Certain words sell well voices.kansascity. Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Premiers' war of words continues canadaeast.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Weaving magic with words hindu.com/ Take a look at an interesting article we found.
November 06, 2009
In a recent study, Daniel Oppenheimer, a psychologist at Princeton, wanted to see if short words were more effective than long words.
(And you thought we aren't researching the more important things.)
He took a handful of writing samples and replaced the simple words with longer ones.
In short, he created the kind of writing by thesaurus that some business people and techies employ when they want to sound intelligent.
The result? As the language got more complex, the estimation of the intelligence of the authors decreased.
Oppenheimer titled the study:
"Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly."
We can only hope it was meant to be ironical. Sorry, funny.
But Oppenheimer’s findings make perfect sense when you think about it. How can you improve on short words?
Love. Sun. Fun. Home. Grass. Food. Mom. Dad.
Short words are the words we grew up with and first uttered. Oops, spoke.
Happy is probably the best two-syllable word. Or benign, according to Woody Allen, especially if you put an it's in front of it.
Ernest Hemingway won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1954, five years after it was awarded to William Faulkner.
Neither writer cared for each other.
Faulkner declared that Hemingway had "never been known to use a word that might send the reader to the dictionary."
"Poor Faulkner," Hemingway responded. "Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don't know the ten-dollar words? I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use."
Although both were great writers, one might have to side with Hemmingway on this. If the idea is to stir emotions, all those trips to the dictionary might get in the way.
Some long words come in handy. If you’re a lawyer, for instance, you can throw in a few to confuse us. Works every time.
“30 days to a more Powerful Vocabulary” is the classic if you want to learn a few long and unnecessarily long words.
It helped me understand what pusillanimous meant, when it was unexpectedly spoken, with great power, by Richard Burton in ”Look back in Anger.”
However, too many long words can lead to hipomonsteresquipedalophobia, which is the fear of reading or saying long words.
That's why, as a rule, it’s best to follow Winnie the Pooh, who said:
“It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy words like "What about lunch?”
How to increase your vocabulary essortment.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
History of the English Language .englishclub.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
Small Powerful Words brogan.com Take a look at an interesting article we found.
it is the very best of times when the only words that need to be spoken are those three little wo...
Nov. 06, 2009 1:52 PM
Favorite short word?
37% 9% 11% 20% 23%
Fundamental Proof ....... that English is not taught here anymore, and hardly spoken ... I'll bet by God that if one went to some other country to live, he would soon learn their Native Language, or starve to death ... and never be able to find a job ....... Maybe if he would bitch and whine long enough they would put up Road and Street Signs in Hebrew ???
While long words can be fun to play with, short words say quickly and strongly. Hmmm, maybe I should try to limit my words in my daily writing exercise to those with three or less syllables, and then give myself extra points if I can do it with two. One of my favourite short words is the slang term, "Brill!" It's short for brilliant but the single syllable lends itself to much more glee and enthusiasm.
Eschew obfuscation.
BERT: I've still got that Bumper Sticker on the bumper of my '48 Studebaker Truck ... both of them must be older than you are .......
Yiddish, has got some long, seemingly non-sensical words ... Anyone know what, Ibergerblibbernis is ???
The English language is dying a slow and painful death that began when we allowed vulgarities and slang to permeate the televison airwaves. Look back at the reruns from the 1950's and 1960's and you'll see what I mean. More humor was found when characters had to find a way to suppress the vulgarity or rude comment. Think of the old Dick Van Dyke Show, That Girl, Make Room For Daddy, Julia, or even Bewitched. Characters spoke clearly, wtih common idioms.
F-bombs have destroyed our garden of beautiful language.
UGH!!! The study mentioned above should be required reading for every government employee. Recently, I edited a policy which used the phrase "events of public health significance" repeatedly. Here's an idea - let's all agree to call it "Event" and move on. Probably saved three sheets of a paper.
I work with a fellow who loves to use long words or too many words...it was his policy....loves 'individual' instead of 'person'....his voice mail message once said "I am not currently in the office at this present time."
Even in editing my own comments above, I was able to remove about a third of the unnecessary words. Heck, maybe they're all unnecessary......
My graduate advisor continually told me to explain in more depth. HIs gripe was that I would write the Bible on the head of a pin.
My friend's daughter goes to a elite private high school in Manhattan. One year's tuition costs half of my salary. There were three exceptance exams that she had to pass to win her seat. During the first week of school she stopped by to raid my bookshelf. Her Literature class was a perfect balance of classics and modern novels. But her Language Arts class was focused on The Difference Between Texting and Essay Writing.
This girl will spend the entire 10 months learning to replace lol and lmao with words like funny, witty and amusing.
Hopefully, she'll learn the theory of de-evolution in her biology class.
OK.
It was decades and decades ago that I edited base newspapers, translating English into English (turning two-page memos into a single paragraph). The unwillingness to say things simply is not a new phenomenon. --- That said, my opinions on writing (and I'm sad to say I violate them frequenty...): (1) a colorful verb is the core of a good sentence; (2) avoid the passive form (NOT 'Janet was shot by her Bill', but 'Bill shot Janet' -- unless you're deliberately trying to hide the 'actor'; (3) vary sentence lengths (compound-complex sentences followed by short simple sentences. Yes, keep it punchy! Of course, try not to use too much complex punctuation (mea culp, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!). Be careful with homonyms (like, she excepted the excuse?).
Blogging (as here) is a great temptation to speak rather than to write, edit, rewrite, re-edit, sleep on it, re-read, re-edit, rewrite and eventually publish (disseminate). Sometimes temptation is ok, and sin (even when committed against the English language) is delightfully piquant. But chronic sinning is really, really boring. Ditto failing to communicate! It's not the reader's fault if they can't understand you; it's your fault for not properly using the tools at your disposal to communicate. Sometimes (as with kids and idiots), it's a question of keeping it really, really simple: 'If you ever do that again, you are fired!' Other times, entire paragraphs (even pages) are required to communicate (try boiling War and Peace down -- as Cliff's Notes does/did -- and much if not all is lost.) ASIDE: Doc's punctuation sucks and demands an editor! Bad Doc!
SHREEKUMAR VARMA seems to have the right idea.
My favorite small word....a toss-up between Mom and G-d.
Doc, it's far more likely that Janet will shoot Bill this morning.The trash ,from fall cleanup ,is still out front waiting to be loaded into the pickup and taken to the dump.
Shanda I feel your pain and Julia yours too. Its a challenge to get it write. Ther are so many tools in hte shead. First you have to pick them, then you hvae to sepll thme right, and then you have to delete the redundant superfluous wons. And Doc, your are spot on bolggin and email brings out the worst in righting. If only we could all get a new version of the latest texting dictionary we'd be all set. Me I balme it on my fingres.
Words are mere symbols of what's on your mind...in conversation we have eyes and feed back loops. All to often folks read words without the benifit of the feedback loop and garner a whole different intent and or meaning. Usually it is the case that those people forgot to ask, or state "I am not sure I understand your meaning" and an unnecessary feud unsues. Has that ever happened to any of you?
Right on, Miss Blue - 'Mom' is the best thing I've ever been called!
Once on a road trip for work, we amused ourselves by thinking of words we liked the sound of. I really like 'thwart." And after completing my daily entry in the Mailbag contest THAT I'M GOING TO WIN, I really like the short word 'cash'?
Beautiful writing, if we are talking about literature, comes in many different flavors. Read the opening lines of "Cry, the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton and then the opening of "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver. Both are lovely, rich, emotional descriptions. But they are vastly different in style. These are artists, and we delight in the variety.
But when it comes to the average "writer," a person just trying to get a point across, simple communication is the goal. The stumbling block is what Paul just wrote above... we don't have tone of voice or facial expressions to help us make our point, so we use more and more "specific" words to try and get our meaning across. Even at that, even when we do our best to make ourselves clear, someone misreads our intentions.
And we end up with legal documents that are completely unintelligible, all in an effort to be absolutely clear.
Paul Murphy: Do you know how hard it is to type without mistakes when laughing your head off? I was once given part of a report for a group project by one of the other students in my contract law class while taking paralegal studies, and the errors rampant in your post could have come directly from those three pages. I spent longer editing that one student's work than I did on my own 23 page research paper for my Literature class.
I find that as I grow older my fingers don't always hit the keys in the order my brain tells them to--"hte" for "the" is unfortunately common. Of course, working in an office where the average temperature is 62 degrees Fahrenheit doesn't help either. I think I need to get some fingerless gloves...
I suspect Mr Faulkner, had he been a computer guy in the present day, would be one those that think the graphical, easy-to-use Internet should be done away with. They think it was so much better when it was all command line only and only those who knew what they were doing, were on it.
Jalopkin: I was born in 1947. On April Fool's Day. {that explains a LOT, Ivan thinks...} It's worse than that, my unsophisticated Irish Catholic mom didn't think of the stigma, she PICKED that date, Caesarian, it was my dad's only day off.....
I remember drive-in movies, falling asleep after the cartoons in the back seat of my parents' 1951 Hudson Hornet 2 door hardtop......dem wuz de daze.
DancingKatz: Contracts law class? OMG, this is where I hide under the table, sorry but we are already topheavy with weasely LAWYERS.....lol
Bert
you are a Fire Boar, a sign you share with Salman Rushdie,Danielle Steel and Stephen King.
Talk about diversity in style!
Miss Blue: Thanks for sharing your expertise and giving me your professional opinion, which I respect. Wasn't Rushdie the man who had a contract out on his life, for printing cartoons allegedly disrespectful of Islam? Danielle Steel & Stephen King, they're megastars of contemporary fiction. Me, I'm just a small mouse, with big dreams, like Despereaux...remember? Perhaps I shall have to resurrect my bravado swagger.....
I feel it is vital to be able to communicate effectively.
There are so many words available for use precisely because there is a need to be accurate. Sometimes short, simple and concise is what's appropriate. Sometimes it's the details and nuances of more sophisticated language that is needed to convey thoughts and feelings more completely. It can be important to play to your audience; a give and take at the same level. It can be just as important to increase your vocabulary skills in order to continually comprehend more intricate concepts.
There should be no shame in using a dictionary, practicing, or making mistakes along the way. Playing with words and finding new ways of expressing yourself can be fun, too!
Understanding the world and the people in it is a continuous process of listening, learning, and exchanging ideas. The better one can make known what is on and in their mind, the better the chance of being understood...and of understanding.
"Conversation should be pleasant without scurrility, witty without affectation, free without indecency, learned without conceitedness, novel without falsehood" ~William Shakespeare
Paul Murphy~ It happens to me all the time! It's difficult to see someone's meaning without looking into their eyes, and hear what they are saying without listening to their voice.
Language isn't just a communication tool, it also serves an an art form. Without my dark roast, it is abstract expressionism.....but I do have my MOMENTS. Shandonista is someone who fully appreciates what a wasted opportunity it is for ALL involved, when language is trivialized, abused, demonized. These are our LIVES....NOT merely a dress rehersal. Seize the moments.
Small words are like comfort food.
It's cold and blustery here today. We will have our first hard freeze of the season tonight.
Hot chicken soup, a cup of tea and Thou
Beside me snuggling by the fire
Bert
a death fatwa was placed on Salman Rushdie for his writtng and publishing The Satanic Verses....
Words. I love them.
I am the kid who would "read" the dictionary. Well not so much read as peruse, eyeballing words that looked interesting, and thinking "Oohh! What does that mean?" I am the person who gets the text: What does obsequious mean? I am the person who will discuss the nuances between "covetous, jealous, and envious."
I still remember the first time I read 1984. I do not recollect how it came up, but my Gramma asked me "How would you communicate an idea if you didn't have a word for it?" She and I talked about it, and I was young-10 maybe-I couldn't really wrap my mind around not having a word to express myself. So she went to the bookshelf, pulled off 1984, and handed it to me. WOW! Follow that with Fahrenheit 451, and the foundation for the importance of language and words has been firmly laid.
Words are simply tools of communication. If a person does not have the basic skills of communication, all the fancy words in the world will not help them, but if you know how to use the tools you have the ability to express yourself effectively
JALOPKIN:
I've spent about a half hour googling Yiddish dictionaries.
I guess you're going to have to tell me what IBERGERBLIBBERNIS means.
PLEASE?
Kindlee..again spot on. I always have a dictionary on the coffee table in the room where I am reading. I have graduated to my online iphone..there is an app ( short for application) for that, for when I am in an airplane. I have a "new word list" (there is an app for that too) which contains old words that I'd catch myself using inappropriately... If onlt one could could go back and edit conversations. I have a long distant relation that I would call at the spur of the moment to try a new word I just learned on him. He, a well read retired dry wall installer of 73 years of age, has yet to be stumped. I wished everyone would be as enthused on new words as I am. It really frees you mind to think in so many new ways. The catch is if in your day to day world you use a word that no one else knows, you are not communicating. If you use to many of dem der straynge woyrds, people stuart taukin buat chya. And if you knew me well, you'd know I've already given them to much to talk about. So says my wife.
Mom is having her heart monitor removed and getting a pace maker put in this afternoon.
All prayers and good thoughts are welcome from 1:30 pm CST for about 2 hours.
Thank you all my virtual friends.
To paraphrase an old saying....
It's not the size of the word but what you do with it....
By the way
Are you out there today
cuukoo1?
korthal
you have mine!
korthal - I'll start right now. All my best prayers, hopes and wishes to you and your Mom.
Sincerely
John
BERT: Again you prove it ... that even a blind hog finds an acorn every now and then ...
YOU'RE RIGHT !!! and you DID say it before I did ....... Still, it must present quite a challenge having been born on the one and only Atheists National Holiday ... As to the rest of it; I can say nothing ... simply because it would appear that the issue(s) have become Personal, and I absolutely DO not want that to be the case ... I MUST be fair whether one agrees with me or not ... and silly me, I expect others to treat me likewise, but I only turn the other cheek once .......
I don't remember, HUDSON's ever producing a 2dor HardTop ... Some Great Coupes, expecially the one with the "Twin-Six" engine ... I could show you a picture of it if I could ever figure out how to put things up on here, like Links n stuff ... but I am not a computer person at all ... Took my four year old daughter a year to teach me how to send E-Mail ...
Anyhow, it might have been the smaller Hudson Line that was the dinked-out models of the early 50's ... Somewhere on the walls of my Office I have got to have a picture of it, I just don't remember it right now ... But Thanks for presenting me with a diversion away from the mundane .......
JULIA MASI: I agree with you completely, about the dumbing down of amerika starting out with Television ....... Good Thinking ... Of course, a lot of the other problems began with Radio ... and Dagwood & Blondie(Arthur Lake and Audrey Totter, who did the parts on Film too and went on to Television) the Bickersons (Don Ameche, the guy who invented the Telephone, and Frances Langford, before she was a Blonde Big Band Singer) and Chester A. Riley (William Bendix and Marjorie Reynolds ... long after Bendix was doing Babe Ruth and Margie was in White Christmas mit der Bingle) the erosion of the Culture and Lifestyle, and the Language, that The Creator made for us in the first place, began way before the Jet Age ... and the erasure of Good Sense has put the process on a greased board right into Hell .......
Have a Nice Day !!!
damnselfly~ Well said! I'm envious of your communication skills.
korthal~ Best wishes to your mom for a successful surgery and a quick, uneventful recovery. My positive thoughts will be there with both of you. Sincerely, Pam
Don't worry, Bert. I'm a former paralegal (working in estate planning, probate, and taxation for the most part), not a lawyer. If I had a dollar for every attorney who asked me why I didn't go to law school, I wouldn't have to work.
Since most of these inquiries were made while I attended CE classes held by the Ohio Bar Association (paralegals could attend for free and my supervising attorney insisted I go to as many as possible) I would smile and say I didn't go to law school because I couldn't pass calculus. It made everyone laugh and I didn't have to worry about offending a possible future employer.
I never wanted to be a lawyer, by the way, just as I never wanted to become an officer when I was in the Air Force. Officers and attorneys have to be able to see the big picture and put everything together and point out what problems need to be solved. Paralegals and NCOs just need to be able to solve the problems they are given. It's not a case of being lazy, it's just the way my brain works.
I'm content working as a secretary/professor wrangler at Wright State University at the moment. It's less stressful than working at a law firm or probate court and I get to take 8 credit hours each term free of charge. Pay is lower but the benefits and lower stress levels are better.
Now, to get this back on topic... All the jobs I have held required being able to choose the right words to communicate the necessary information to others. It's not really a case of the shortest word being always preferable to a long one, but that the right word is used every single time.
Did you know that this month is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and National Quality Writing Month (NaQuaWriMo)? NaNoWriMo wants you to write 1,600 words a day every day for the entire month that tells one story so you end up with a novel. There's no requirement other than the word count so at the end of the month you could end up with 48,000 words of dreck. On the other hand, NaQuaWriMo wants you to write 100 words a day on any topic, fiction or nonfiction, whether connected to each other or not, all as polished and perfect as you can make them. It's a lot harder than you would think to get those 100 words right.
I've got my 100 words for the first 5 days written and will be working on the next 100 tonight. Hopefully, by the end of the month I'll be a better communicator as well as a better writer.
Kindlee, I like the Shakespeare quote. Where is it from, exactly?
I'm glad to see that I am not the only person to have read hte dictionary for enjoyment. And don't forget the Encyclopedia Britannica! Those lovely, heavy leather bound tomes, onionskin thin pages thick with type and knowledge... Actually, the two always went together for me. I'd find a word in the Encyclopedia and have to look it up, and then it would be an hour before I went back to reading about what had originally caught my fancy (the procedure for making mummies that I read when I was ten sent me to the Oxford English Dctionary at least a dozen times in just the first three paragraphs (just what the heck is natron? etc.).
How can you pick the right words if you don't know more than a basic vocabulary?
korthal...on it now...will continue
ms. blue, yes mame?
korthal, prayers and good wishes are going out to you and your mother from Dayton, Ohio.
The length of a word, whether it be a ten cent word or a twenty five dollar word; pales in significance to the intention behind its choice.
Is a particular word chosen to improve the understanding of an idea to another, or is merely chosen in an attempt to elevate oneself by diminishing the listener. Does that word build bridges or create barriers.
No matter what words you use, it is your intention that reflects back on you.
BTW - one of my favorite words is "doable"
Peace out
Korthal, my prayers and best wishes are with you. I hope your mother does just fine.
The breath hesitates
The barest moment.
Then,
Right or wrong,
What is said, is said.
My attempt at poetry, inspired by the article "Weaving Magic With Words".
I didn't always agree with what Bill Buckley said, but I certainly enjoyed how he said it.
And then there's Billy Shakespeare, master coiner, inventor of my name, master raconteur and wordsmith. Why be boring, when words can take you soaring?
Sometimes wee words are wonderful, but betimes one grows weak and weary pondering how best to express with less, and then one must just trust to the auditor's comprehension of the declension, tension bedamned and bedraggled curtailed prose flows ill from the bill until the will cannot fulfill the drill and the lilt of wit spilt for naught is fraught with salty remorse when the course is forced, caught up in the talk is cheap and no relief from the tedium of the medium.
So I use big words.
cuukoo1
just a howdy do...
Oh, and I prefer Miss to Ms.
My Southern sensibilities ya know.
Everyone is Uncle this and Auntie that.
Even Mrs. Are Misses.
Going to clean out the greenhouse and add to the pile Mr. Billy needs to haul away.
Jalopkin: You are correct, there was indeed a "Baby Hudson" ..... I remember Hudson was proud of winning races with "Tri-Power" carbureturs and only a 6 cylinder motor.
DancingKatz: Be thankful aren't a lawyer, they seem to be popping up everywhere, not necessarily a good sign of our society. My guess is that we like you exactly as you are.
c-a-r-b-u-r-e-t-O-r-s ..... sorry.
Buckley was wonderful to listen to, I agree. Also Dick Cavett. He brought "erudite" to late night.
Of course, it didn't last...
Korthal: you and your mom are in my thoughts.
it is the very best of times when the only words that need to be spoken are those three little words that mean the most.... ....... but I'm a fairly simple man with an average vocabulary who freely admits to loving the sound of some words as much as their meaning but also realizes that nothing beats saying or hearing just the right words at the right time back to the rowing machine......... I've been stalling all day
more on the honor rollAlan Alexander Milne was a great and erudite writer of mysteries, novels, humour, and plays until his children's stories written for Christopher Robin Milne became popular and overshadowed his previous work.
He was careful to note that, lovable as he might be, Pooh was indeed a bear of very little brain.
Alas, for we judge between the mind that is subtle and full of thought, and the mind that is...otherwise, by the fluency flowing from that multipurpose muscle which resideth abaft the lips. He that biddeth his fellows follow him a-twitter is mayhap considered to be short of sapience yet long of locution, and it is held a good thing in these dark days.
And yet it is not so, for she that speaketh in loco praeceptrix doth both please and instruct anon.
Behold, even as I say, it has come to pass...
Kindlee: I am with you on knowing your audience. I just revised an e-mail from "Do you have a contact I can contact?" to "Do you know who I should call?" because as clever as it seemed to me, it would have been lost on the recipient.
my favorite word is "kids" -- and Jalopkin -- please, I do hope you find what Ibergerblibbernis means -- even Google didn't know. Google referenced you on Peterman's Eye when I searched. With Yiddish, so much was pronunciation -- my mother and mother in law said the same thing in different ways yet I did understand it. My brother and I can both understand Yiddish though neither of us speak it. We learned the understanding part when my parents would speak Yiddish in the hopes that we wouldn't know what they were saying. It's a shame that it will probably die out. It can't be taught, not exactly a written language and yet, so rich
Etymology rocks...
I learned some Yiddish from my Jewish friends, their family members and working in the jewelry industry.
I can understand a little.
Mom was a Shabbos goy when she was little in Chicago.
Her family rented an apartment from a Jewish family and that is who she worked for.
I hope JALOPKIN will get back to us before Shabbos starts tonight. Otherwise he'll be off the grid till sundown tomorrow.
Maybe IBERGERBLIBBERNIS means someone who thinks they are very special? Like a legend in their own mind.
Dancingkatz~ I don't know where it is from, "exactly." I have read it on many different occasions, in many different places, always attributed to Shakespeare, but I do not know its original source. Sorry.
damnselfly,
"Do you know who I should call?"
as hard as you try
Possible answers
1. Yes.....silence...no answer
2. What do you think I'm stupid, of course I know...silence...no answer
Always when you least expect it, or want to deal with it.
Korthal, my prayers and best wishes are with you and your mom.
Paul Murphy: Since, it has taken two weeks for the recipient to reply to my original email, Option 1 will probably be the response I recieve, and option 2 is what was snidely spoken to the computer screen when she read it.
I can't wait to sit before the fire in the Club Car this afternoon.
Shall I wear my new Irish sweater?
It seems language is much like my Irish sweater, a sampler of words and phrases. Some are small and simple, some large and complex, all varying in etymology and providing texture to my writing and speech. Words are like knots and stitches reflecting my life experiences.
Ivan my dear friend, please translate before some of our heads explode ! I guess if I took the time to dissect the word and cross reference the online Yiddish dictionary, it would make sense to me.
Ibergerblibbernis
Iber gerbil bernis
Iber above, over, in excess of, more than; through
Gedile glory; grandeur; glee; exultation; gaiety; something to boast about; big deal
Come on Ivan, help me out !!!
MISS BLUE:
Since I have to keep busy today I took it apart this way.
"I" "berger" "blibber" or maybe "blubber" "nis" or "nisht".
To be said about someone tooting their own horn.
"He's not all that".
Miss Blue: Wear the sweater, and remember that words are the stitches that hold the patchwork quilt of our collective life experiences together. My Irish relatives do their best thinking with their authentic clothes on "from the old sod;" the stories get longer, richer, taller. The accents get deeper, the inflections more exaggerated. Some blame the Guiness or the Jamieson's, but personally I know that it is the influence of those quilting stitches, reinforcing the oral traditions.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
May I politely ask for a prognosis regarding Korthal's mom's surgery? Just got back.
korthal
I took is as "much ado about nothing"....but your translation fits better in context...
Mom is to be in surgery for a while longer. It's supposed to be at least 2 hours. 1:30 till 3:30 pm CST.
As soon as it's over my sister will call me as soon as she can.
Thank you all for sending prayers and good thoughts.
I'll post as soon as I know.
Thanks, I forgot there was a time zone difference & got concerned.....we will help you be strong.
KORTHAL: Ibergerblibbernis is, LEFTOVERS ... Ask your Bubbe ....... And if her Yiddish is more Rumanian than Germanic, she'll recognize it faster .......
MISS BLUE: Just bring Irish Whiskey ... Powers, Black Bush, or Red Rooster will do quite well .......
A lot of Yiddish words, just like Bupkus, literally mean, Nothing !!! but it is fun to answer people in Yiddish that you just don;t want to talk to ... of course, if your challenger is another Yid, you're sunk ... and he'll be so happy to find a Landsman that you'll prolly never get rid of him ...
A Dear Friend of mine recently reminded me that there are actually places on this earth where people have never seen a Jew ... She recounted a story about these two Irishers who were skulking down a Dublin street when they happened upon an old Jewish man walking slowly toward a Pub he wanted to try during his visit there ... The two braced the old man, and Paddy says menacingly, "Alright old man tell us now if your catholic or Protestant ... the old man laughs and says, "Neither one you Putz, I' m a Jew !!! "Listen, Paddy says, If you know whats good for you you'll tell us right now ... are you a catholic Jew or a Protestant Jew ... "
Undsoweiter .......
A Blessed and Safe Weekend to you all !!! I'll check by around mid-nite when I get in from Temple .......
Good Shabbos,
Ivan
Size doesn't matter.
Ugh . . . long day.
Should a composition teacher comment on language? When one of my students answered the question "What is a thesis" with "Like, a thesis is the main idea and stuff" I am tempted to turn in my red pen and take up birdkeeping.
Kortal~You're in my prayers.
I used to love watching Dick Cavett when I was a kid. I prefered talk shows to sit coms.
Michael: Had you asked students in writing, you would have gotten: THE SIS is my stupid kid sister, ask me a HARDER question..."
Julia, Dick Cavett was a classy man, small in stature, but he stood tall in character & courage under fire, as you recall some wanted him run out of town on a rail, along with the Smothers Brothers.....
Michael~ Some days (some weeks etc...) may be very difficult and frustrating, but your dedication, passion, and caring nature is the backbone of our education system. Thank you for what you do and for always trying your best to reach as many students as possible. You do make a positive difference in life!
Cavett's interview with Katharine Hepbun is a classic. It happpened without planning, and it's wonderfully smart and funny in the best kind of way.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Bastards-Club/dp/B002VLZ1L4/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257550111&sr=8-5
There it is. My book. Can't buy it yet quite yet, but soon (and if you have a Kindle, or one of those creepy cell-phones with Kindle applications), it will be available.
I hope I didn't misspell too many words.
Michael, Stuff its short it covers just about everything and you can finish most sentences with "and stuff" leaving you off the hook for anything, especially being accused of not having told you so. Its short, versitile, compact, it goes with some pretty good body language, and some Ambercrombie hoodies, and calogne....who needs words when all I wan is Chyou.
Michael~ Congratulations! I have a Kindle and I look forward to reading what you have written. Let us know when it is available.
Paul M: I suppose I'm not surprised. The girl who used that answer is about as close to being a Valley Girl as we get in Nebraska.
Kindlee: I hope it isn't too terrible. I don't even remember most of it.
Michael~ I think I understand if it's all a blur. No worries!
Michael: Congratulations X 100, I'm so happy for you! Nicely done, Sir! I can't wait to read it...your First, of what I'm sure will be many!
paula
Michael, it helps to tell yourself that you are the same person you always were, a day before either something very good or very bad takes place. For me, that concept lets me step back, and not get pumped up on bravado when I succeed, ignoring what and who really matters. Furthermore it lets me recover from a setback, refreshing my recollection that I have only partial control of my destiny, all I can do is to do my best, then accept how matters shake out. I am certain that you need no lessons in how to live an honorable life, you are wise beyond your years. However it sometimes is good to know that your insecurities belong to us all.....best of luck on the book.
KORTHAL- I can check my e-mail at school, but not respond to peterman's eye.Why??? Your mother was deep in my thoughts & I was sending her my blessing from the library at our school.
MICHAEL- Congratulations!!!! That is very exciting. I hope you have some celebratory champagne hanging around. I look forward to getting it .
bert: And there's absolutely nothing wrong at all with reveling in one's hard earned success and not giving one good damn about tomorrow, or all the yesterdays that brought one to today.
goodness, bert, you can be such an Eeyore! Everything that happens doesn't have to teach us a lesson! The hell with caution and cautionary tales, sometimes it's good to just let go and celebrate one's achievement and not look back or forward.
To that end:
Michael, enjoy! And then enjoy some more!
OLIVIA- in complete agreement about Buckley! I remember curling up on the couch against my father when I was young and we would watch "Firing Line" in the dark. I felt so grownup watching this sophisticated show w/ my dad. I also found Buckley to be devastatingly sexy & I loved his accent.
MICHAEL- I will be pouring an extra glass of wine tonight- after I get back w/ the dogs from our walk- to toast your success. Of course I will have to drink it for you! Cheers!
Ivan-You tell it even better than she did.
Bebe-wan't he though? I find intelligence and erudition very sexy...
Champagne? I do have a bottle, but I am saving that for my first royalties check.
I did, however, have a shot of Pernod.
Thinking of korthal.
Congratulations, Michael!
I will definitely get a copy when it is "available in print".
KSS- actually size does matter... who wants a tiny scoop of icecream, a tiny bank account, a tiny smart car, a tiny hamburger, a tiny glass of wine, a tiny soul, a tiny, tight heart, or one tiny onion ring??? Size does matter. Alot...
MICHAEL- I meant I look forward to getting your book, not stealing your champagne!
Miss Blue: That may be a long wait.
bebe: I'm willing to share.
Thank you for the definition -- now if I can only remember how to pronounce it, I'll use it and confound everyone :)
Still waiting to hear from my sister on Mom's status.
CONGRATULATIONS, MICHAEL!!!
I'll be looking for your book in print.
Thanks, Korthal. My thoughts are with you and your mom.
I just talked to my sister and everything went well with Mom's procedure.
She'll be home tomorrow.
Thank you all for everything today. It helped me a lot and I am very grateful to everyone.
Barbara
Hooray for Korthalmom!
KORTHAL- I'm very happy for you & your mom. That's wonderful.
JALOPKIN:
Thanks for the definition. I'll try to remember that one for future use.
Olivia.....Olivia......
BERT: For Future Referrence;
MOTORS are either Electric, or Inertial .......
A Powerplant that operates/or is driven by COMBUSTION (as with Gasoline) or COMPRESSION (as with Adiabatic Diesel) is called, an ENGINE ... The coffee grinder under the hood of your car, that makes that pocketa pocketa pocketa pocketa sound, Walter ... is called an ENGINE .......
Flathead Engines, Overhead Valve Engines, L-Head Engines, Nailhead Engines, Water Cooled Engines, Air Cooled Engines, Rotary Engines, Inline Six Cylinder Engines, Straight Eight Engines, Four Cylinder Engines, Aircraft Engines, Any of which can be Flatheads or OHV ... ENGINES .......
The only MOTOR(s) under your hood, are the Starter Motor and the little Globe Record Player Turntable Motor that is mounted sideways in a box, splined into a Gear Drive, that makes the Dog's Tail wag ....... From the late 30's thru early 50's that function was actually performed by a small vaccuum pump, ... the same vaccum pump that made the Headlights disappear and pop up again on the '34 thru '37 Cord Coffin-Nosed Speedster ... a feature we did not see again until it reappeared on the, '63 Buick Riviera, '67 Pontiac Grand Prix, '69 Lincoln MKIII, and the '74 thru '76 Lincoln Mark Series ... Prior to the Vaccuum Pump, the Wipers were operated by hand, which was an inconvenient and unsafe pain-in-the-butt if one were alone ....... Contrary to common belief, the Electric Motor Oscillating Windshield Wiper was NOT one of Henry's spawn, but was first found among new-fangled gimmickry in the 1940 Packard 820 ... However; Henry DID invent Charcoal Briquets ... for Army Field Kitchens .......
I know all of this is Off-Topic, but what the hell, its yesterday ....... Just thought you might want to know, being an Attorney and all ... One must couch his pleadings at Bar in the correct vernacular, rather than risk a loss based upon a Technicality, especially if one is perfecting a Tort Case or Product Liability ....... Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc !!! ......
Inertia Wheels, by the way, are the Motors that drove the Cotton Gins, about a hundred and twenty-five years ago ... And Steam Engines are a whole nuther animal altogether ...
*drops a curtsy to Ivan* Thank you for that marvelous exposition, Sir!
Tiberius: Yes, dear?