From the monthly archives:

December 2009

PYRRHIC VICTORY: a victory or goal achieved at too great a cost.

December 21, 2009

Item #1: This past week the President went to Copenhagen to address leaders from around the world. The topic was the environment and the continuing threat to it by industrial nations. The hope was to come away with a major agreement on limitation of release of damaging gasses into the environment. Even before he left [...]

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BLIZZARD: a storm with dry, driving snow, strong winds, and intense cold.

December 20, 2009

Today we are in the midst of a blizzard. It was predicted two days ago, but even the meteorologists didn’t know for sure how significant it would be. It all depended upon whether this offshore storm stayed the course or turned and went out to sea. It stayed the course. The latest forecasts call for [...]

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NOETIC: of, relating to, or based on the intellect*

December 19, 2009

Intelligence is one of those concepts which is easier to say than to define. Noetic is a word used in research circles to describe anything related to studying, discovering,speculating, or otherwise commenting on the intellect. The noetic data available fills huge libraries. Yet, most people would be at a loss to give a clear definition [...]

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CONSPICUOUS AUSTERITY: spending large quantities of money on goods and services that convey an image of simplicity or austerity. (WordSpy.com)

December 18, 2009

I’m amused by current fashion which features $150 jeans which are ripped out at the knee, shaggy on the cuff, and missing a pocket. I think they are supposed to portray a well-worn, frugal style, indicating that “I won’t throw them away just because they have a few holes in them.” But at $150? There’s [...]

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LITERACY: the ability to read and write

December 17, 2009

I read online today that the city of Laredo, Texas, population 250,000, is losing its last bookstore. In a city with one of the highest illiteracy rates in the country, it is a tragedy. Truthfully, it is a tragedy by any calculation. A city without a bookstore is unimaginable. Granted, there are other means of [...]

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WEISURE: free time spent doing work or work-related tasks. (WordSpy.com)

December 16, 2009

We always joke about the postal delivery person who goes on a hike on her day off, or the carpenter who builds a garage on his vacation. There is even a phrase for it, “Postman’s Holiday,” although when I made reference to that term one day recently the much younger people with whom I was [...]

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AFFLUENZA: extreme materialism which is the impetus for accumulating wealth and for overconsumption of goods (Dictionary.com)

December 15, 2009

Let’s do a little current events review to begin: $ Tiger Woods finds that being the first billionaire athlete isn’t everything it was supposed to be. $ Sarah Palin resigns as Governor of Alaska to go on a highly-compensated lecture tour. $ Jason Bay rejects a Red Sox offer for $15M per year. $ Banks [...]

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ROGUE:

December 14, 2009

I thought the list of definitions for rogue was interesting, so instead of picking one, take a look at the entire list as shown by Dictionary.com: ROGUE: 1. a dishonest, knavish person; scoundrel. 2. a playfully mischievous person; scamp: The youngest boys are little rogues. 3. a tramp or vagabond. 4. a rogue elephant or [...]

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EARBALLS: The number of people listening to a radio station or concert, or visiting an online music site (WordSpy.com)

December 13, 2009

It’s been kind of heavy for the past couple of days, so let’s take a look at something a little lighter. Like earballs, a word being introduced into our lexicon which is the aural equivalent of eyeballs. Eyeballs are the number of people who are watching something at any one time. Earballs,therefore, are the number [...]

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DEMENTIA: severe impairment or loss of intellectual capacity and personality integration, due to the loss of or damage to neurons in the brain.*

December 12, 2009

The use of the word dementia is often wrong, based upon lack of good education about the dreaded disease. I have heard people refer to patients (often loved ones) suffering from dementia as “crazy, out of their minds, or berserk.” These inappropriate and unfortunate words are simply products of ignorance and are demeaning to many [...]

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