– Definition: adj. Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way. – Used in a sentence: Pernicious “tweets” should not become a presidential* standard. – Why: It’s enough out of current usage to possibly sound like a…
Category: Crit
Examination, analysis, appreciation.
First Graf: The Histories
WERE IT NOT FOR HERODOTUS — lauded as the “Father of History,” derided as the “Father of Lies” — we would know nothing of, among other things, the tale of King Leonidas and the 300 Spartans and how it affected…
Pithyism #69b
DO WE RESEMBLE OUR TOOLS, or do our tools resemble us? (I’m including in this equation notional tools like webspace, word-processing software, Facebook’s post-ranking choices, etc.)
Words to Bring Back: “Parvenu”
– Definition: n. a person of obscure origin who has gained wealth, influence, or celebrity. – Used in a sentence: I like to think the electorate smiles unkindly on parvenus, but evidence indicates otherwise. – Why: Because, in the early…
Metaphoraging Roundup: 2019
AND SO THE CIRCLE TURNS again, one more orbit of the Earth ’round the Sun; meaning it’s time for the media’s year-end lookbacks — a conceit from which The Metaphorager is not immune. As of this writing (two weeks ago),…
Confessions of an Earnest High School Dropout
IT ENDED LIKE THIS: “MRS. J—–,” I said evenly, “you should work for the city sewer department instead of teaching English — because you know more about scat than you do about good writing.” Except I didn’t say “scat.” And…
Seasonal Skirmish Solved
AS WE WIND DOWN DECEMBER, the social air is thick with anticipation — and, alas, some rancor. It seems once again that some are taking issue with some who take issue with being greeted by the adherents of our country’s…
Words to Bring Back: “Fabulous”
– Definition: adj. Of, like, or recorded in fable; fictitious; mythical – Used in a sentence: The current Administration* is doing a fabulous job. – Why: In its current usage, “fabulous” is synonymous with “great” or “excellent.” But I think…
“Let’s Go See!”
TO THE SMALL CATALOGUE OF meaningful three-word human phrases (“I love you,” “let me help,” “take your time,” “hold my beer”) should be added one pertaining to perhaps that oldest of motivations: “Let’s go see!” Mind you, this drive isn’t…
Words to Bring Back: Declaim
– Definition: v. Utter or deliver words or a speech in a rhetorical or impassioned way, as if to an audience. – Used in a sentence: Less defaming, more declaiming. – Why: What with the rise of social media, the…
On the “OK Boomer!” Contretemps
SERIOUSLY ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION: “Who (and what) profits from pitting one generation of progressives so viciously and stereotypingly against another?”
It’s Really Spelled “Hallowe’en”
(TO BE CLEAR, IT’S ACTUALLY a slight abbreviation of the phrase “All Hallow’s Evening,” AKA “All Hallow’s Even,” AKA “Hallows E’en.”) There’s something to be said about archaic or alternate spellings / renderings. For example, a beloved English teacher once…