Month: December 2015

The body’s own soul is the face

I was once an  outspoken agnostic

My harsh words could sound frightfully caustic

But I saw the light

Turn green in my sight.

So I repaired my own soul with some bostick [glue sold in UK]

 

The body’s own soul is the face

Which often is lit up with grace.

So   I am  gentle when gazing

On  you when embracing.

And take care in your sweet sacred space.

 

Agnostic:the etymology

FROM  ONLINE ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY

books.jpgPhoto0315

agnostic (n.) Look up agnostic at Dictionary.com1870, “one who professes that the existence of a First Cause and the essential nature of things are not and cannot be known” [Klein]; coined by T.H. Huxley (1825-1895), supposedly in September 1869, from Greek agnostos “unknown, unknowable,” from a- “not” + gnostos “(to be) known” (see gnostic). Sometimes said to be a reference to Paul’s mention of the altar to “the Unknown God,” but according to Huxley it was coined with reference to the early Church movement known as Gnosticism (see Gnostic).

I … invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of ‘agnostic,’ … antithetic to the ‘Gnostic’ of Church history who professed to know so much about the very things of which I was ignorant. [T.H. Huxley, “Science and Christian Tradition,” 1889]

The adjective is first recorded 1878

 

That’s not cricket

 

https://youtu.be/5rib95MMfwY

NewColl2People in other countries may not know how important cricket is here,literally and symbolically.If a man did something dubious or against the rules  another man might say,That’s not cricket

In one way we were very advanced because even before Wittgenstein  wrote about language games and so on,we ,here ,already knew life was a game and we should

“play the game”

That means,do the right thing in some particular context.If only someone had patented the notion,we’d all be famous now.For one minute.

Other important things are old churches abd caathedrals and singing.Our favourite hymn is Jerusalem which is a poem by Blake.And some people think Jerusalemwas here once but this is an error.

To brighten our spirits

Two of the butterflies Mike  saw when he was in the Far East.There are so many  kinds it’s really hard to identify them when you’ve not seen any of them before.For me,just seeing them here  is a good experience–seeing them in their natural habitat must be very delightful to the eye

 

To the tapping bird

A bird taps on this window every day,
Frail as flying leaves are in a gale.
But now he perches on the potted bay.
He feels the weather like the blind do braille.

This bird is faithful and I hold him dear.
He’s fearless as he pecks upon the glass.
We hope he has a modicum of fear,
For who knows when a sparrow hawk will pass?

I see him like a human soul forlorn
Struggling to discern his fateful way.
For soon he may be taken by a storm
But blithely he will eat, and after play.

The smallest bird has trust in the Unknown
By his example, our own way is shown

Reflections on altruism

I have read research works that show that many of us who say we are not racist or not anti-feminist are actually but we don’t recognise it.But measurements of various kinds and questions showed people reacting differently to women or black people in interviews and at social events.The last verse is meant to slightly humorously say we don’t leave Jews out of the team because of anti-semitism,we just know they don’t like playing cricket.If you think it comes over to mean something other than that would you kindly put a comment below.Thank you.

 

 

We all  like to believe we are saintly.

We’re not racists nor are we unkind

Well I  have discovered

Prejudice’s uncovered

When we tap  into our unconscious mind.

 

It’s not enough to want to be moral

It takes a big effort at times.

The first step ironical,

Is to find the demonical,

In the black side of our own dear sweet minds.

 

Once we get there we  will suffer

But it’s the only way we can change what we do.

For if we  know our own evil;

Stop automatic retrieval;

Then  we shall have  fewer actions  to rue.

 

It’s not wilful blindness I speak of

But when we do it unknowing,

“I’m not anti Semitic…

It’s just  that Jews can’t play cricket!”

Pardon me ,your slip’ s showing.

 

A SLIP IS A LADY’S UNDERSKIRT ot petticoat  and if it showed by accident it was shameful.

 

SLIPS ALSO OCCUR WHEN WE WALK ON ICE AND FALL OVER

FREUDIAN SLIP.. WE ACCIDENTALLY  SAY SOMETHING WE WERE TRYING TO CONCEAL

 

 

 

 

 

Altruism: a good word for writing poetry because it has many rhyming words.

6332981_f520
 From Merriam Webster

Altruism

play

noun al·tru·ism \ˈal-trü-ˌi-zəm\

Simple Definition of altruism

Popularity: Top 1% of lookups

  • : feelings and behavior that show a desire to help other people and a lack of selfishness

Full Definition of altruism

  1. 1:  unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others

  2. 2:  behavior by an animal that is not beneficial to or may be harmful to itself but that benefits others of its species

al·tru·ist play\-trü-ist\ noun
al·tru·is·tic play\ˌal-trü-ˈis-tik\ adjective
al·tru·is·ti·cal·ly play\-ti-k(ə-)lē\ adverb

See altruism defined for English-language learners

See altruism defined for kids

Examples of altruism

  1. A few skimpy corporate pensions were paid, but they were offered as much as departure incentives designed to promote business efficiency as expressions of altruism. —W. Andrew Achenbaum, Wilson Quarterly, Spring 2006

  2. Mary may have ample resources and prefer that her share pass to her children who have greater need and are in lower income tax brackets. (The progressive nature of our tax laws often fosters such altruism among family members.) —William M. McGovern, Jr. et al., Wills, Trusts and Estates, 1988

  3. And he still chokes up when he tells the story. Even at that young age, he understood that what his aunt was doing for him was the purest act of altruism. —Gail Sheehy, New York Times Magazine, 20 Apr. 1986

Origin of altruism

French altruisme, from autrui other people, from Old French, oblique case form ofautre other, from Latin alter
First Known Use:

Rhymes with altruism

absurdism, activism, Adventism, alarmism,albinism, alpinism, anarchism, aneurysm,anglicism, animism, aphorism, Arabism,archaism, asterism, atavism, atheism,atomism, atticism, Bahaism, barbarism,Benthamism, biblicism, blackguardism,bolshevism, boosterism, botulism,bourbonism, Brahmanism, Briticism,Caesarism, Calvinism, can-do-ism,careerism, Castroism, cataclysm,catechism, Catharism, centralism,chauvinism, chimerism, classicism,communism, concretism, conformism,cretinism, criticism, cronyism, cynicism,dadaism, dandyism, Darwinism, defeatism,de Gaullism, despotism, die-hardism,dimorphism, Docetism, do-goodism,dogmatism, Donatism, Don Juanism,druidism, dynamism, egoism, elitism,embolism, endemism, erethism, ergotism,erotism, escapism, Essenism, etatism,eunuchism, euphemism, euphuism,exorcism, expertism, extremism, fairyism,familism, fatalism, feminism, feudalism,fideism, fogyism, foreignism, formalism,futurism, gallicism, galvanism, gangsterism,genteelism, Germanism, giantism,gigantism, globalism, gnosticism,Gongorism, Gothicism, gourmandism,gradualism, grangerism, greenbackism,Hasidism, heathenism, Hebraism,hedonism, Hellenism, herbalism,hermetism, hermitism, heroism,highbrowism, Hinduism, hipsterism,hirsutism, hispanism, Hitlerism,hoodlumism, hoodooism, hucksterism,humanism, Hussitism, hybridism,hypnotism, Ibsenism, idealism, imagism,Irishism, Islamism, Jansenism, jim crowism,jingoism, journalism, John Bullism, Judaism,Junkerism, kabbalism, kaiserism,Krishnaism, Ku Kluxism, laconism, laicism,Lamaism, Lamarckism, landlordism,Latinism, legalism, Leninism, lobbyism,localism, locoism, Lollardism, luminism,lyricism, magnetism, mammonism,mannerism, Marcionism, masochism,mechanism, melanism, meliorism,Menshevism, Mendelism, mentalism,methodism, me-tooism, modernism,Mohockism, monachism, monadism,monarchism, mongolism, Montanism,moralism, Mormonism, morphinism,mullahism, mysticism, narcissism,nationalism, nativism, nepotism,neutralism, nihilism, NIMBYism, nomadism,occultism, onanism, optimism, oralism,Orangeism, organism, ostracism, pacifism,paganism, Pan-Slavism, pantheism,Parsiism, passivism, pauperism, phallicism,pianism, pietism, Platonism, pleinairism,pluralism, pointillism, populism,pragmatism, presentism, privatism,prosaism, Prussianism, puerilism, pugilism,Puseyism, Pyrrhonism, Quakerism,quietism, rabbinism, racialism, rationalism,realism, reformism, rheumatism, rigorism,robotism, Romanism, Rousseauism,rowdyism, royalism, satanism, saturnism,savagism, scapegoatism, schematism,scientism, sciolism, Scotticism, Semitism,Shakerism, Shintoism, skepticism,socialism, solecism, solipsism,Southernism, specialism, speciesism,Spartanism, Spinozism, spiritism,spoonerism, Stalinism, standpattism,stoicism, syllogism, symbolism,synchronism, syncretism, synergism,talmudism, tarantism, tectonism,tenebrism, terrorism, Teutonism, titanism,Titoism, toadyism, tokenism, Toryism,totalism, totemism, transvestism,traumatism, tribalism, tritheism,Trotskyism, ultraism, unionism, urbanism,utopism, Vaishnavism, vampirism,vandalism, vanguardism, Vedantism,veganism, verbalism, virilism, vitalism,vocalism, volcanism, voodooism, vorticism,voyeurism, vulcanism, vulgarism,Wahhabism, warlordism, welfarism,Wellerism, witticism, womanism, yahooism,Yankeeism, Yiddishism, Zionism, zombiism

Learn More about altruism

  1. Spanish Central: Translation of “altruism”Nglish: Translation of “altruism” for Spanish speakersBritannica English: Translation of “altruism” for Arabic speakers

Lavatory humor

He wanted to behave  very  politely

But there wasn’t a toilet in sight

So he used a car bumper

Offside,that’ll  stumper.

Alas he was in Hackney that night.

 

Why did they shut our conveniences?

It’s alright in a departmental store.

But when that is closed

We have to suppose

The options are the wall or the floor.

 

Living in a city isn’t easy

In the Pennines you can wee on the moors.

A drystone wall’s dandy

For women, it’s handy.

As long as you’re not Pussy Galore.

 

When driving on a long journey,

It’s trying when companions nag.

I’ve had UTI’s

Which take me by surprise.

I  need a bucket and not a handbag.

 

We all must live with  anxiety

But shutting down toilets is  bad.

When we feel shy

We want to stay dry.

Sometimes it makes  folk go mad.

 

Some forms  of angst must be dealt with

But some are created by fools.

We ought to have a Pee In

As log as we agree on

How we can hide our bare tools.

 

We’ll meet at the gates across THAT street

And pass water when I ring a bell.

We’d make the TV news

And  viewers send reviews

If we never try how can we tell?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Humour helps

dandelion

Whatever is wrong with us,humour usually helps.It helps physical illness,tension,depression,stress.It helps people to forgive each other and it helps our minds to function better,There are lots of books with collections of humour from different sources, different people and different cultures even religions.You can also get good sources from the internet if you want to save money.
Then,think about games we played as children.They were often funny although children can be cruel.Why not make up some jokes yourself as a kind of game.That can be more beneficial than just reading them.Writing also helps when we are ng online.On Penzu you can share too if you wish.
I find my own humour makes me laugh even though I made it up myself
Scientific humour
When you are courting a darling man an hour seems like a second. When you sit on a red-hot cinder a second seems like an hour. That’s relativity.
Alberta MacEinstein [Ms]
When you are making her tea with parboiled water, remember that she might empty the pot on you and then where would you be?
That’s uncertainty.
Wendy Heisenberg.{Dr}
I was raised as a Catholic,taught always to commit at least one sin prior to Confession,never to eat before taking Communion and especially never to Confess before or after eating left over Communion wafers whilst having sex with a rubber man.
Pope Jane 1
A minute reading some blogs seems like it’s been raining for a year, and a minute reading a naughty joke makes women wet themselves in seconds.
That’s uncommon sense
Tea Leafe.[Mrs]
Woody Allen
“I was raised in the Jewish tradition, taught never to marry a Gentile woman, shave on Saturday and, most especially, never to shave a Gentile woman on Saturday.” -Woody Allen.

First they close the public conveniences…

 BBC NEWS
 I especially like the admonition for us to  enjoy ourselves responsibly.As if  needing to pee is fun.As a woman  it’s even harder to find anywhere.

“‘Anti-pee’ walls in Hackney will splash offenders

  • 29 minutes ago
  • From the section
  • Lon

A special wall coating designed to soak anyone who tries to urinate against it is being trialled by a London council.

The liquid-repelling coating will be used at two popular drinking locations in Shoreditch and Dalston, east London.

Hackney Council spends £100,000 a year cleaning urine off walls and pavements.

Feryal Dermici, cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said: “If the prospect of a fine doesn’t put them off from weeing in the street, maybe the risk of getting covered in urine will.”

The treatment creates a barrier that repels liquid, meaning that urine will bounce off the wall and back towards the offender.

It is also intended to stop urine soaking into the wall, reducing stains and smells.

A council spokeswoman urged people to enjoy themselves responsibly and “think about the people living nearby”.”

Dead ok

All’s well, but death’s hell

Bereaved,deceased but not dead right.

Richard the Bird.

The Merchant of Penance.

A Midsummer Night’s  Scream.

I’m a Racist,  buy me on E bay

King Sneer

MacDeath.

Baconlet.

Auntie Semitic.

The War of the Poses.

Sociopaths rule here.

Little Hell.

Oliver’s Pissed.

The immorality of Economics  part 1

 

Stan and statistics

Stan was teaching social statistics to a group of elderly neighbors.Since he was 109 it gave them all hope to see him demonstrating his prowess with various techniques.He was planning to do some logic and philosophy too.Annie was sitting by the door ,  dressed in violet, so she could answer the bell if any paramedics turned up for tea.
I’m not going to calculate ” the standard deviations” Stan murmured.”I just want you to grasp the general purpose.”
“Deviations,they’re not normal are they?” enquired his neighbor “Henry,an ex-English teacher.”So how can they be standard.It’s confusing..”
“Are you thinking of deviants?” Stan enquired calmly yet firmly.

”Certainly not,at my age I’m a bit past that!”

“Still it adds a bit of excitement to the class.” he thought.
How do words in ordinary language relate to those in Statistics?”asked Henry kindly.
“They are just more precisely defined in statistics.To say someone is a deviant is a rather vague term.”
“No,it’s not!My neighbor is a deviant.He always dresses entirely in yellow.”
“Well,that must be hard to do.Certainly unusual.” Stan agreed boldly.
“But in another country that might be the norm.So it’s a matter of context.In statistics it’s more boring.There’s a formula.It’s totally independent of context.Have you ever wondered why so many mathematicians have more than a touch of Asperger’s syndrome?”

“No,it’s not something that wanders through my mind much”replied Henry
A shudder passed through the room at hearing the word “formula“,which perhaps they considered something of a deviant!

Anything with letters and numbers mixed together is certainly not welcome in many people’s minds, along with their more unusual sexual tastes,desires and inclinations which were kept secret even from themselves in many cases.

“Time for tea.” called Annie,hoping to divert their attention.She carried in a platter of mouse sandwiches kindly donated by the local ambulance service and some iced Victoria sponge she and Stan had madethe day before.
“Just a quick word about next week.We’ll take a look at ratios and proportions and maybe see how that relates to the concept of rationality.”
“That sounds fun!” Annie called encouragingly.Henry decided to act on a deviant desire and fell onto her lap.

”Oh,dear!” she gasped loudly as the chair collapsed under her.

”Why can’t you be deviant at home?”
“My wife won’t let me!” He kindly answered.
“And look,” Stan continued,”we’ll have to ring 999.This chair is in fragments.I thought for one day we’d be able to avoid calling them out!”
“Well,life is not controllable.” said a quiet but fierce looking lady with sharp green eyes.”That’s what makes it tolerable“
She then greedily consumed a large piece of iced cake .
“I can stand the thinking if the cake is good” she whispered to her shy friend Amy.

”That’s rather a feeble argument,”Amy retorted.

”You can’t really compare cake and statistics.”
“I’ll compare anything I like!” the green eyed woman snarled loudly.
“You do what you like but you must keep a sense of proportion!”
“Now then,have you rung 999?” Stan queried of Annie.

”Yes,here they are,and they’ve got a stretcher for the chair!”
“Well,that’s certainly unusual,even deviant“,Stan thought anxiously to himself.”Where do they get their funding? Is there a fund for distributing money to help chairs which are not well balanced?

 

durham owl

short-eared durham owl

meditating over the dale’s edge,
shadows the fields and folds
in elegant diurnal flight.

on windside,careful sight
may swoop to prey
and away.

your yellow broad-eyed look,
at once both sharp and distant,
holds me.
oh,silence,
oh ,wind on green,
oh. earth,
sky.

immense your held vision,
sphere without centre,
pied geometer of flight,
sketch your descent and ascent.

trees bunched by dry stone wall
call heart home.

The cake

Alfred wished his wife would make a cake.

He himself could never boil or bake.s

When Marie bought   cakes in Marks

His eyes gave out fierce orange sparks.

I thought their marriage was at risk

And I undertook my task.

I bought a needle circular

Now I knit round cakes for her

The soul with grief and love is weighted down

The soul with grief and love is weighted down

And does not know directions nor the time.

Winter sky of  darkness   wears a frown.

The soul alone is waiting as I rhyme.

 

 

To escape our grieving would be wrong.

To  drown ourselves in liquor is a waste

But now I hear a subterranean song.

The offerings of the Lord I surely taste.

 

The music wells up slowly and rings out

I sing as sweetly as my chords allow.

The riches of the mall are of no clout.

The angels  gather round me gently now.

 

Grieving is not evil nor corrupt

Grieving can our hollow lives disrupt

 

 

As social strata need to be maintained.

In England deference is required

As social strata need to be maintained.

And yet with rage my soul is fired.

For in poverty the sick are to be detained.

 

Who will be the woman of the year?

What crystal night glass will she need  to smash?

What ceiling may fall down and our hearts tear?

Shall we hurl ourselves into the trash?

 

And which prime minister will we applaud

For making us feel safe and sane next year?

As we haunt the January Sales ,Oh Lord,

Forgive us if our brother’s coat we tear.

 

Was God incarnate here upon the earth?

We heard a single mother gave him birth.

 

 

Deferential,I

Deferential, I

Eternity await

Submit to your  grace

In my patient state.

 

None but God can judge;

None have his pure gaze.

Write me not your wish.

Tempt me not with praise.

 

Timeless as the  heavens

Eternity is now

Mindful of this lesson

Grace will show me how

 

By chance the word of the day fits with our earlier discussions:deference

 download

Word of the Day : December 16, 2015

deference

play

noun DEF-uh-runss

Definition

: respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also : affected or ingratiating regard for another’s wishes

Examples

Showing deference to his visiting uncle, Charles insisted on giving up his usual seat at the head of the dinner table so that the older gentleman could take his place.

“At 84, he’s … the business’s greatest living screenwriter and … a man whom stars treat with a deference he doesn’t always reciprocate.” — Boris Kachka, Vulture, 4 Nov. 2015

Learn a new word every day.
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Did You Know?

The words deference and defer both derive from the Latin deferre, which means “to bring down” or “to carry away.” At the same time you might also hear that defer traces to the Latindifferre, which means “to postpone” or “to differ.” Which root is right? Both. That’s because English has two verbs, or homographs, spelled defer. One means “to submit or delegate to another” (as in “I defer to your greater expertise”). That’s the  one that is closely related to deference and that comes from deferre. The other means “to put off or delay” (as in “we decided to defer the decision until next month”); that second defer derives from differ

WOW

There’s somethin’ there I canna figure.

https://youtu.be/P-Q9D4dcYng

PICT0003

I once tried to climb up the ladder

Crying,echelons,I don’t give  b*gger.

oBut  the top rung was smokin’

And the next down was  broken.

There’s somethin’ there we canna figure

 

 

Is it mi  Northern  deportment,

Which I didna think were important?

We  women  ‘et  Pennines

‘u seen employment declining

And owa men   forced to smoke fags f ‘et ‘et excitement

 

 

instead of the we used to say het or ‘et which is connected to lanaguages like Dutch.

Echelon:what does it mean?

Painted My books and home 010 This word has a  large number of usages.From military to mathematical.It means  [in the French/Latin,]taken literally,

“rung of the ladder”

 

From dictionary.com
echelon
[esh-uh-lon]

noun
1.
a level of command, authority, or rank:
After years of service, she is now in the upper echelon of city officials.
Synonyms: place, rank, hierarchy, authority, grade, office; row, tier, rung; social standing, position, class, standing.
2.
a level of worthiness, achievement, or reputation:
studying hard to get into one of the top echelon colleges.
Synonyms: degree, position, tier.
3.
Military. a formation of troops, ships, airplanes, etc., in which groups of soldiers or individual vehicles or craft are arranged in parallel lines, either with each line extending to the right of the one in front (right echelon) or with each line extending to the left of the one in front (left echelon) so that the whole presents the appearance of steps.
4.
Military. one of the groups of a formation so arranged.
5.
Archaic. any structure or group of structures arranged in a steplike form.
6.
Also called echelon grating. Spectroscopy. a diffraction grating that is used in the resolution of fine structure lines and consists of a series of plates of equal thickness stacked in staircase fashion.
verb (used with or without object)
7.
to form in an echelon.
Origin of echelon Expand
FrenchOld French
1790-18001790-1800; < French échelon, orig. rung of a ladder, Old French eschelon, equivalent to esch (i) ele ladder (< Latin scāla; see scale3) + -on noun suffix
Related forms
echelonment, noun
Word story Expand
Echelon comes from the French échelon, a word whose literal meaning is “rung of a ladder.” Initially it was confined to military use, to refer to a step-like formation of troops.
Ironically, while echelon entered English in a military context, it was the first and second World Wars that extended the meaning to other, nonmilitary, sectors. During World War I, the term took on a more generalized sense of a “level” or “subdivision”; World War II broadened echelon’s usage to describe grades and ranks in professions outside the military.
At the same time, English speakers started using echelon to classify institutions or persons they held in high esteem by referring to them as part of the “upper” or “top” echelon. With this in mind, the phrase “social climber” conjures up the image of people who wish to ascend through the various ladder rungs of society until they reach the top.

Popular references Expand
—Row echelon form: In linear algebra, a simplified form of a matrix in which each non-zero row has more leading zeros than the previous row.
—ECHELON: Code name of a global surveillance system developed by the United States National Security Agency (NSA). It operates by intercepting and processing international communications transmitted via communications satellites.
—Third Echelon: A fictional sub-group of the NSA created by Tom Clancy in his Splinter Cell book series.
Related Quotations Expand
“Beyond [the city] were the suburban homes of laborers and low-echelon executives who had carved brass-knuckled niches for themselves in the medium-income bracket.“
—Irving E. Cox, Jr., The Cartels Jungle (1955)
“If a CEO wavers and shows signs of not being confident of which way he wants to go, it sends shudders from the top echelon all the way down the mountain.“
—D. A. Benton, How to think like a CEO (2000)
“[I]t is a monstrous leap from what [a master] can do to what the elite grandmasters (the Fischers and the Karpovs and the Kasparovs) can do, which is why even the top echelon of players often maintain a base of humility beneath their bluster.“
—Michael Weinreb, Game of Kings: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Geniuses Who Make Up America’s Top High School Chess Team (2007)
“By echelon we mean a formation in which the subdivisions are placed one behind another, extending beyond and unmasking one another either wholly or in part.“
—James Alfred Moss, Manual of Military Training (1914)
“[T]hey echeloned to the right around the hill, and the 1st Platoon fired into their flank for ten to fifteen minutes; however, they never slacked or broke formation.“
—William T. Bowers, The Line: Combat In Korea, January–February 1951, Volume 1 (2008)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2015.
Cite This Source
Examples from the Web for echelon Expand
Contemporary Examples
The echelon below were 18-year-old Olders, overseeing Babies and Tinies as young as 10 in the final rung.

A Tinderbox Waiting for a Match
Gavin Knight
August 10, 2011
I think Tina is the first woman who has gotten into that echelon.

TV’s Funniest New Moms
Kara Cutruzzula
March 23, 2009
The view may look bright at the top GOP echelon, but that does not appear to be the attitude of the rank and file.

Why the GOP Should Panic
Matt Latimer
November 6, 2011
Historical Examples
You will start at nightfall with three hundred men, whom you will echelon along the road.

Original Short Stories of Maupassant, Volume 1
Guy de Maupassant
The formation was in echelon by the right, with unequal intervals.

King Robert the Bruce
A. F. Murison
Another battalion had also suffered considerably from shell fire, and was posted in echelon on the left rear.

With a Highland Regiment in Mesopotamia
One of its Officer
The advance was made by the two brigades in squares marching in echelon.

The Egyptian campaigns, 1882 to 1885
Charles Royle
General Hunter evidently conceived the rear of the echelon threatened from the direction of Kerreri.

The River War
Winston S. Churchill
We could negate the efforts of any echelon below the Eddorians themselves, it is true.

Triplanetary
Edward Elmer Smith
All egress is stopped by the Allies’ echelon formation, except by Aleppo.

World’s War Events, Vol. II
Various

British Dictionary definitions for echelon Expand
echelon
/ˈɛʃəˌlɒn/
noun
1.
a level of command, responsibility, etc (esp in the phrase the upper echelons)
2.
(military)
a formation in which units follow one another but are offset sufficiently to allow each unit a line of fire ahead
a group formed in this way
3.
(physics) a type of diffraction grating used in spectroscopy consisting of a series of plates of equal thickness arranged stepwise with a constant offset
verb
4.
to assemble in echelon
Word Origin
C18: from French échelon, literally: rung of a ladder, from Old French eschiele ladder, from Latin scāla; see scale ³
Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cite This Source
Word Origin and History for echelon Expand
n.
1796, “step-like arrangement of troops,” from French échelon “level, echelon,” literally “rung of a ladder,” from Old French eschelon, from eschiele “ladder,” from Late Latin scala “stair, slope,” from Latin scalae (plural) “ladder, steps,” from PIE *skand- “to spring, leap” (see scan ). Sense of “level, subdivision” is from World War I.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Colloquial English terms used in conversation with friends or even between relative strangers

Ballard_Farmers'_Market_-_vegetables (1)

Wikipedia image of market

http://englishlive.ef.com/blog/sweetheart-love-darling-typical-british-terms-endearment/

 

There are some terms here I’ve never used or heard but I wonder why people usually in  the lower or middle  classes use these kind terms especially when you see how aggrsesive politicians are both with us and with other countries.And how cold many of the upper classes seem.Perhaps boarding school affects them so badly or they think it’s common

 

winter-hill-51f940440f2e0

My ow bit of England

 

 

I am planning to write a longer article on this over Xmas

 

7

http://englishlive.ef.com/blog/sweetheart-love-darling-typical-british-terms-endearment/

Fear of movement after injury

This is another type of kinesiophobia which seems sensible but in the long run is not.It affects people in chronic pain,

KODAK Digital Still Camera

 

http://www.healthcentral.com/chronic-pain/c/23153/147406/movement/

The caterpillar cried

Is there a nutmeg in the house,the caterpillar cried.

I’ve been upstairs and locked the door,what else might I try?

I used mace for many years the beetle told us all.

If you budget carefully,the expense will not appall

I have no time to go to town,the moth indignant cried.

And anyone who says I have will very truly lie.

A Penguin cookery book fell down and hit the sleeping cat;

I’ll ask the Vicar what she thinks of coincidence like that.

We looked for maces everywhere but nothing did we find

Except an old lace petticoat  beginning to unwind.

Is there an alternative? the mouse asked timidly.

Personally I don’t put dried mace into my tea.

A housefly and a  bluebottle refused to speak at all

Because they’d just got married and were saving for a ball.

I find it hard to live like this and I shall go to bed

But all the creatures loudly cried, Oh,when will we be fed?

A little collection from my other blog

The library of ideas

 I thought I'd write some poetry,
Though my thinking was too blind.
So I called into the Ideas Library
To see what I could find.

I looked through rows of new ideas
but none of them appealed,
I turned and tripped and banged my head,
where ideas can be concealed.

If you bang your head extremely hard
You really do see stars.
but don't do this to loosen thoughts,
It's the riskiest method by far 

I spent the night in hospital,
Awakened every hour
I was advised to watch my step
And avoid the Ideas Tower.

I wonder if there is a shop
Where ideas and dreams are sold?
For just a small expenditure,
Put your creative mind on hold.

But if you can't afford to pay
The library is still there.
Just look around and use your mind.
Ideas are everywhere.

The interaction of the world
With vision,thought and mind,
Produces many new ideas.
Those who seek shall find

Just a load of cliches

I once lived in a notebook but now I live in your head with your dreams.

And I scheme.

He was warmed to the truth by tea and intoxicatologigated by me

I see!

I am right round the corner from him.You might say,we are at right angled cross purposes

Is there a  cross surplus?.

As all set out,storms set in,then we all fell out if you see what I dream.

I   am mean

You are as truthful as as a chorus of wrongs in rites of the Church choir

Don't leave me in the lurch.I'm a liar.

He’s as tense as a mournful frog in a bog in Ireland in wintery discontentll

It's all meant

As far as the wife can throw,I flew.

I shall  sue Sue.

I was flooded as a whole.My emotions welled up and ran all over me like faries’ hands..

Like elastic bands

I am honest as the day is wrong.

Give me a song

He was torn in three by tomcats with balls of steel

They will appeal

I have lost a whole stone and still no moss will grow on me.It grew on the stone!

Now I feel so alone

As Gluck would have it, music is heavenly singing by invisible choirs of cats.

He was bats

I sought him here,I sought him there.I sought him with angelic flair.

But noone catches Tony Blair.

I am as snug as a lapdog in a bog with a brick on its head

Can I sleep on your bed?

She was as tender as an apple tart is round.

 and quite sound

As the crow flew,I had to fly as well to avoid it escaping me..I leave no crow alone

They usually get stoned

Copyright © Katherine Braithwaite

Oh,doctor I am in a flap

Oh,doctor I am in a flap
I cannot turn this childproof cap
I cannot take my medicine
So I shall toss it in the bin

The beta blockers make me down
I am in a study brown.
The mini aspirins make me bruise
And my mind is quite confused.

The ibuprofen hurt my heart
Yet without one I cannot start.
The thyroxine has no effect
So now I feel my life is dreck.

The codeine fails to make me high
I'm not addicted, though I try.
I'll have to take a shot of gin
And alcohol will make me sin.

I'll go to parties in a dress
That makes men's hormones more or less.
I'll take a big one home with me,
And give him poison in his tea.

And when I am in jail at last
I'll feel remorse for all my past.
For as I suffer dreadful pain
God has hit me yet again.

It's not enough that I am blind
And suffer terrors in my mind
Not enough that lovers cruel
Give me stick instead of jewels.

Or maybe life does not make sense
Especially when I feel so tense.
Maybe random are my days
and my life has gone astray.

I think that I shall buy a cat
And love it tenderly and chat.
But if my cat gives me a scratch...
I'll light its tail up with a match.

All the world must me obey
Else I'll be enraged all day.
I want my own way all the time.
Other people must conform.

I am here and full of ills
What do you think of these blue pills?
If they take away my heart
That at least will be a start.

Then they can remove my brain
To help me with this damned pain.
Why not kill me right away
Then I'll be from pain astray?

Copyright © Katherine Braithwaite

She loved her adverb more than me

My wife has left me for an adverb.
I don't know which one it is!
Is it slowly,quickly, nearly?
Life should not be like a quiz.

She told me that she "nearly" loved me,
When "dearly" was what I had hoped.
Life is full of lost illusions...
How do we 'reaved lovers cope

I think I should have kept it secret,
For now I sit and sadly grieve.
Do you think my wife is cruel?
What a strange excuse to leave!

Would she leave me for a pronoun?
Would she leave for a full stop?
Would I leave you for a quote mark?
Would I fall down in a black dot?

Come back,darling for I love you.
I have learned I must take care.
I will go for grammar lessons.
I am sure I can learn flair!

We can write a poem together,
You can choose the topic,dear.
I will hold my pen and write for
They say true love drives out fear.

Did I fear her? Did I love her?
Was she worthy of my heart?
Did she dislike my hairy nostrils?
Was that why we had to part?

Come back Mary,come back Mavis.
Come back Sunny, come back Sue
Without my wife I feel so lonely.
What is a left man to do?

Shall I vote for love or money?
Shall I throw my self away?
Shall I get a new agenda?
Will a new life start today?

Come back Miriam,come back Sarah!
Where have all the women gone?
Come back Rivka with your grammar.
I can feed you a cheese scone.

I work hard and I can cook.
I put fresh linen on the bed.
I can pay my bills in full.
But without my Love,my heart is dead

 

When true love’s gone

When true love's gone and doom hangs over head
When life runs like a river to the sea
Then shall I take new lovers to my bed.
And with their carnal touch consoled be?



When true loves lie and break my woman's heart.
When life seems grey and rocks bestrew my path.
Then, shall I my life of evil start
And on the world shall I bestow my wrath?


When true loves lie and wreck all loyalty.
When puzzlement makes all the world seem mad.
Then I shall upend causality
And let myself do deeds which make me glad.

For I have love's sweet child inside my soul
And I shall tend her till at last she's whole

 

No sight is like the rising of the sun

No sight is like the rising of sun
When promises of dreams seem  clear and still
My heart  though sore ,can fancy  love has come
Without hard times and exercise of will.

No morning is without new dawn of hope
When all our conflicts shall be put aside.
Imagination is  far flung in scope,
Never  noting dreams may fraughtly lie.

No love is like my long lost love for you
Once known,once felt,it settles in the heart.
Yet I do believe love can be found anew
But only when the lost  true love  departs.

So bother me no more with reveried bliss.
Go leave me with my  life,though all’s amiss

A Romanian from Devon

I once had a friend called Michel
He was an immigrant, what the hell?
He flew here from Heaven
Our bread for to leaven...
Yeah,the Lord is a Romanian from Devon.

He blessed all the birds and the bees
But the Government he sure liked to tease.
You are too corrupt,
He cried as he supped.
So they slung him up here on' tween two  trees.

After he died we had storms
And fires and floods and alarms.
We never perceive
Rather, we deceive...
So by our fragmented fears we are torn.

Collect up my fragments,Oh Lord
Strike me not dead with thy sword.
Reglue me with care
as my faults I lay bare.
Add my soul to thy heavenly hoard

Copyright © Katherine Braithwaite

In such captive grief

How like a prison is my cubicle
How wary is  my body on this chair.
How still my heart and yet how truly fickle.
How fast it flies to you who are not here.

How elegant your letters and your thoughts
How gentle was your touch upon my throat.
And yet you killed  my words and all I brought...
You were no lover but a randy goat.

As in this mental jail I'm  neatly trapped,
I'll use this time to write and  also pray.
Perhaps my mind can extricate a map..
From which I'll plot the route to get away.

The prisons which seem external are inside
Yet in such captive grief some folk have died

A song about my cat

My cat went a roaming to find a new home.
Sing kitty,sing katty,sing Oh!
This cat was so clever he had his own comb.
Look up,now look down,stone the crows!

He went into the neighbours' and drank all their milk.
Sing,fridge raiding kitties.No,No!
Then he laid himself down on a piece of fine silk.
Sing,what the dickens,my lovely pillow!

He went to the butcher and ate all the steak.
Sing greedy,he's ruined my flow.
Then he went to the hairdresser for a shampoo.
Where else can a puttitat go?

He had no plastic,no money,no cheque!
Sing,cheater,sing creature,sing woe.
She sent for a Copper who paid the cat's bill.
And so  my puss came out all aglow.

Now my cat was glossy and plump and refreshed.
Sing:fancy,it all goes to show.
So he came home and said this place is best.
And he picked up his cello and bow.

He scraped some Sibelius and also some Grieg.
Sing: Northern lights can always glow.
But,he looked so self satisfied,I felt annoyed....
One should not let one's narcissism show.

But he was so handsome,I was glad he came home.
Sing,grateful,sing katefull,sing Ho!
And I hope he will never again want to roam.
Sing glory.sing story;Sing So!

Preys Postmodernism

Postmodernism’s the fashion ne’er manque.
We must study Foucault and his scribes.
Get reason trapped and do not court  delay.
You need to find your intellectual tribe.

Where is the goose which laid the golden egg..
Invented meta-talk and fairy tales?
Which narrative is balanced on a peg?
Which philosopher gets re-homed by a whale?

Where is the whole truth and the nothing but?
Whose ‘ the eye which sees reality?
Who ‘s the judge who makes the final cut?
Where is the God to whom we owed fealty?

Now nothing is what anyone can say.
I understand it’s meaningless to pray

 

New words

Tellekinesis…………… moving the television

Belliekinesis……………. belly dancing.

Alienekinesis…… ……………….ethnic cleansing

Bollockinesis………………..moving bollocks.] is that vulgar?]

Followerkinesis………………. magically  forcing your  blog followers to move with you to another platform

Malekinesis………….. moving  a man physically or emotionally.

Maleumkinesis…………….. moving evil around

Veilkinesis……………… making women’s veils fall off from a distance…

Pedekinesis……………… dancing

Chirokinesis………………. it’s not been invented yet

 

 

Kinesiophobia in the mind

Created with Nokia Smart Cam

When I was writing the last post I assumed kinesiophobia was fear of physical movement or travelling but maybe it could also mean fear of changing our minds and looking at things from alternative perspectives.If you have  not lived in different cultures even as  simple  a move as going from a working class home to a University may cause great anxiety. Changing your religious or political  belief or even knowing that someone else has especially if it’s someone close to you is a major step.I know several people who still practise Catholicism but do not believe any of its creeds.But to formally give them up might be too big a step.Conversely,it would be even harder in some circles to move from atheism to religious belief in the sense  that you might be mocked.This odd because there is no scientific reason against belief in God.

Ironically it was  being made to study theology at school which was a watered down version of Aquinas  that made me have doubts.I thought,so they are not sure.. and the head mistress was not tolerant of discussion.My attempts brought me into conflict and led me into  mental pain eventually..

I suppose we need some movement in our ideas and our assumptions but not too much or we lose our footing.Sometimes we must hide it which is what I should have done when I was still at this convent school.

People who try to convert others  like evangelical Christians or  excessively  left wing/right wing  political groups should realise the  dangers of  asking people  to make  a giant leap of faith

Be hopeful

Kinesophobia’s hard to measure;

Deprives   the sufferer of fine leisure

They cannot travel in the bus

For fear their nerves will make a fuss.

 

Trapped inside a moving car

Hardly knowing where we  are.

Do we trust the driver’s hands?

Dare we give some kind commands?

 

Others suffer when at sea

They drink gin for safety.

It’s all about control and trust.

Probably from our  very own past.

 

The breakdown that we fear may come

Has already  visited and gone.

We project our past into tomorrow

Which  blights  our soul  with  fearful  sorrow.

 

All of life can give us pain

Don’t add more by worrying.

We’re often stronger than we think

Hey,who has stolen my hard drink?

 

It’s  so easy to offer wise advice

If we’ve not been in that same  place.

Acknowledge,listen,then accept.

Grace may come to us direct.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kinesiophobia

Photo1240 2

From Merriam Webster

http://www.merriam-webster.com/quiz/index.htm

What It Is:

Pathological fear of motion

About the Word:

The root of this word is kinein, Greek for to move.

That same root gives us cinema(moving pictures), kinesthesia(muscle sense), and telekinesis(using mental powers to move objects).