Sat, 20 Mar 2010

Verdant

You know those little announcements on NPR that substitute for advertisements? The John D. and Cathrine T. MacArthur Foundation "supports creative people and effective institutions committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world." Pretty neat! But then I received the word of the day from Dictionary.com:

verdure

Meaning

1 : the greenness of growing vegetation; also : such vegetation itself
2 : a condition of health and vigor

I had always through about verdant as meaning "green". But, then I saw the second meaning and thought that verdant might have a similar meaning. So I looked it up. Yep, here was "green" just as I expected

1. green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass: a verdant oasis.
2. of the color green: a verdant lawn.

But there was a third definition that I though might not exactly fit the meaning intended by John D and Catherine T:

inexperienced; unsophisticated: verdant college freshmen.

"green" as in newbie. All the subtleties of language! Still, all in all, a pretty neat motto!

(revised from an earlier post)

posted 08:25 [/Words] permanent link

Sat, 14 Nov 2009

Perspicuous - We need more!

Plain to the understanding especially because of clarity and precision of presentation

[source] We need to make things more simple to understand, clear and precise. Our world is full of misunderstandings and outright falsehoods caused by poor presentation and lack of clarity.

posted 09:40 [/Words] permanent link

Fri, 13 Nov 2009

Wearisome? Worrisome . . .

battology [buh-TOL-uh-jee]: wearisome repetition of words in speaking or writing [source]

Sure, repetition of words can wear you down. But I worry that the single statement or words I write here are wearing people down.

posted 08:40 [/Words] permanent link

Mon, 26 Oct 2009

Not like it sounds . . . Gruntle

\GRUN-tul\ (verb) : to put in a good humor

Some people don't look like their names. You know, there's the Mike that you always want to call Phil because he just doesn't look like a Mike or the Mary who acts more like a Jessica. Here's a word that sounds like it should mean just the opposite. Maybe it's too much like grumpy or grungy, or . . . but if I were asked to pick it off a multiple choice quiz, I'd miss this one. Hey, knowing the meaning has put me in a good mood. Maybe that's it . . .

[source]

posted 06:17 [/Words] permanent link

Wed, 24 Sep 2008

Marketing Drivel

This morning, I looked at a can of bathroom cleanser and noted the following words at the top -- "Club Size". They were in red on a bright yellow band. Obviously, these were meant to grab my attention while the container was sitting on the shelf in the market and cause me to want to by that brand and size. But, what do they mean, "Club Size".

• Is this enough for an entire club (organization) of people to use collectively?
• Can I use the can to club (hit) an intruder determined to track dirt into my sparkling clean bathroom?
• Can I clean an entire club (disco) with this single can of cleanser?

Drivel, meaningless words designed to sell the product -- somehow -- with no real world meaning.

posted 07:24 [/Words] permanent link

Thu, 31 May 2007

Do they know something we don't?

I am working on my poor Spanish in preparation to join my family in Spain. One of my main weaknesses is vocabulary. I just can't remember the words when I need them. So I decided to study. In doing so, I ran across a couple of words I know -- esposa (wife) and esposo (husband). What I didn't know is that the word esposas is handcuffs (shackles) and esposar is to handcuff or shackle someone. Do you think this reflects the Spanish attitude toward marriage?

Muñeca is doll or wrist . . . go figure . . .

posted 18:21 [/Words] permanent link