Month: December 2015

Ploy: from Scotch.

ploy

See definition in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Line breaks: ploy

Pronunciation: /plɔɪ/

Definition of ploy in English:

noun

1A cunning plan or action designed to turn a situation to one’s own advantage:the president has dismissed the referendum as a ploy to buy time
1.1An activity done for amusement:the eternal cross-stitch I was set to do before I could indulge my own ploys

Origin

Late 17th century (originally Scots and northern English in the sense ‘pastime’): of unknown origin. The notion of ‘a calculated plan’ dates from the 1950s.

Words that rhyme with ploy

ahoy, alloy, Amoy, annoy, boy, buoy, cloy, coy, destroy, employ, enjoy, Hanoi, hoi polloi, hoy, Illinois, joy, koi, oi, poi, Roy, savoy, soy, tatsoi, toy, trompe l’œil, troy

Definition of ploy in:

I was…..

I was going to make some traditional shortbread, but after reading the recipe I just ate half a pound of butter instead.

I was going to make some mince pies so I soaked pastry in brandy and fried it in butter.That’ll learn it.

I was going to make my own  Xmas cake but it turned into my sister’s over night.

I hate turkey all Xmas day.

Who wants a chip of the old data?

I’ll be glad to be remote again with only a TV

Cliches regurgitated

My gay laughter can be heard for smiles

Thank your chains for holding you tight
You ain’t seen  flashin’ yet ?
You can lead  the coarse  to your daughter but keep the sugar  refined
Scream a little scream for me
Nero fiddled with himself while Rome darned

Bank your chain and flush as you stand.
You ain’t seen  no coffins  as yet?
You can lead a horse and chortle
You should never go home with a man if you’re writing a book.

Take your rhymes;there’s no scurry.

Once more unto the beach?
You can  prey on my bat again anytime
You can take water to the drunk and douse them whenever
You can’t sit with a bare leg in a  shared home
Who can’t make a silk purse out of a  cow’s heel?
You can’t put the roof space back into the underground
You can’t  love him. you can only hope to detain him in bed
You can’t sing  for a dead cat
You can’t  light  cigars  in a bear’s space
You gnawed  at my  tart all night.Pay as you go,next time
You could have shocked me in Dover with  a  leather g string
You don’t have an egg to stand on in my kitchen
You don’t miss the water till the well spins hay
You got hit coming to ? Where?
You got your just deserts and your unjust deserts.Never sigh nigh.
You have to break a few heads to make  the teeth stick
You welded love onto my heart with your heat
You cost me and I’m dumb
You make a better cake than a Vindaloo
You make even the sun whine.Where do you get that from?

MW Word of the day:fulminate

fulminate

audio pronunciation
December 14, 2015
verb
\FULL-muh-nayt
Definition
: to complain loudly or angrily : to send forth censures or invectives
Examples

An avid cyclist, Justine would often fulminate against automobile drivers who ignored bike lanes and otherwise created hazards for those riding on two wheels.

“We say we value memoirs and other nonfiction works precisely because they tell us what really happened. Then, when the amazing true story turns out to be a bit less than absolutely true, some of us fulminate about it for a while, even as countless more continue to pony up for the tale.” — Laura Miller, Salon, 9 June 2015

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Did You Know?

Lightning strikes more than once in the history of fulminate. That word comes from the Latin fulminare, meaning “to strike,” a verb usually used to refer to lightning strikes—not surprising since it sprang from fulmen, Latin for “lightning.” When fulminate was adopted into English in the 15th century, it lost much of its ancestral thunder and was used largely as a technical term for the issuing of formal denunciations by ecclesiastical authorities. But its original lightning spark remains in its suggestion of tirades so vigorous that, as one 18th-century bishop put it, they seem to be delivered “with the air of one who [has] divine Vengeance at his disposal.”

More Words of the Day
Visit our archives to see previous selections.

Annie and Mary boil the kettle

Dotty cats 2

 

When Mary got home,she took off her coat and put the kettle on the fire!She got the tea caddy out and put some tea into the pot.Suddenly the door burst open and Annie her exuberant neighbour fell into the kitchen

Are you ok,Mary asked her gently.Those 4 inch heels are rather dangerous.

Annie was wearing a sky blue track suit,red stilettos and a big green pashmina. Her  make up had  melted all down her face as she was so warm with running.She had  some waterproof make up but had the feeling it might be dangerous to clog the pores.

Where have you been?She asked curiously.You were ages.

I forgot to get off the bus as I fell into a reverie.

That sounds like a black hole!

I was daydreaming so I ended up by the river and a policeman asked me for a date,sort of.

Did you have any dates with you?

No,I only had Stan in my bag,alas.

Where is he?Have you put him into the wardrobe?

It’s already full.He’s still in the bag at the moment.

The two women    fell into a sad  mutual silence realising Stan would never now teach Emile to swim in the bath nor return his overdue library books.

Am I liable for his fines,Mary wondered.

I can pay if you like,Annie,said generously.She got out some home made biscuits and gave one to Mary who was wearing a  long black dress from Lands End which resembled a nun’s habit.

Are you thinking of  retiring to the cloister soon ,she continued.

No,I don’t believe in Christianity any more.Christ.yes,Christianity ,no.

What about Xmas?Will you celebrate?

I shall pray and do out the kitchen cupboards.

Are they that bad,asked Annie curiously, twiddling a ringlet with her fingers.

Possibly,Mary giggled!They didn’t teach domestic science at Oxford!And Mother was always busy cooking and cleaning the grate after she got home from work.

Talking about grates,I’d better look at the kettle.She lifted it off the fire and held it up in the air.It was very black on one side,just like the one Mary’s mother had had so many years ago.

Why don’t I make some tea,she asked.

I don’t know,said Annie.Is this the Xmas quiz?

No,you don’t understand.It’s a rhetorical question.

Oh,do stop  showing off,Annie told her.I only went to Knittingham Polytechnic and we  never did Greek,just Aramaic.I have forgotten it now.

Mary poured out the tea into two pint sized mugs and the women sat silently warming their hands on the mugs and meditating on the  wilful backwardness of the local poly which now only taught Latin,Hebrew and chemical engineering.The latter was an error as the professors thought that was what Wittgenstein had studied before finding Bertrand Russell more attractive.

Russell’s paradox had haunted Annie ever since those happy student days.Whereas she being a lady with a very high libido would have preferred Russell to his paradox if she had been given the choice.

 

 

I heard you calling me

http://youtu.be/C2bLpVsHN6M

http://youtu.be/bUlg6xues78

Well,I was on the bus and it was very full.so I said to this man,Can I have your seat?
So he says,No,you are equal now.
So I said,My knees are killing me
So he sez,See the doctor!
So I said,I’ve got my husband here.
Where? he asked
He’s in this bag here,I told .
He looked a bit puzzled so I said.it’s his ashes actually.
So he said,All right you can sit down.
I said.Don’t bother,grace will aid me.
Who’s Grace,he said looking round.
I mean God’s grace,I told him.
If you aske me,God’s a bloody disgrace.he replied.
so I said,please watch your words as it may disturb my husband.
He said,Surely he can’t hear me now,can he?
I said,No the waves of sound might rattle him.
He said,Rattle!He’s not a skeleton,is he?
No,I was using it to mean upset or disturb in a poetical sense
My.my he said.Who are you,Mrs Wittgenstein.
Wittgenstein never married,I informed him.Nor did he write poetry though the Tractatus does have a stern beauty
What a shame,he said.You’d make someone a lovely wife.
Is that a proposal,I asked him humorously.
It doesn’t seem right when you have your husband’s ashes on your knee.
Too true.I fancied having a quiet time on my own with no men around.
So you don’t want passionate bodily love? he asked.
I might want it but I have no desire to wash underpants and boil hankies any more.How that ever got linked to passionate love,God only knows,I murmured seductively
No, he doesn’t because he has no nose! he informed me quietly
Wow,I never knew that,I lied despondently.
Excuse me,can I get off? he enquired gently
Not on me,thank you,I answered with a cunning smile
You are so vulgar,he noted journalistically.
Thank you.I’ve been training for a year or two.I told him wisely, with a shy laugh.
Why,can you have lessons?He asked quite jocosely
Just watch some soaps on TV….I offered unevenly

http://youtu.be/Pp5iZdWKaA8

I prefer gardening,he replied regretfully
You can prune my bush tonight if you like,I reminded him perversely
I say,that’s a bit off! he said wistfully
The ashes have gone to my head.I said in desperation.
I say,shall I take you home? he offered gallantly
I have no home,I responded poignantly.My lover broke a window over my head after my husband took ill.
That’s odd.
Even for a man I told him numerically.
He should have been glad,he replied sensately.
No, he was afraid of commitment,I informed him furiously.
How would breaking the window help? he asked curiously
It would give him a way to escape from me.I chattered to him
My goodness,we are at the terminus.We’ll have to get another bus back to our stops.He said anxiously.
Just then we saw some police approaching.
Excuse me madam.are you Muslim?
No.I always wear cotton in hot weather.Unless I am making cheese.
Sorry. he said.How do you worship?
I think you need a Rabbi.
So you are Jewish?
No.you are.
How do you know,he said.
As you have a big hat on like Leonard Cohen ~I deduced you were another of those Cohens.They are all descended from Aaron,you know.There must be a few hundred of you.
I fear you have made a logical error,madam.
As long as I don’t make an error of the heart,I don’t bother about logic.I said informatively
Surely we need both a heart and a head,he told me queationingly.
Definitely,but why are you here? I demanded.
That’s what God said to Elijah on the mountain.
And what did Elijah say,I enquired.
I heard you calling me.

http://youtu.be/Pp5iZdWKaA8

Antagonist

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antagonist

This word means enemy or opponent It is another word deriving from the Greek.I wondered if it had any connection to Antigone but it seems not.However you may like to hear  someone reading Antigone.

 

 

 

Wittgenstein mentions St Augustine

Why in the world shouldn’t they have regarded with awe and reverence that act by which the human race is perpetuated. Not every religion has to have St. Augustine‘s attitude to sex. Why even in our culture marriages are celebrated in a church, everyone present knows what is going to happen that night, but that doesn’t prevent it being a religious ceremony

My sweet Lord

 

https://youtu.be/pl2IJql7-CU

 

The Vatican has an aura of power

Did Jesus,our  sweet Lord endow her?

He would be truly shocked

To see poverty thus  mocked

Conquering Rome  took the bees from  the Flower.

 

Welcome to my viewer in Vietnam

Welcome to my viewer in Vietnam

I will   write poems as well as I can.

For it’s a  privilege to share

Communion so rare.

I ‘m so moved my eyes seemed to run.

 

When  child’s born ,she usually cries

As the stimulation of birth  has its price.

Yet we must leave mother’s womb

Then create  a cocoon

Where our psyche a world may devize.

 

Metaphors spring up like  spring flowers.

Similes enchant by the hour.

How rich our own minds  may be

When we perceive all we see.

For relaxed eyes  don’t  enjoy being  narrowed.

 

Focus is sharp when we hunt.

Yet maintained it can too often stunt.

We need a  broad view,

As the owls always knew.

If only we saw back and front!

 

 

 

.

[As in,he’s got eyes in the back of his head.. an English folk saying[

From the Orwell lecture 2015

Cat and Lessing

Doris Lessing

Orwell’s rules for good writing have become familiar: don’t use secondhand metaphors, don’t use long words where short ones will do, abbreviate, use the active not the passive, never use a foreign phrase when you can find an everyday alternative in English. They are rules designed to communicate something other than the fact that the speaker is powerful enough to say what he or she likes. Bad or confused metaphor (Orwell has some choice examples of which my favourite is “The Fascist octopus has sung its swan song”) presents us with something we can’t visualise; good metaphor makes us more aware, in unexpected ways, of what we see or sense. So bad metaphor is about concealing or ignoring; and language that sets out to conceal or ignore and make others ignore is language that wants to shrink the limits of the world to what can be dealt with in the speaker’s terms alone.

Coercion hidden

 
Coercive force is like an iron fist
Disguised with fancy gloves to lead amiss.
Be wary of those men who too soon kiss
And of their wooing ,do not believe the bliss.
Knowledge of others takes its time to grow
And like a  little plant needs  tender care
In courtship  it is better to be slow.
And not to  strangers let our hearts be bare.
The conman  earned his title for his charm.
He’s convincing as he senses what we need.
But this is for eventual cruel harm
Neither money nor sweet love  let him accede.
Coercion may be disguised  as  love most kind
 and  our natural  instincts  often make  us blind r

Coercion:etymology etc

Schermata-2014-06-03-alle-11.00.58
Dictionary.com
definitions
coerce
[koh-urs]
Spell Syllables
Examples Word Origin
verb (used with object), coerced, coercing.
1.
to compel by force, intimidation, or authority, especially without regard for individual desire or volition:
They coerced him into signing the document.
2.
to bring about through the use of force or other forms of compulsion; exact:
to coerce obedience.
3.
to dominate or control, especially by exploiting fear, anxiety, etc.:
The state is based on successfully coercing the individual.
Origin of coerce
late Middle English Latin
1425-14751425-75; late Middle English < Latin coercēre to hold in, restrain, equivalent to co- co- + -ercēre, combining form of arcēre to keep in, keep away, akin to arca ark
Related forms Expand
coercer, noun
coercible, adjective
noncoercible, adjective
uncoerced, adjective
Can be confused Expand
coerce, compel, constrain, force, oblige (see synonym study at oblige )
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2015.
Cite This Source

Contemporary Examples
A fellow justice also accused McCaffery of attempting to coerce him into opposing Castille.

Judges Behaving Badly: A Great American Tradition
Asawin Suebsaeng
October 29, 2014
Others who have served time in Phonthong report that men try to coerce the female prisoners into having sex.

Will Her Unborn Child Save Her?
Barbie Latza Nadeau
May 20, 2009
In other instances, CIA recruiters used thinly veiled threats to coerce their cooperation.

The CIA Tried Hard to Recruit Spies Among the Al Qaeda Prisoners at Gitmo
Daniel Klaidman
November 27, 2013
His decision to coerce Netanyahu into imposing a 10-month settlement freeze was also a colossal misjudgment.

The Dilemma Of An Israeli Democrat
Paul Gross
November 1, 2012
Religious liberty, Jefferson argued, denies the majority any right to coerce a dissenting minority, even one hostile to religion.

Thomas Jefferson’s Quran: How Islam Shaped the Founders
R.B. Bernstein
September 28, 2013
Historical Examples
Hume, though we have found him censuring the conduct of Franklin, was opposed to any attempt to coerce America.

Life and Correspondence of David Hume, Volume II (of 2)
John Hill Burton
“Most certainly, doctor; I’d never seek to coerce you,” said Cashel, smiling.

Roland Cashel
Charles James Lever
The North in trying to coerce the South was contradicting its own principle.

The Earl of Beaconsfield
James Anthony Froude
Electric influences guide and coerce fish in a wonderful manner.

The Teesdale Angler
R Lakeland
But I do not think that the modern parent desires to coerce as much as did his forbear.

The Intelligence of Woman
W. L. George

British Dictionary definitions for coerce Expand
coerce
/kəʊˈɜːs/
verb
1.
(transitive) to compel or restrain by force or authority without regard to individual wishes or desires
Derived Forms
coercer, noun
coercible, adjective
Word Origin
C17: from Latin coercēre to confine, restrain, from co- together + arcēre to enclose
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 coerce Expand
v.
mid-15c., cohercen, from Middle French cohercer, from Latin coercere “to control, restrain, shut up together,” from com- “together” (see co- ) + arcere “to enclose, confine, contain, ward off,” from PIE *ark- “to hold, contain, guard” (see arcane ). Related: Coerced ; coercing. No record of the word between late 15c. and mid-17c.; its reappearance 1650s is perhaps a back-formation from coercion.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

What is coercion?

coercion

See definition in Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary

Line breaks: co|er¦cion

Pronunciation: /kəʊˈəːʃ(ə)n/

Definition of coercion in English:

noun

[MASS NOUN]

The action or practice of persuading someone to do something by using force or threats:it wasn’t slavery because no coercion was used

MO SYNONYMS

Words that rhyme with coercion

animadversion, aspersion, assertion, aversion, bioconversion, Cistercian, conversion, desertion, disconcertion, dispersion, diversion, emersion, excursion, exertion, extroversion, immersion, incursion, insertion, interspersion, introversion, Persian, perversion, submersion, subversion, tertian, version

Definition of coercion in:

The coerciveness of the lanugage of our leaders

7222830_f260

http://www.resurgence.org/magane/article3284-the-power-of-language.html

 

World leaders often use diplomatic language that hides the real meaning of the words, creating euphemisms that are outright dangerous. Describing slaughtered and maimed civilians as “collateral damage” is the classic example for our times, and it’s cynical in the extreme. “Enhanced interrogation techniques” for ‘torture’ seems part of the cruelty.

The bland and bloated language of politics blocks the opportunity for leaders to truly inspire and educate. Imagine hearing instead a thoughtful, measured analysis of the world situation from a leader, accompanied by intelligent, subtle solutions to problems. Instead, we get the tired and unimaginative language of war and militancy. Wars begin with words, so we should be careful how we speak, especially to nations where there is tension. Our words can heal the situation before the military takes up its weapon

Great writers:George Orwell

I have copied this from Google
Novelist
Eric Arthur Blair, who used the pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic. Wikipedia
Born: June 25, 1903, Motihari, India
Died: January 21, 1950, London
Full name: Eric Arthur Blair
Influenced by: Aldous Huxley, Charles Dickens, H. G. Wells, more
Quotes
In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
Every generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.
War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.
View 7+ more
Books
View 30+ more
1984 (1949)

How about a worm?

Hello,dear.What can I do for you this morning?
Oh,I’ve got a nasty pain in my conundrum,doctor.
Are you being careful?
I’m always careful.
No,I mean, are you using a euphemism?
No,I am on the pill.Is a euphemism better for dealing with conundrums?
Conundra…
I’ve never heard of a conundra.
Look,what is really wrong with you?
It’s  a complete conundrum to me.
Well,it will be so for me unless you tell me where and what it is.
It’s a pain in my testicle.
But you are a lady.
That’s what people think.
Well,surely somebody would have seen it.
It’s only just dropped.
That’s odd.
Yes,it is as usually testicles come in pairs.
I don’t know what to say.
Well,it’s a  conundrum.
Maybe I should examine you.
I am in a hurry and you need a chaperone.
No,I can use gloves.
What,put a glove on my testicle!
Well,let’s just wait and see whether it progresses.Come back if you feel worried about it.
Is it wrong to be a hermaphrodite?
What a stupid question.How can it be wrong when you don’t control it.
Yes ,being a hermaphrodite does give one stronger sexual desires as like with a worm there’s more possibilities.
I really don’t fancy sex with a worm myself
But if you loved it the worm
They have no faces so they all look the same.
They used to say all black people looked the same to the whites even though they have eyes and faces and expressions.

Do we need faces to love?

We need them to kiss.And what is life without a kiss?

Ask a worm.They seem to have a good life with no wars and worries.

No,they can’t use guns,can they?

Well,not to shoot with.

So the answer is to get rid of people and just have worms. and beetles.

The way the world is going this may happen quite soon.

It’s a terrible conundrum..

Well,I am very euphemistic.

Do you mean optimistic?

Bang

And that was the end of the world tonight.
BBC the world’s best broadcaster,bringing you all the cheer you need in hell

A naughty cat

Photo0423I  am quite taken aback by Alfred.Having sat on my knee sucking my nice blue sweater which no doubt reminds me of his mother’s warm furry body he disappears.
Two hours later he walks into  the living room with a green  handled spoon/fork dangling from his collar like a large sword.Luckily it was easy to get off him
He led me to the kitchen where a   l
green pool of thick  disinfectant decorated  most of the floor.How he knocked it down I cannot  imagine.
I put the unread newspaper down to soak up this stuff… the he decides I am making him a bed and tries to lie down  on it.
I know the floor needed cleaning.Should I buy him a small mop or am I losing my mind?
He seems very pleased with himself.That’s men for you…Wreck the home and ask for gratitude and love..Last night he slept in the kitchen.
G.O.K where he will sleep tonight.Pardon me!
I feel I am losing control.Still he will stop any mice trying to get in.. they will drown in the green liquid.Let’s hope he doesn’t eat them!!
It was so funny seeing this fork in his collar.What could he have been doing?It’s a little worrying!Suppose I had been out?

When in my clothes I find unique moth holes

When in my clothes I find unique  moth holes

And have no matching wool which I can use

To darn them  all becomes my only goal

And  then my little mind becomes confused.

 

To simplify my life, I’ll wear but blue

And toss all other hues into the bin.

Does this seem the wisest way to you?

Or might it be an error or a sin?

 

Excessive contemplation of one’s acts

Can produce  a hint  of agony in the mind.

And so I’ll numb my brain with wax

Then  my tension will at last unwind.

 

 

Ignore all moth holes and peculiar stains

For dwelling on these matters harms the brain

 

However if you find an acrid smell

Toss all your clothes into the nearest well

 

 

 

 

 

 

So my mind has been password protected

For what is a metaphor selected?

To convey truth without being detected?

My love is reality

And exacting theology.

So my mind has been password protected.

I know not who holds the key.

Unfortunately  it is not known to  me.

So my mind works alone,

Cut off from my own

Heart,in its  quiet mystery.