From the monthly archives:

August 2010

OVERSTREET: a place where dreams were born

August 31, 2010

The village I grew up in was a small community in Upstate New York.  I didn’t know it was a small town when I was growing up.  I had to develop that perspective by leaving, first for college, then for good.  Several years ago I was in a conversation with someone who had worked at [...]

Read the full article →

SAGACIOUS: wise

August 30, 2010

It is clear to me that people regularly confuse the meaning of the word “wise” to mean intelligent, smart, or scholarly.  While it may be true at times that these qualities apply to a wise person, it is not appropriate to say that the words are synonymous.  All smart, intelligent, scholarly people are not wise.  [...]

Read the full article →

DEFERENCE: respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc., of another

August 29, 2010

There are some who would identify deference as a weakness.  In an age and society in which getting ahead at any cost prevails, the idea of acknowledging the superiority of another can be seen as a sign of inferiority.  Those who strive for the top of the pile might subscribe to the theory that one [...]

Read the full article →

CONTRETEMPS: an awkward or difficult situation or mishap

August 28, 2010

Everyone has a story to tell about an embarrassing moment when the wrong word spurts out, or something of the sort.  An interesting word to describe that moment is contretemps, obviously a French word that has found its way into usage in the English language.  Those difficult moments are a nightmare waiting to happen.  The [...]

Read the full article →

FRAUGHT: showing or producing tension or anxiety:

August 27, 2010

An article in the New York Times used an interesting phrase when reporting about the mission of former President Jimmy Carter to North Korea this week.  He went to secure the release of an American citizen who had been imprisoned for illegal entry into North Korea.  (Last night it was reported that Carter was successful [...]

Read the full article →

SNEAKERS: a rubber-soled shoe

August 26, 2010

My blog-friend, Newport Betty, raised a question which I have asked a number of times myself.   She was commenting on her daughter’s sneakers and posed the question: “Where does the name sneakers come from, anyway?” I had a vague idea what the answer might look like, but it was worth spending some time researching the [...]

Read the full article →

TRANSPARENCY: a clear picture of what is taking place; no smoke screens

August 25, 2010

You have heard me talk about my favorite coffee shop, the LaSalle Bakery in Providence.  It is where I have my bran muffin and coffee every morning.  It is also where I read the New York Times, chat with regulars and staff about the Red Sox and the Syracuse Orange.  But it also where I [...]

Read the full article →

IDIOCIES: utterly senseless or foolish behavior; a stupid or foolish act, statement, etc.

August 24, 2010

There’s a difference between the two words idiocies and idiosyncrasies. I think I knew that, but I’ve never stopped to ask what that difference is.  Yesterday I read a review of Stieg Larsson’s third book in his Millennium Trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.  The reviewer referred to the idiocies in the book, [...]

Read the full article →

LINEAR: a method of writing in which points are unmistakeably connected

August 23, 2010

Instead of depending upon someone else’s thoughts about a word, I want to go independent on this one.  There are lots and lots of ways in which the word linear can be used, thanks to the disciplines of mathematics, science, photography, and art. But I have a use for the word linear which may (or [...]

Read the full article →

The Penultimate Word: time to check things out

August 22, 2010

It has been almost a year since I started publishing this blog, The Penultimate Word. As of today, this is the 319th piece that I have posted.  August is a traditional time in academic settings to take a break, look at the way things are going, and re-tool for the coming year.  So let this [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries