From the category archives:

WORDS & GRAMMAR

DAMNED: sentenced to eternal punishment

May 19, 2013

I overheard the conversation recently.   Someone was talking about the use of profane language in public places.   She said that she is bothered by the use of ordinary words, like damn and hell, or even some of the bathroom words kids use regularly.   But it really bothers her to hear someone use the “F” word [...]

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OBSEQUIOUS [uhb-SEE-kwee-uhs] : servile, fawning before someone

May 17, 2013

There are some words that carry deeper meanings.  You can look them up in a dictionary and find their literal meanings.  But these words have an attached “edge” to them.  Obsequious is one of them. It is one thing to be polite and respectful of someone.  That’s to be expected in a civilized society.   But [...]

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INELUCTABLE [in-i-LUHK-tuh-buhl]: inescapable, unable to be avoided

May 16, 2013

The old saying is that there are two things that can’t be avoided:  death and taxes. Oh, we have begun to learn how to delay both of them.   Modern medicine has done amazing things which have resulted in the putting off of the inevitable death we all face.  And it is possible to get an [...]

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AUSTERIAN: one who embraces austerity

May 14, 2013

The great global  economic debate has to do with the way in which countries gather and spend money.   That may sound redundant, but it is a way of saying it as simplistically as possible.  We are in the midst of a great economic shift globally so there are lots of people and agencies trying to [...]

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MARGINALIA [mahr-juh-NEY-lee-uh]: notes written in the margin of texts by authors or subsequent readers

May 13, 2013

I remember well the days when a student would be punished for making a mark in a text book. In those days textbooks were used year after year.  There was a tab inserted in the back of the book on which the current student would write (his) name on the first day of the fall [...]

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PALATE [PAL-it] : the roof of the mouth, a sense of taste, intellectual or aesthetic taste

May 9, 2013

I have intentionally included all three of the most common definitions of the word palate as they are related. But it is in the realm of cuisine that the word palate may have the most interesting application.    Everyone has a palate related to food.  It may be eclectic, in the sense that a person will [...]

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ATROPHY [A-truh-fee]: wasting away as a result of disuse

May 8, 2013

In matters related to the human body, I am intrigued by the concept of atrophy.  It is the phenomenon which occurs when a specific part of the body is not used over a period of time.  The result is that the body part shrivels up and eventually can literally die.  It is a term which [...]

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GIG: a single engagement for a performer or other professional

May 7, 2013

There are a variety of meanings for the word gig, but for this posting I have chosen to focus on the one which inspired me to check out the word. It has to do with entertainment or other fields of employment where a professional books individual events, one at a time.    They are accumulated in [...]

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TARANTISM: the uncontrollable need to dance

May 6, 2013

I’m back again to my friend Tara Lafferty, whose birthday was yesterday.  She is a dancer and dance instructor.   But she outdid herself when she introduced me to the word tarantism, which is my word for this day’s posting.   I’ll bet I’m not the only person whose never heard it before.  Enjoy. (You, too, can [...]

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ALUM: non-gender-specific term for a graduate of an institution

May 4, 2013

It’s only a matter of days ago that I lamented the propriety of inventing words that are shortened versions of an already-existing word.  I pointed out at that time that there were probably good words already out there without needing to invent limited-meaning words.  (Surveilled) But it occurred to me that there are probably a [...]

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