From the category archives:

WORDS & GRAMMAR

[Post # 800 !] FORMIDABLE: of discouraging or awesome strength

February 6, 2012

For decades  now I have pronounced the word formidable with the accent on the second syllable, as in [fowr-MID- ah-buhl.]   I have no idea where that idea came from, probably from a teacher or other mentor who pronounced it that way.  But it was time to check the word out the other day, after hearing [...]

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ANTI-INSTITUTIONAL: opposed to anything resembling an organized, bureaucratic body

February 5, 2012

The Occupy movement has caused a number of thinking people to scratch their heads and ask, “What is this all about?”   There are tons of easy answers out there, most of which miss the mark. The Occupy movement is a part of a much larger, global action that didn’t begin in 2011 with the economic [...]

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CREPUSCULAR: twilight

February 4, 2012

An article by Gail Sheehy, author of Passages, appeared in the New York Times this week, the headline reading, “That Vague, Crepuscular Time When Youth Has Passed: What Is It?”*   I folded the page over, took another sip of my coffee and said to myself, Okay, you got my attention.  What the heck is [...]

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CONTENTIOUS: quarrelsome

February 2, 2012

There are some people who seem to be  contentious by nature.  That is to say, they are people who jump to argument, skipping right over the idea of discussion,   It doesn’t seem to matter what the topic is.   The only response is to jump in with both barrels blazing and move the discussion or disagreement [...]

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HARMONIC: compatible elements

January 30, 2012

Boy, this was a tough one.  If you were to take the time to look up the word harmonic in the dictionary (it doesn’t matter which one) you’d probably be overwhelmed by the scientific explanation of this phenomenon.   It has to do with the falling into place of elements of physics which are compatible.   But [...]

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INDIVIDUATION: the process of learning how to stand apart from the crowd and be one’s true self

January 29, 2012

It’s a strange cycle when you come to think about it.   A baby is born as a solitary being.   In fact, some child psychologists and theologians have said that a newborn baby is the most selfish being in existence.  It is totally dependent upon others for its existence and demands care.  That’s not a judgment [...]

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PHYSIATRIST: an M.D. who specializes in spinal issues … without surgery

January 28, 2012

I have a serious back problem.   Local doctors and those at the clinic I attend in Boston are pretty consistent in terms of their analysis of the problem.   It was while I was being seen at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston that one of the doctors suggested I see a physiatrist. [phi-ZAHY-uh-trist] At first [...]

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METAMFIEZOMAIOPHOBIA: the fear of mimes, clowns, and people in disguise

January 27, 2012

We’re all aware of various phobias which affect people.  Some people are frightened by dogs, snakes, height, crowds or small enclosures.   There is plenty reported about these phobias, and they common themes in literature, drama and movies.  I can identify with a couple of them and you may also. But when I stumbled across the [...]

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DOPPELGANGER: ghost-like apparition of one’s “other self”

January 26, 2012

In common parlance a doppelganger is a person who is so identical in looks to another person (think Tina Fey/Sarah Palin) that it is uncanny.   I have a friend  who looks so much like me that we are frequently confused by people.  We both go to the same coffee shop so it happens all the [...]

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PLURALIA TANTUM NOUNS: nouns that don’t have a singular form

January 23, 2012

Did you ever see a trouser?  Or a scissor?   Those are words that only appear in the English language (as nouns) in the plural form.   There is no singular form for them.  It is a phenomenon known in linguistics as pluralia tantum, a Latin term which means “plurals only.” It is one of those interesting [...]

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