I’m not apt to forget the disbelief I felt the first time I heard the 1950s referred to as “the good old days.” What? Land of Goshen, those weren’t the old days. Good, maybe, in lots of ways but no way could they be referred to as “old”. What nonsense! Then, a sobering thought hit […]
A Foregone Conclusion
For goodness sake, it is not a foregone conclusion that all is doom and gloom. I refuse to budge an inch from my belief that all will be well. All the phrases in italics are attributed to William Shakespeare, that great master of words, who was born on this day in 1564 and died on this day in […]
Don’t Be a Square
Language, like everything else, changes with time. Sometimes I’m brought up short by realizing a word that I’ve used all my life doesn’t make sense to a younger generation. I’m out-of-date, not hip, and am an old fuddy-duddy. Never should I say my sofa is a davenport. By the way, I don’t make long-distance calls […]
A Few Sizes Too Small
·I just got to thinking about words. We use them every day. Written or spoken, we can’t get along without them. So, with all the beautiful words to choose from, why do some of us use ugly, degrading, base words? Is it to get a reaction? To show that we’re really up with the times? […]

What Word is in Your Mouth?
·Politicians often get into trouble for their choice of words and try “walking them back.” How do you do that? Many times, I’ve wished I could “walk a word back” but once it’s spoken, I sure don’t know any way to get it unspoken. The best I could do was apologize for what I […]

Gone with the North Wind
·The warm weather is gone with the north wind. Sure enough, roof tops and lawns are white with snow. This isn’t the pretty, fluffy stuff of Christmas cards, but is more like sleet–cold and frozen and there’s just a thin covering. But, sure enough, winter is winter, so what can I expect? Changing the subject […]