Log or Blog of Words in the News and from Other Media Sources + (a presentation of word information for your vocabulary enhancement so you can increase your brain gain and decrease your brain drain)
Presentations of words from files which include news about vocabulary information for those who are interested in learning more about English words.
A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanging. It is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
After you visit any of the links below, when you are ready to return to the same page, simply click on your computer monitor's return arrow or return button and you should be able to continue with additional investigations.
Confusing Words starting with Group A.
A significant effort has been made to provide important examples and content clarifications for many confusing English words starting with this first "A" group.
You are urged to take a look and see if this unit provides some guidance as you strive to grasp the similarities and differences of words in this and the following groups of words.
The only thing that isn't hard to get these days is confusion.
-E.C. McKenzie In these modern times, the most popular secular "religion" is Confusionism.
-Rayoa It is believed by many that statisticians collect facts, then draw their own confusions.
-E.C. McKenzie Always think about the words you use. Accuracy in word choice is a key to effective communication. In your daily writing, try to make sure you apply the right word for the right meaning. By doing so, its effect can affect your writing in a positive way.
-Dave Dowling, The Wrong Word Dictionary Decibels or units for measuring the relative intensity of sounds
Are you aware of the different intensity levels of sounds? If for no other reason than for the safety of your hearing, you need to get acquainted with the information available in this decibels unit.
Intelligence is like a river; the deeper it is, the less noise it makes; and tennis is a game that can't be played without raising a racket.
-E.C. McKenzie He who establishes his argument by noise and command, shows that his reason is weak.
-Michel de Montaigne All noise is a waste. So cultivate quietness in your speech, in your thoughts, in your emotions. Speak habitually low. Wait for attention and then our low words will be charged with dynamite
-Elbert Hubbard When the eardrum vibrates, it sets in motion a chain of tiny bones in the middle ear, the names of which we [should] have learned in school: the "hammer" (malleus), the "anvil" (incus), and the "stirrup" (stapes).
The stirrup, the smallest bone in the human body, weighs about 1/2,500 of an ounce.
-Neil McAleer in The Body Almanac Decibels measure sound intensity at any particular frequency. Thus, a whisper from four feet away in a quiet room ranks at about 30 decibels, normal conversation about 60 decibels, a rock band 120 dcibels, and a shotgun 140 decibels.
-J.D. Ratcliff in Your Body and How It Works Dismal, its history and its modern applications
I hope your day is not dismal; however, all of us have a bad or unlucky day, or days, now and then. The history of the word dismal should give you a better idea as to where it came from and where it has been going.
Experience has taught me this, that we undo ourselves by impatience. Misfortunes have their life and their limits, their sickness and their health.
-Michel de Montaigne, French philosopher and writer (1533-1592) Never find your delight in another person's misfortune.
-Publilius Syrus (about the first century B.C.) We want our children to grow up to be such persons that ill-fortune, if they meet with it, will bring out strength in them, and that good fortune will not trip them up, but make them winners.
-Edward Sandford Martin Good fortune will elevate even petty minds, and give them the appearance of a certain greatness and stateliness, as from their high place they look down upon the world; but the truly noble and resolved spirit raises itself, and becomes more conspicuous in times of disaster and ill fortune.
-Plutarch, Greek biographer and philosopher (A.D. 46?-120?) Drinking words includig thirst and swallowing.
Being thirsty and "drinking" words are listed in this dipso- unit.
As usual, there are other units that refer to drinking which are worth seeing, too.
The larynx acts as a derailer to divert food, drink, and air down their respective tracks. When we swallow, the larynx rises causing a piece of cartilage called the epiglottis to move up and back over the glottis, the pathway for air through the trachea.
-Neil McAleer, The Body Almanac Excessive drinking of alcohol makes such fools of people, and people are such fools to begin with, that it's compounding a felony.
-Robert Benchley, United States humorist (1889-1945) Dung beetles, an essential element in natural survival
An often neglected but essential creature to the survival of all natural species is the dung beetle. Learn more about this creature and how important it is that we do it "no harm"; on the contrary, it is essential that we do whatever is necessary to maintain the survival and "healthy" growth of dung beetles because they play a vital role in dung dispersal and nutrient cycling in the global environment.
Nature's laws affirm instead of prohibit. If you violate her laws you are your own prosecuting attorney, judge, jury, and hangman.
-Luther Burbank (1849-1926),
horticulturist who developed many new varieties of fruits, vegetables, and flowers Earth, dirt, and related topics
Words dealing with earth or dirt can not be ignored and so today you will have an opportunity of see many of the words which are interlinked with the topic; especially, as you click on the links at the bottoms of the word group pages.
Agriculture is certainly a part of the "earth, dirt" subject, but you may be surprised to see many other applications of today's topical vocabulary.
Maybe a person's time would be as well spent raising food as raising money to buy food.
-Frank A. Clark Farming is known as a growing industry.
-Evan Esar Eco is used in many words; however, did you know that it refers to "house"?
Are you aware that eco-; as in "environment" and "ecosystem" and many other eco- words are directly related to "house" and "home"?
Check the eco- link as shown above and learn about that "house" group plus many others which are shown at the bottom of each page.
The sun, the moon, and the stars would have disappeared long ago, had they happened to be within reach of predatory human hands.
-Havelock Ellis Should we allow environmental deterioration to continue, man's fate may be worse than extinction.
-Ron S. Boster Humans are determining their futures themselves by the decisions they make regarding their environments or eco systems.
-John Rayoa English-vocabulary quizzes to increase your word skills.
The emphasis is on three groups of unique vocabulary quizzes which is explained at this Vocabulary Quizzes topical page.
You can "control" the number of questions you take from one time until the next, so you don't have to do every question in one setting by utilizing the levels of difficulty. For example, if you want to do the first four levels but you don't want to start all over again with the first one, then simply start the next time with "level five" after you do the first question which will be presented.
If the questions seem to be too easy, then choose a higher level, or a "more difficult level", and proceed from there. The more often you participate in taking the three types of quizzes, the greater your chances of enhancing your vocabulary skills.
English words come from many sources, Part 1
Words That Have Entered English, Part 1
The English language is rich because it isn't purely English. Emerson called it "the sea which receives tributaries from every region under heaven." It has taken about 2000 year to evolve.
The Kelts, Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Greeks, Romans, Danes, Normans, Dutch, Germans, French, Spanish, Italians, Indians, American Indians, Africans; to name just a few, have all made major contributions.
Shakespeare's word contributions include about 1,700 words, among them the following: assassinate, auspicious, barefaced, bump, castigate, countless, critical, dwindle, gnarled, hurry, impartial, lapse, laughable, leapfrog, lonely, misplaced, and monumental.
—From "Brave New Words" by Gyles Brandreth
in The Joy of Lex; William Morrow and Company, Inc.; New York; 1980; Page 7.
English words come from many sources, Part 2
Words That Have Entered English, Part 2
Science has contributed thousands of new words to the English language and here are just a few of them from over the years: magnetism (1616), telescope (1619), gravity (1642), electricity (1646), microscope (1656), botany (1696), zoology (1726), oxygen (1789), atom (1801) evolution (1832), bacterium (1847), pasteurize (1881), hormone (1904), vitamin (1905), and penicillin (1928).
Some war words include these from World War I: binge, camouflage, cushy, scrounge, umpteen, and zoom.
From World War II, we have: blackout, blitz, bulldozer, jeep, and wishful thinking.
—From "Brave New Words" by Gyles Brandreth
in The Joy of Lex; William Morrow and Company, Inc.; New York; 1980; Page 8.
English words containing specific vowel arrangements or unique features
Some words have unique vowel and y arrangements.
Unquestionably is an English word that contains all five vowels and the letter y.
Two English words contain the vowels a, e, i, o, u once and only once in their alphabetical order: abstemious and facetious..
There are three English words that contain the vowels a, e, i, o, u once and only once in their reverse alphabetical order (u, o, i, e, a): subcontinental, uncomplimentary, and unnoticeably.
There are two 17-letter words that contain the same 17 letters: misrepresentation and representationism.
A nine-letter English word that contains only one vowel: strengths.
A 15-letter word that contains all the vowels in which no letter is used more than once: uncopyrightable.
A seven-letter word which does not include any of the five vowels (a, e, i, o, u): rhythms.
A common English word that has 15 letters in it and five of these letters are the same vowel and the word contains no other vowels: defenselessness.
An English word that has no vowels; not even y: psst! An interjection expressing a hiss to get someone's attention; especially, without other people noticing.
—From "Unquestionably!" by Gyles Brandreth
in The Joy of Lex; William Morrow and Company, Inc.; New York; 1980; Page 115-116.
Esthesia and anesthesia, feeling and unfeeling
Esthesia refers to "feeling" but there is a great deal to learn about anesthesia or the elimination of pain. So check out this index page for an interesting history about anesthesia.
Pain, however useful as a warning signal designed to keep living organisms from damaging themselves too badly, becomes useless agony when operations must be performed.
-John Rayoa Eye, eyes, eyelids, sight, etc.
Words dealing with the "eye" or "eyes" start with this unit of core-, coro- words with its related links.
There's a face-lift you can perform yourself that is guaranteed to improve your appearance. It's called a smile.
-E.C McKenzie Feelings and perceptions
Are you aware of how many ways there are of feeling physical and mental sensations?
If you visit this link and follow those at the bottoms of each of the pages, you will find out that there are MANY words that express sensations some of which all of us experience at some time in our lives.
Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as is cooperation with good.
-Mohandas Gandhi (1869–1948) The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
-Edmund Burke (1729-1797) Fingers and toes, another necessity for normal functioning
This time, the emphasis is on words that mean fingers and toes and the beginning unit is dactylo-, dactyl- plus other word families that deal with fingers and/or toes as indicated by the links shown at the bottom of each page in the unit.
Fingers are what you can count on when everything else is lost.
-Evan Esar Fingernails are what some people file wile others cut them off and throw them away.
-Evan Esar Our fingertips are so sensitive that a single touch sensor can respond to a pressure of less than 1/1,400 of an ounce or about 20 milligrams, which is about what an average-sized fly weighs.
-Neil McAleer in The Body Almanac Structurally, we hands are the most intricate components of a human body. In no other part of the body is so much machinery packed into so small a space.
As a hand, I have eight wrist bones, five bones in my palm, fourteen in my digits for a total of twenty-seven.
My supply of nerves to detect heat, touch, and pain is one of the most elaborate in the body. I have thousands of nerve endings per square inch, most heavily concentrated in my fingertips.
-J.D. Ratcliff in Your Body and How It Works
This link will take you to the Focal Points of Information for links to other topics or subjects of interest.
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