From the category archives:

WRITING

QUIXOTIC: impulsive

July 15, 2011

I read Cervantes’  Don Quixote in Spanish.  It was one of the most difficult chores I undertook in undergraduate school.   But, like most difficult academic tasks, it lasted.  To this day I have a vivid awareness of the book.  Consequently, whenever I see or use the term quixotic it is more than a writing exercise.   [...]

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TURGID: swollen, inflated

June 9, 2011

A fellow blogger began her posting describing a turgid morning, the day after a dinner party on her patio.   My imagination pictured a sultry, damp morning, the dew from the night hanging on the patio furniture, a mist suspended above the moistened grass on the fresh-cut lawn, the sun barely breaking through the fog-like mist [...]

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WRITER’S BLOCK: staying focused on the project at hand

May 22, 2011

Every writer goes through a period when (he) finds himself wandering the desert. The mind is barren.  The images just don’t come.  The words that appear on the page are dull, listless, and unimaginative.  Plagiarism looks like a great option. It’s amazing how an idea that was pregnant and purposeful just a few days ago [...]

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WORDROBE: The words and phrases that comprise a person’s vocabulary.*

May 16, 2011

One of the purposes of this blog is to introduce new or refreshed words into your vocabulary, as well as to put them in context through some dialogue.  Frequently I make mention of “adding this word to your lexicon” and assume that you understand the word lexicon to mean the list of words that comprise [...]

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ROBOT JOURNALIST: a non-human reporter who is created by technology

April 18, 2011

I heard the most incredible story on NPR yesterday.   It involved the invention of a robot programmed to replicate the abilities of a journalist. Wow!  What was that sound I heard?  Was it a plethora of journalists jumping off the top floor of their newspaper offices?  Not so fast, ladies and gentlemen of the Press.  [...]

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METAPHOR: a figure of speech in which a term or phrase is applied to something to which it is not literally applicable in order to suggest a resemblance*

April 13, 2011

The wonderful children’s story, The Emperor’s Clothes, depicted in the illustration for today’s posting, is a perfect example of the literary phenomenon known as a metaphor. It is a way of making a point by referring to an incident which illustrates it. The Emperor has convinced himself that his parading nude in public is not [...]

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LEFT/RIGHT: designation of political ideologies

April 10, 2011

I had a great conversation on Saturday with a new friend who is a retired History teacher and a Democratic Party activist.   She was talking about the terms “Left/Right” as relates to the designation of political ideology, Left being the term for liberals and Right being that for conservatives.  At least, that is the shorthand [...]

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WRITEPRINT: a unique style of writing that identifies the author

April 2, 2011

Quite a while ago I read one of the blog postings on Word Spy, written by my colleague, Paul McFedries.  I actually read his blog every day, but this day, in particular, caught my attention.  The word for the day was writeprint.   He went on to explain that every writer has a writeprint, just like [...]

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QUERY: a writer’s best (?) friend

March 20, 2011

It’s late at night; a single bulb lamp illuminates the desk on which an over-used computer rests.  I’m sitting in a rolling desk chair which loves the slate floor of the sun room where the desk sits.  Every now and then a little push back on the chair sends it careening across the slate floor.  [...]

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SNIGGER a funny, little laugh

March 18, 2011

When I read,or even speak the word snigger I want to laugh.  Or, at least, I want to smile … or even snigger. In researching the word, most dictionaries identify snigger as a variation on the word snicker, which means to chuckle about something funny.  (There is no candy bar named snigger, however,  … yet.) [...]

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