From the monthly archives:

June 2010

MYTHICAL DAD: a man who was more a figment of selective memory than reality

June 20, 2010

I’ve come to the conclusion that the father I refer to occasionally is a myth.  As in most myths, there is some truth to the depiction, but the overall picture has been shaped to fit into a frame I created from distortions.  When my father died a number of years ago (at the age of [...]

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44.9 MPG: heading for 50

June 19, 2010

It’s been a kind of personal challenge up until now.  My younger daughter says I’m obsessed with it.  Our Prius is advertised as being capable of delivering 50 miles per gallon on a regular basis.  It doesn’t happen automatically, though.  You have to work at it, changing some of your driving patterns, and being willing [...]

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UMBRAGE: offense, shade, hint

June 18, 2010

I learn something new every day.  Writing this blog has been a conduit of learning for me, stretching my understanding of words and phrases in an incredible way.  Today’s post is a perfect example. When I chose to pursue the word umbrage today I was stimulated by a phrase, “I take umbrage with that comment.” [...]

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SMALL PEOPLE: he didn’t mean those with dysplasia

June 17, 2010

When BP executive Carl Henrie Svanberg referred to the people of the Gulf Coast who have been damaged by the oil spill, he called them “the small people.”  That is a term usually used to refer to people who have been born with dysplasia, a condition commonly known as dwarfism. The term Small People (or [...]

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GOT TO : to have as an obligation, as in “must”

June 16, 2010

It’s no surprise to anyone to hear me say that I think President Obama is bright and articulate.  He may well be one of the best orators to serve as President of the United States.  I don’t really care whether he uses a teleprompter or not; his delivery is effective.  His team of speech writers [...]

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PALINDROME: A word, phrase, verse, or sentence that reads the same backward or forward.

June 15, 2010

Believe it or not, this post is not about Sarah Palin. As tempting as it may be,  I will avoid the coincidence of spelling which occurs when exploring the word palindrome. As the bar above says, a palindrome is a word or phrase which reads the same backwards and forwards.   When I was a kid [...]

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800 POUND GORILLA: a very strong and/or menacing entity or issue that is obvious but not dealt with

June 14, 2010

You hear it all the time:  The conversation went all over the place, but nobody was talking about the 800 pound gorilla in the middle of the living room. I saw an ad on TV last week which showed a small convertible driving down the freeway with a huge gorilla in the passenger seat.  The [...]

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RACINO: a casino at a racetrack

June 13, 2010

I was shocked to discover that one of my old stomping grounds at Saratoga, the famous Saratoga Raceway, is now more a gaming casino than a raceway.  They call it the Racino…a clever melding of the words raceway and casino. The parking lot was full when we arrived for the first of three events in [...]

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REVERBERATE: to reecho or resound

June 12, 2010

In reflecting on Tuesday’s primaries throughout the country, a commentator was heard to say that the results of these primaries would reverberate throughout the political world.  It’s somewhat of an overstatement, but that’s commonplace journalism these days.  I chose to look beyond his comment to focus on the word.  Reverberate is one of those words [...]

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PARSIMONY: Unusual or excessive frugality; extreme economy or stinginess.

June 11, 2010

You’ll know what I mean when I say that every now and then a song gets into my mind and I can’t get rid of it.  It may be days later before I shake it.  In the meantime, it is a distraction, not allowing me to concentrate on things before me. Well, I have the [...]

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