Posts tagged as:

fiscal cliff

HIGHFALUTIN [hahy-fuh-LOOT-n]: grandiose, pompous, pretentious

January 3, 2013

Highfalutin is one of those words that I didn’t think was a real word.  I thought it was just a nonsense term, but it turns out that it’s legitimate.   Bryan Garner lists the word as an Americanism which dates from the mid-19th century.  That’s about as much about the origin of the word that I [...]

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CLIFF DIVING: a Mexican sport involving huge risks

December 31, 2012

I have to say it clearly and loudly:  I’m afraid of heights.   I always have been. I remember when I was just a kid and went swimming with my best friend and his parents at a place where there was a high dock for a tourist boat to tie up.  Everyone loved to jump off [...]

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SHAMBOLIC: highly disorganized, in shambles

December 30, 2012

Talk about reacting to the moment.  Our word for today is shambolic, a word I heard for the first time an hour ago.  David Brooks, who I consider to be one of the most thoughtful, intelligent conservative commentators on television, was a member of a panel convened by David Gregory, the host of Meet the [...]

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GOD GAVE A GOOSE: refers to someone who is very foolish

December 22, 2012

I was listening to a very serious commentary on the Fiscal Cliff issue on television when I heard the commentator say that he had been talking with a prominent member of the House of Representatives who said that there were “50 people in the House he believed God gave a goose for.” (paraphrased from an [...]

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CARAPACE [KAR-uh-peys] : a hard shell, as on a turtle or armadillo

December 9, 2012

I am of the opinion that there is no such thing as a living armadillo.   Having lived in the near southwest for several years and traveling the roads pretty frequently, I have seen my share of armadillos, that creepy, pointy animal with a hard shell and a long, bony tail.  But they are all dead, [...]

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SEGUE [SEG-way] : to make a smooth transition

December 8, 2012

One of the criteria which depicts the American way of governance is the smooth transition from one presidential administration to another.   It is recognized as a segue: a transition without conflict or violence. In some countries the transition of leadership is by coup or armed revolt.   Violence in the streets and loss of life is [...]

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TAX: an amount of money required of citizens and companies for the running of a government

November 29, 2012

The hot topic in Washington these days is taxes.  It should be a surprise to no one.  President Obama made it clear in his campaigns that when he was elected to his second term it was his intention to renew the tax breaks initiated by the Bush administration for Middle Class citizens and the poor.  [...]

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OMNIBUS: combining a variety of subjects into one

November 27, 2012

It is a fairly common practice of both houses of Congress to stuff a number of related pending bills into one in order to get them passed in a timely fashion.  This is what is meant by an omnibus bill. For instance, if there is a pending military funding bill waiting to be acted upon [...]

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RED LINE: a point beyond which a person or group is unwilling to negotiate

November 17, 2012

Negotiation is a tricky business.   It involves bringing two or more disparate parties to a common point by whittling away at their differences and accenting their common acceptances.   Sometimes it’s successful; other times it’s not. Of late the global negotiation around nuclear armament in Iran has been a case in which negotiation is highly charged [...]

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