The word "asterisk" is something like a pothole in the road for would-be spellers, isn't it? Even political campaigns get it wrong.
This got me wondering about the history of the word. It doesn't seem to contain any morphemes that I recognize from anywhere else, but in fact the "aster-" is "star"—a fair enough leap. m-w.com has it coming from ME "astarisc" which ultimately derove from Gk "asteriskos," a diminutive of "aster-."
I like the idea of "-iskos" as a diminutive. I shall call my little plums "plumiskos," my teddy bear "brewsteriskos," this column "weblogiskos," and my operating system, "uniskos." How does that sound?
Houston always was Clemens' most logical choice. He can stay home and follow his own program, remain in the same organization as his son, Class A third baseman Koby Clemens http://mike-18.blogspot.com/
The Astros have been in even worse shape, using three starters with less than two years of major-league experience. Signing Clemens to go with right-hander Roy Oswalt and left-hander Andy Pettitte again gives them a legitimate Big Three once again. If Clemens, after several minor-league tuneups, proves anywhere near as good as he was last season, he will give the team precisely the lift it needs.