In which I dizzyingly dive into a dictionary of discriminating proportion, lament the turning of words into cudgels in these tumultuous times, and call for a return to words as instruments of peace.
My word, quite a week you had. From "rags to riches," one might say.
Concerning 1942, while those lexicographers in Springfield, Mass were busy discerning distinctions, Dwight Eisenhower had a meteoric rise, from little known field officer, to head of the War Plans Division, to Chief of the newly created Operations Division, to Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces. All within one year, a swift, sudden, even dazzling series of promotions.
An erudite five-star general in an era when hard working editors would discern subtle shades of meaning, such speaks - I might suggest - to how the war was won, fascism defeated. Alas, we have fallen from grace, words now as cudgels.
Stay the course, oh bard of Friday mornings!
There are no coincidences. In our home, as sentry, stands an unabridged 1947 Second Edition Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, semper paratus - like a Marine - ever at attention to anyone curious enough to peruse.
Of note, in 1947 Eisenhower reorganized the U.S. military, replacing the War Department with the National Military Establishment (later the Department of Defense) and creating the Department of the Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
We have come full circle, it would seem. I trust the lexicographers shall outfox the Fox News War mongers.
In the meantime, this news: "Hegseth was so eager to get [one of the two floor globes General Dwight D. Eisenhower used during World War II] in place that rather than waiting for trained curators to move it, as is expected for any such priceless historic artifact, Hegseth’s staff decided to retrieve it on their own. They dropped it. The artifact smashed into its base, and the stand impaled it, ripping a gash through the fragile globe. It never did end up in Hegseth’s office."
What, then, is the discriminating synonym for "pompous pomaded asshole"?
oh, holy holy crap! (and that's not the first word i used there.....) i had not heard the damn debacle of the shattered globe. ain't that a metaphor, right there?!?!?!?!? your reply is worthy of its own post!!!
Ragdale! How lucky for you two! How vintage-y cozy!
When I took a tour, saw framed letters by Carl Sandburg (exciting to see his actual signature!) and a closet there whimsically painted by cartoonist Lynda Barry - Substack doesn’t allow posting photos in these comments. ☹️
oh gracious! i squinted, moved but a fraction of inch nose-to-glass to read that sandburg poem to dear florence, but i did NOT find a lynda barry closet -- oh my! i didn't tiptoe into any other bedrooms, only the one they unlocked for us: Alice's Rooms. if only it had been warmer i would have slept on alice's sleeping porch. and apologies for some of the rules around here. i can't post any pix smaller than full size (unless in a galley), and i miss that.
and thank you for pre-ordering! i gotta say that's a mighty fine deal! who knew!!! if it was me, i'd be giving 'em away. but all i get to do is write it. :))
Barbie Dear……..First off the Pope’s medical issue made me think of you as well. I pray for both of you…… Having majored in English Lit, (a very long time ago), this post made me think about passages committed to memory. At this age and stage I will occasionally walk into a room and think “wait why did I come in here?” but this old brain can still come up with the likes of Portia’s Mercy Speech, Hamlet’s Soliloquy and other random samplings (Dante, Dickens, etc.) thanks to teachers and professors dedicated to the classics. Such genius had import through the ages and applications today!
Yours was a far more literary college education than mine, where I read deep into Med-Surg II!! (Though the jesuits did squeeze in a good bit of theology!)
Yes I would have guessed zero, and also, would regale you with my fervent attempts to steer my argumentative son, when he was 15, toward the actual dictionary instead of that hot box of depravity called the internet, which he found endlessly useful. Just yesterday, I sat in a sunny spot in the yard, discussing how we name certain plants "invasives" and treat them as we are now treating humans, with derision and violence. My conversation mate was a native Japanese speaker with 15 years of English under her belt. Her word choices were so succinct-erudite!, my fingers itched for the dictionary to keep up with her. Much wordy love to you today, sbb
My word, quite a week you had. From "rags to riches," one might say.
Concerning 1942, while those lexicographers in Springfield, Mass were busy discerning distinctions, Dwight Eisenhower had a meteoric rise, from little known field officer, to head of the War Plans Division, to Chief of the newly created Operations Division, to Commander-in-Chief of Allied Forces. All within one year, a swift, sudden, even dazzling series of promotions.
An erudite five-star general in an era when hard working editors would discern subtle shades of meaning, such speaks - I might suggest - to how the war was won, fascism defeated. Alas, we have fallen from grace, words now as cudgels.
Stay the course, oh bard of Friday mornings!
There are no coincidences. In our home, as sentry, stands an unabridged 1947 Second Edition Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, semper paratus - like a Marine - ever at attention to anyone curious enough to peruse.
Of note, in 1947 Eisenhower reorganized the U.S. military, replacing the War Department with the National Military Establishment (later the Department of Defense) and creating the Department of the Air Force and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
We have come full circle, it would seem. I trust the lexicographers shall outfox the Fox News War mongers.
In the meantime, this news: "Hegseth was so eager to get [one of the two floor globes General Dwight D. Eisenhower used during World War II] in place that rather than waiting for trained curators to move it, as is expected for any such priceless historic artifact, Hegseth’s staff decided to retrieve it on their own. They dropped it. The artifact smashed into its base, and the stand impaled it, ripping a gash through the fragile globe. It never did end up in Hegseth’s office."
What, then, is the discriminating synonym for "pompous pomaded asshole"?
oh, holy holy crap! (and that's not the first word i used there.....) i had not heard the damn debacle of the shattered globe. ain't that a metaphor, right there?!?!?!?!? your reply is worthy of its own post!!!
Ragdale! How lucky for you two! How vintage-y cozy!
When I took a tour, saw framed letters by Carl Sandburg (exciting to see his actual signature!) and a closet there whimsically painted by cartoonist Lynda Barry - Substack doesn’t allow posting photos in these comments. ☹️
Also ✅ new book ordered.
oh gracious! i squinted, moved but a fraction of inch nose-to-glass to read that sandburg poem to dear florence, but i did NOT find a lynda barry closet -- oh my! i didn't tiptoe into any other bedrooms, only the one they unlocked for us: Alice's Rooms. if only it had been warmer i would have slept on alice's sleeping porch. and apologies for some of the rules around here. i can't post any pix smaller than full size (unless in a galley), and i miss that.
and thank you for pre-ordering! i gotta say that's a mighty fine deal! who knew!!! if it was me, i'd be giving 'em away. but all i get to do is write it. :))
research suggests, "Popinjay" or "coxcomb" suffice as discriminating synonyms for said War monger.
love research, especially that which digs deep into the bowels of mongering.....
Barbie Dear……..First off the Pope’s medical issue made me think of you as well. I pray for both of you…… Having majored in English Lit, (a very long time ago), this post made me think about passages committed to memory. At this age and stage I will occasionally walk into a room and think “wait why did I come in here?” but this old brain can still come up with the likes of Portia’s Mercy Speech, Hamlet’s Soliloquy and other random samplings (Dante, Dickens, etc.) thanks to teachers and professors dedicated to the classics. Such genius had import through the ages and applications today!
Thanks for bringing this to mind! Xoxo 🩷
Yours was a far more literary college education than mine, where I read deep into Med-Surg II!! (Though the jesuits did squeeze in a good bit of theology!)
Yes I would have guessed zero, and also, would regale you with my fervent attempts to steer my argumentative son, when he was 15, toward the actual dictionary instead of that hot box of depravity called the internet, which he found endlessly useful. Just yesterday, I sat in a sunny spot in the yard, discussing how we name certain plants "invasives" and treat them as we are now treating humans, with derision and violence. My conversation mate was a native Japanese speaker with 15 years of English under her belt. Her word choices were so succinct-erudite!, my fingers itched for the dictionary to keep up with her. Much wordy love to you today, sbb