I'm indebted to you. Good fortune in all that you do! :)

Marc said...

You provided me with hours upon hours of gut-wrenching, maniacal laughter and I'm indebted to you. Good fortune in all that you do! :)