LAW STUDENT SPOTS A PENTAKAIDECABLOG IN THE WILD! . . . What's a "pentakaidecablog"? It's a weblog with fifteen authors, like The University of Chicago Law School Faculty Blog. The name is an invention of 3L Epiphany, a law student who claims to be "the first law student in the country . . .  to receive school credit for blogging."

About his project, 3L Epiphany writes--

[W]hat exactly am I getting credit for? What is the key focus of 3L Epiphany, that will allow readers (including law faculty and administration) to consider this a good idea? What is the actual research project that I will use this blog to conduct?

The answer is this: I am going to create a taxonomy of legal blogs.

And that's exactly what 3L Epiphany has been boldly doing, an exercise that led him to spot that pentakaidecablog I mentioned a moment ago. His find is memorialized in a post titled "Numerical Classifications for Legal Blogs," where 3L Epiphany lists some other recent discoveries: a pentablog, for example, as well as a hendecablog and a triskaidecablog.

It's some amazing work. But before you get too excited, I'm afraid I have some bad news. In exploring the intricacies of the 3L-Epiphany law-blogging taxonomy, I noticed a problem: though the University of Chicago Law Faculty Blog claims to have only fifteen authors, each of whom are listed on the weblog's left side, there's someone who isn't listed, and who has been writing as "UChicagoLaw." And you know what that means: despite what 3L Epiphany has led us to believe, that pentakaidecablog he discovered might really be a hexakaidecablog!

It's the kind of glaring academic error that leads me to believe 3L Epiphany isn't fit for the ivory tower. If there's any justice in the world, someone like Professor Bainbridge will soon be revoking his bow tie, thick glasses, and Typepad membership. In my opinion, it can't happen soon enough.

On the other hand, what do I know? Not only have I never invented a law-blogging taxonomy, but I'm just the author of a uniblog.

Comments

[3L Epiphany]

Thanks very much for the write-up, Evan!

I did want to add, in case your readers think I'm some sort of nut, that I added this caveat in a later post (which you also link to):

"One way of naming these categories is to use the Greek and Latin prefixes. A few of these names may be appealing, i.e. “pentablog,” but many are convoluted and perhaps even absurd, i.e. “triskaidecablog.” I will confess that those suggestions were meant slightly tongue-in-cheek....Scientific-sounding prefixes may not be the best way to do it, but neither is dividing blogs up into “solo” or “group” as if that were the only necessary distinction."

When I work on my actual taxonomy, I won't be using these Greek names or categories. I will be dividing them up in to small, medium, and large group blogs according to the number of contributors.

[Evan]

3L Epiphany: Well said.

[Dave]

Evan the uni-blogger. I like that.

[the mokester]

Great! Just what we need! pentakaidecablog - a soon to be attorney inventing another long word to use in ..ahem ... everyday life.

Please permit me if I never utter that word ... evah!

[Steve Bainbridge]

Bow tie? Thick glasses? Do you think us academic lawyers all look like George Will? Some of us don't even own a bow tie, after all.