From the monthly archives:

June 2010

ETHER: the heavens

June 30, 2010

There I was, listening to the Diane Rehm Show on N.P.R. , when I heard Diane say something about drawing something in from the ether. She didn’t pronounce it like the anesthesia one takes for surgery.  It was pronounced like “leather” without the “l.“   I immediately recognized it as having something to do with the [...]

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PUBLIC OPINION: the collective opinion of many people on some issue, problem, etc., esp. as a guide to action, decision, or the like.

June 29, 2010

The quote accompanying the graphic I have chosen for today says this: “A new situation has arisen throughout the world, created by the spread of literacy among the people and the miraculous improvement of the means of communication. Always the  opinions of relatively small publics have been a prime force in political life, but now, [...]

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NEITHER HERE NOR THERE: an idiom meaning “not important”

June 28, 2010

The English language is full of idioms, small phrases which have a peculiar meaning when used in a specific context.  Neither here nor there is one which has particular appeal.  It is used in sentences such as: Whether she chooses to accept the nomination or not is neither here nor there to me. It expresses [...]

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UN-AWED: is it a word?

June 27, 2010

In a New York Times commentary this past week, columnist David Brooks used the word un-awed. It feels good to vent in this way. You demonstrate your own importance by showing your buddies that you are un-awed by the majority leader, the vice president or some other big name. You get to take a break [...]

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POLICE ACTION: a euphemism for war

June 26, 2010

Sixty years ago the Korean War began.  That’s a sobering thought, as I realize that I can remember the whole thing…from beginning to end.  Not the details, mind you, but the simple fact that it was going on.  I was too involved in growing up to pay attention to the details. When a distant cousin [...]

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TOTEMIC: anything serving as a distinctive, often venerated, emblem or symbol

June 25, 2010

I really had to work hard on this one.  My daughter was reading an article aloud to me from the June, 2010,   edition of Vanity Fair magazine.  James Wolcott, a regular contributor to the magazine, was reporting on the life of the late author, Norman Mailer. At one point in the well-written article, Wolcott refers [...]

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SOLASTALGIA: Distress or melancholy caused by a significant change to one’s local environment.

June 24, 2010

You know the situation.  You have told your children or grandchildren about the house where you grew up.  They have never seen it, and you haven’t seen it in thirty years.  So on a vacation you take a side trip and run by the old hometown and the old house.  Can’t wait to show them [...]

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HEAD to CLEW: common terminology for the corner and edge of the sail

June 23, 2010

You do remember, don’t you, that I know next to nothing about sailing?  My experience on a sailboat is so limited as to be unmentionable.  But many of my friends are sailors, and I never tire of hearing them toss the sailing jargon around. So when my friend Betty, author of Newport Betty, one of [...]

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INFER: to derive by reasoning

June 22, 2010

Like many people, I have been known to confuse the word infer with the word imply.   While they are related in their context, they are two different words, with two different meanings.  It came home to me yesterday when I heard a person on a news show say, “I meant to infer that he was [...]

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PILGRIMAGE: a journey, esp. a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion

June 21, 2010

The church we visited yesterday is sending a group of young people and their advisers on a pilgrimage this coming Saturday.  They will be gone for a couple of weeks, visiting the Sioux/Lakota people in South Dakota.  Yesterday the priest, on behalf of the people of the congregation, commissioned the pilgrims and presented them with [...]

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