Showing posts with label Word of the Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Word of the Day. Show all posts

Kurt Vonnegut - The Short Story

I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.

Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.



"I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.'"

She was a fool, and so am I, and so is anyone who thinks he sees what God is doing


No Words in English, but there should be

Some emotions and situations which English doesn't have a word for - but should

Age-otori (Japanese): To look worse after a haircut

Arigata-meiwaku (Japanese): An act someone does for you that you didn't want to have them do and tried to avoid having them do, but they went ahead anyway, determined to do you a favor, and then things went wrong and caused you a lot of trouble, yet in the end social conventions required you to express gratitude


Sumptuary Laws


“sumptuary”
Elizabeth Fremantle, Queen's Gambit Free 1st Chapter

The earliest sumptuary regulations in Christian Europe were church regulations of clergy, distinguishing what ranks could wear which items of vestments or (to a lesser extent) normal clothes on particular occasions; these were already very detailed by 1200, in early recessions of canon law. Next followed regulations, again flowing from the church (by far the largest bureaucracy in Medieval Europe), attempting to enforce the wearing of distinctive clothing or badges so that members of various groups could be readily identified, as branded criminals already could be.

Thoughts on Blame vs Fault

Does Blame and Fault mean the same thing?

 i.e.  "It's your fault",
"You are the one to blame."

Fault is a geological term we use to point out the error, crack, deficient area of skill -- "It's your fault" This is your mistake, your hole in the ground -- thus there is a specific error. You can point at it.

Blame is to accuse, or denounce but not with the specific reason as a requirement. Blame is a short word for Blaspheme as well.

They are synonymous certainly, but I don't feel they are the "same" in meaning.

Word of the Day -- Sensitize

sen·si·tize
ˈsensəˌtīz/
verb
gerund or present participle: sensitizing
  1. cause (someone or something) to respond to certain stimuli; make sensitive.
    "the introductory section aims to sensitize students to the methodology of the course"
    • make (photographic film) sensitive to light.
      "the kit sensitizes any 35 mm film in hours"
    • make (an organism) abnormally sensitive to a foreign substance.
      "the workers had been immunologically sensitized to the enzyme"


This word is often used to describe the process of focused education. For example, when Rawanda was putting together their constitution, they wanted to have all of the people fully involved... which is why the process took 3.5 years. 

Rawanda's ambasodor to the UN, Senator Tito Rutaremara, said 

"We spent six months sensitizing the population on what a constitution is, what voting means, what democracy means. We created booklets in Kinyarwanda (the local language), and went from village to village across the country. We even simulated Senates so that the population could see how a system would work in practice."

It is likely that sensitizing will be a necessary step with the current fringe elements of the Equality and Feminist movements today, in order for there two be a future tomorrow.



Word of the Day -- Optimism

op·ti·mism

ˈäptəˌmizəm/
noun
  1. 1.
    hopefulness and confidence about the future or the successful outcome of something.
    "the talks had been amicable, and there were grounds for optimism"
    synonyms:hopefulness, hopeconfidencebuoyancy,cheer, cheerfulness, good cheer, sanguineness,positiveness, positive attitude
    "I wish I had your optimism"
  2. 2.
    PHILOSOPHY
    the doctrine, especially as set forth by Leibniz, that this world is the best of all possible worlds.

Word of the Day

pe·nul·ti·mate
pəˈnəltəmət/
adjective
  1. last but one in a series of things; second to the last.
    "the penultimate chapter of the book"
    synonyms:next-to-last, second-to-last, second-last
    "the penultimate movie on my top-ten list is an animated feature"

Word of the Day : Proselytize

 pros·e·lyt·ize
ˈpräs(ə)ləˌtīz/
verb
  1. convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.
    "the program did have a tremendous evangelical effect, proselytizing many"
    synonyms:evangelizeconvertsaveredeem, win over, preach (to), recruit, act as a missionary
    "I'm not here to proselytize"

Word of the Day - Verisimilitude

ver·i·si·mil·i·tude
ˌverəsəˈmiliˌt(y)o͞od/
nounthe appearance of being true or real.
"the detail gives the novel some verisimilitude"
synonyms:realism, believability, plausibility,authenticity,
credibility, lifelikeness
"the verisimilitude of her performance is gripping"

Word Of the Day - Proselytize

pros·e·lyt·ize

ˈpräs(ə)ləˌtīz/
verb
past tense: proselytized; past participle: proselytized
  1. convert or attempt to convert (someone) from one religion, belief, or opinion to another.
    "the program did have a tremendous evangelical effect, proselytizing many"
    synonyms:evangelizeconvertsaveredeem, win over, preach (to), recruit, act as a missionary
    "I'm not here to proselytize"
  2. Although the federal government criminalized the international slave trade in 1808, after 1820 cultivation of the highly profitable cotton crop exploded in the Deep South, and along with it the slave population. The Second Great Awakening, beginning about 1800, converted millions to evangelical Protestantism. In the North it energized multiple social reform movements, including abolitionism; in the South, Methodists and Baptists proselytized among slave populations.

Word of the Day - Amorphous

a·mor·phous
əˈmôrfəs/
adjective
  1. without a clearly defined shape or form.
    "amorphous blue forms and straight black lines"
    synonyms:shapelessformless, structureless, indeterminateMore
    • vague; ill-organized; unclassifiable.
      "make explicit the amorphous statements"
    • (of a group of people or an organization) lacking a clear structure or focus.
      "an amorphous and leaderless legislature"

A perfect example of amorphous projects is the current GOP attacks on President Obama. There is no real goal to them, and they seem to be based on the erroneous idea that if Obama is weak, then they are strong -- which is absurd. The President is the First man. He is US, the citizens of the United States. He is the Commander and Chief of every Military Service man, and Veteran who have fought to keep this country free. To attack him, is to attack everyone in this country -- it is to make you resented and the target of animosity. We may not like what the President is doing, or what he says all the time. We may not agree on some of his agendas -- but no matter what, he is still the President. The office is important, even sacred. 

So, the GOP (whose approval rating is currently 12% and falling) doesn't really have a firm plan or goal on why they attack or why they obstruct instead of supporting the president. It is an amorphous  objective that they tend not to look at too closely. 

Words of the Day

cro·ny·ism
ˈkrōnēˌizəm/
noun
derogatory
  1. the appointment of friends and associates to positions of authority, without proper regard to their qualifications.

This is the word that comes to mind whenever I run across the name Rick Perry Governor of Texas

“There is nothing in the record of the past two years when both Houses of Congress have been controlled by the Republican Party which can lead any person to believe that those promises will be fulfilled in the future. They follow the Hitler line - no matter how big the lie; repeat it often enough and the masses will regard it as truth.” 
― John F. Kennedy

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