Beth Ohlsson - Language

This came to me via e-mail. I love to see words that work and play well with others. Enjoy.

T he Philosophy of Ambiguity

FOR THOSE WHO LOVE THE PHILOSOPHY OF AMBIGUITY, AS WELL AS THE IDIOSYNCRASIES OF ENGLISH:

Please enjoy and understand the following :


1. DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.

2. ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.

3. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

4. IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS AND APES?

5. THE MAIN REASON THAT SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE BAD GIRLS LIVE.

6. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELF- HELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

7. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

8. IF A DEAF CHILD SIGNS SWEAR WORDS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

9. IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

10. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

11. WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

12. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

13. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

14. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

15. WHY DO THEY LOCK GAS STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?

16. IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

17. CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

18. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

19. WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

20. HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

21. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

23. DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

24. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

25. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

26. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

27. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

28. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

29. WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD 'LISP' TO HAVE 'S' IN IT?

30. WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASSTEROIDS"?

31. WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

32. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

33. IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL PERSON IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES, DO THEY BECOME DISORIENTED?

34. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD ?

Beth Ohlsson - etimology 23-25

23. create: c.1386, from L. creatus, pp. of creare "to make, produce," related to crescere "arise, grow" (see crescent). Creator for "Supreme Being" (c.1300) drove out native scieppend, from verb scieppan (see shape). Creative is from 1678, originally literal; of the arts, meaning "imaginative," from 1816, first attested in Wordsworth. Creative writing is from 1907. The native word for creation in the Biblical sense was O.E. frum-sceaft. Creationism as a name for the religious reaction to Darwin is from 1880.

24. Shape shifter: N. a common theme in mythology and folklore, as well as in science fiction and fantasy. In its broadest sense, it is a metamorphosis (change in the physical form or shape) of a person or animal. Shapeshifting involves physical changes such as alterations of age, gender, race, or general appearance or changes between human form and that of an animal (therianthropy), plant, or inanimate object.
shift: v. O.E. sciftan "arrange, divide," related to sceadan "divide, separate" (see shed (v.)), from P.Gmc. *skiftanan (cf. O.N. skipta "to divide, change, separate," O.Fris. skifta "to decide, determine, test," Du. schiften "to divide, turn," Ger. schichten "to classify," Schicht "shift"). Sense of "change" appeared c.1250; that of "move, transfer" is c.1375; that of "manage to get along" is first attested 1513, in phrase shift for oneself, and yielded shiftless in the modern sense (1584).

25. Metamorphosis. n. 1533, "change of form or shape, especially by witchcraft," from L., from Gk. metamorphosis "a transforming," from metamorphoun "to transform," from meta- "change" (see meta-) + morphe "form" (see morphine). Metamorphic, in geological sense, is first attested 1833, in Lyell; rocks whose form has been changed by heat or pressure.

Beth Ohlsson - etimology 15-22

15. tall tale
A fanciful or greatly exaggerated story, as in Some youngsters love tall tales about creatures from outer space coming to earth. This idiom uses tall in the sense of "exaggerated." [Mid-1800s]

tall

"high in stature," 1530, probably ult. from O.E. getæl "prompt, active." Sense evolved to "brave, valiant, seemly, proper" (c.1400), then to "attractive, handsome" (c.1450), and finally "being of more than average height."

16. emcee
1933, abbrev. of master of ceremonies.
Master of Ceremonies Origin: 1655–65

a person who directs the entertainment at a party, dinner, nightclub, radio or television broadcast, or the like, acting as host and introducing the speakers or performers.

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17. combinatorial - per David Novak. An approach to a storytelling program in which the teller intuituively knows the right story to tell this audience for the right reason. A teller draws on a body of work, reads the audience, considers the parameters within which s/he has been contracted, and choses the program, linking each story to the previous one. The program is shaped by the relationship the teller creates w/the audience and is adjusted as deemed necessary and appropriate. The term comes from mathematics; origins cited below. What follows certainly sounds like the way David's brain works.

combinatorics or combinatorial analysis, sometimes called the science of counting, the branch of mathematics concerned with the selection, arrangement, and operation of elements within sets. Combinatorial theory deals with existence (does a particular arrangement exist?), enumeration (how many such arrangements are there?) and structure (what are the properties of each arrangement?). It has applications in such diverse areas as managing computer and telecommunication networks, predicting poker hands, dividing tasks among workers, and finding a pair of socks in a drawer. Because combinatorics deals with concrete problems by limiting itself to finite collections of discrete objects, as opposed to the more common, continuous mathematics, it has neither standard algebraic manipulations nor a systematic problem-solving framework. Instead it relies upon the logical analysis of possibilities for each new problem, breaking the problem into a series of steps and substeps. Combinatorics has its roots in the 17th- and 18th-century attempts to analyze the odds of winning at games of chance. The advent of computers in the 20th cent. made possible the high-speed calculation required to analyze the multitude of possibilities inherent in a combinatorial approach to large-scale statistical testing and analysis. Branches of combinatorics include graph theory and combinations and permutations.

See A. Slomson, An Introduction to Combinatorics (1991); A. Tucker, Applied Combinatorics (3d ed. 1994); R. A. Brualdi, Introductory Combinatorics (3d ed. 1997); M. Hall, Combinatorial Theory (2d ed. 1998); R. P. Stanley, Enumerative Combinatorics (1999).

18. Celtic: My heritage, and the first folktales I learned to tell. My mother is of British descent, my father Scots-Irish.
noun

1.	a branch of the Indo-European family of languages, including esp. Irish, Scots Gaelic, Welsh, and Breton, which survive now in Ireland, the Scottish Highlands, Wales, and Brittany. Abbreviation: Celt

–adjective

2.	of the Celts or their languages.

1607, from L. Celta, singular of Celtæ, from Gk. Keltoi, Herodotus' word for the Gauls (who were also called Galatai). Used by the Romans of continental Gauls but apparently not of the British Celtic tribes. Celtic twilight is from Yeats's name for his collection of adapted Irish folk tales (1893).
19. fable–noun

1.	a short tale to teach a moral lesson, often with animals or inanimate objects as characters; apologue: the fable of the tortoise and the hare; Aesop's fables.

2.	a story not founded on fact: This biography is largely a self-laudatory fable.

3.	a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend: the fables of gods and heroes.

4.	legends or myths collectively: the heroes of Greek fable.

5.	an untruth; falsehood: This boast of a cure is a medical fable.

6.	the plot of an epic, a dramatic poem, or a play.

7.	idle talk: old wives' fables. Origin: 1250–1300; ME fable, fabel, fabul < class="ital-inline">fābula a story, tale, equiv. to fā(rī) to speak + -bula suffix of instrument

20. visualize: verb form of visual. 1412, "coming from the eye or sight" (as a beam of light), from L.L. visualis "of sight," from L. visus "sight," from visus, pp. of videre "to see" (see vision). Meaning "relating to vision" is first attested 1603. The noun meaning "photographic film or other visual display" is first recorded 1951. Visualize (1817) is first attested in, and perhaps was coined by, Coleridge.

21. imagination. noun

1.	the faculty of imagining, or of forming mental images or concepts of what is not actually present to the senses.

2.	the action or process of forming such images or concepts.

3.	the faculty of producing ideal creations consistent with reality, as in literature, as distinct from the power of creating illustrative or decorative imagery. Compare fancy (def. 2).

4.	the product of imagining; a conception or mental creation, often a baseless or fanciful one.

5.	ability to face and resolve difficulties; resourcefulness: a job that requires imagination.

6.	Psychology. the power of reproducing images stored in the memory under the suggestion of associated images (reproductive imagination) or of recombining former experiences in the creation of new images directed at a specific goal or aiding in the solution of problems (creative imagination).

7.	(in Kantian epistemology) synthesis of data from the sensory manifold into objects by means of the categories.

8.	Archaic. a plan, scheme, or plot.

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Origin:
1300–50; ME < class="ital-inline">imāginātiōn- (s. of imāginātiō) fancy, equiv. to imāgināt(us) ptp. of imāginārī to imagine (imāgin-, s. of imāgō image + -ātus -ate ¹ ) + -iōn- -ion

22. Muse: c.1374, protectors of the arts, from L. Musa, from Gk. Mousa, lit. "muse, music, song," from PIE root *mon-/*men-/*mn- "to think, remember" (see mind (n.)). The names of the nine Muses, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne (q.v.), and their specialties are traditionally: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (love poetry, lyric art), Euterpe (music, especially flute), Melpomene (tragedy), Polymnia (hymns), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), Urania (astronomy).

Beth Ohlsson Language 23-25

Had dinner w/ Mary, a friend of my cousin's, tonight. She teaches grades K & 1 and offered the following during our discussion of story, storytelling, and teaching. (Notice that we had absolutely nothing in common....)

23. Mary was recounting tales of holiday pagents past and described them as "plopping dish towels on their (the students') heads and doing Jesus, Mary and Joseph." Seems this was a way to describe unimaginative, uncreative, and uninspired excuses for a holiday assembly or the obligatory evening program for mom and dad and grandma. The description worked.

24. Mary was recounting a discussion with an adolescent that began, " We're going to have a come to Jesus meeting." She explained that was Appalachian for, "I'm going to get in your face about something," which means, "I need to confront you about something." Certainly couldn't say that in a public school...

25. And in the course of the evening, I was reminded of a Nana - ism; a pet phrase of my beloved grandmother. She often teased us with, "Tonight we're having hummingbird hearts on toast." That was her way of telling us we could have whatever we wanted for supper....no green required.

And now we are done.

Beth Ohlsson - Language 18-22

18. On Friday, I was re-counting a difficult conversation I had had. I shared that I was amazed at how easily the conversation had gone. My friend's response to the story was, "Well, Beth, perhaps that difference is that you're working a program of recovery... a symptom of sobriety." That was a phrase a co-worker of mine had used as a response to every single compliment he had received, indicating his gratitude and his humility in the same breath. I then, pondered the compliment I had just received. Sober, by the way, doesn't just mean "not intoxicated." It also means reasonable.



19. My cousin Ginny and I were were driving up the Blue Ridge Parkway today and got behind a Jell-o green mustang with West Virginia tags on it. While in one of the many tunnels, the driver of the mustang found it necessary to rev his engine several times, making a echoing engine noise for all to hear. My cousin's response was , "What's this? My carbon footprint is bigger than yours?" Carbon footprint is an interesting way to convey personal responsibility for one's consumption of resources, conspicuous or otherwise. The only other way to create a carbon footprint would be to step in a mound of ashes, and then walk away....don't think I'll do that.



20. She was also describing a child who attended her son's school. He was born and raised in Asheville, and at the age of 5, his accent was as thick as mud." This phrase conjures images of a child trying to speak through a mouth full of peanut butter. Poor child probably had a hard time getting his words out, much less understood.

21. "She can't find her way out of a paper bag" was also used in conversation w/my cousin today. She was describing a woman who looked great, and worked hard to appear as though she had it all together. Unfortuately, she wasn't very smart, and had even less common sense, which is what the phase intends.

22. Frying Pan Tunnel is the name of one of 26 tunnels on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I googled it to find how the tunnel was named, and was unsuccessful in finding anything but maps and the Wikepedia entry on tunnels of the Blue Ridge Pkway. Most of the tunnels have names that indicate their geographic location in some way, or may be Cherokee words. I have included it because there's probably a story seed there. Maybe a tall tale. It certainly has me thinking about the men who built those tunnels, and the stories they shared around the fires that cooked the evening meals.

Beth Ohlsson - Language 11- 17

11. Seen on the side of a van in Jonesborough: Union Jack Plumbing (complete with a picture of a British naval type person). On the back of the same van were the words: "The British are plumbing!" The sighting was reported today by a fellow ETSU graduate student. The play on the words "The British are coming!" makes a really good joke, and thus creates a positive identity for the company. So when I'm in TN and I think of plumbing, I will think of Union Jack.

12. Today, Libby was talking about her Finest Hour w/ Valeri while we were having supper. Libby was talking about her version of the Hindu tale, "The Ruby." She said, "I Appalachatized it, and called it 'The Rock'. And it worked well, I think." What Libby communicated was that she h"had taken a Rumi story and set in Appalachia, giving it a mountain, down home kind of twist.

13. Another Libby-ism: "I'd like to fell up right there on the floor." She explained that this meant that whatever was seen or heard had such shock value that one's knees would give way and one would fall up, not down. I don't understand how this might be logistically possible...but that doesn't change the intent of the communication.

14. "It's not the years, it's the miles." A saying that comes from my ex-husband, an East TN boy who used it to describe the credibility and wisdom that come from experience; not necessarily age. Today in class, Lorri was talking about how old people become melancholy about what they've lost throughout their lives. David's response was that regret wasn't necessarily a function of age; that it's a function of having lived through all that life is - good, bad, and indifferent. My comment to validate and clarify was that "it's not the years...it's the miles."

15. He ( or she) has been rode hard and put away wet." A sentence used to describe someone who's life has physically aged them terribly...skin is weathered his declined and sagging, the spine has started to shrink, the walk has become stilted.... This appearance is often the result of hard, fast living....usually involving heavy use of drugs and/or alcohol.

16. In thinking on Kim Weitkamp's phrase for a sharp tongued woman, I remembered how an acquaintance of mine described herself as a younger woman. " I had a razor blade under my tongue." Vicious words designed to cut; to do damage, much like the word sarcasm, which literally means "to tear flesh."

17. "That and a quarter will get you an operator on a pay phone." This was when you could find a pay phone. And the saying meant that whatever you were offering or whatever you had that you were bragging on (could be no bigger than an opinion.) This sentence was designed to shut up the speaker while pointing out that whatever was being communicated had no inherent value of it's own....It couldn't be sold.

Beth Ohlsson - etimology 11-12

11. Autobiographical fiction: per David Novak....a personal story.
1797, from auto-, from Gk. autos "self" + biography
1683, probably from L. biographia, from Gk. bio- "life" (see bio-) + graphia "record, account," from graphein "to write." Biographia was not in classical Gk., though it is attested in later Gk. from c.500. Biopic (1951) is from "biographical picture."
fiction 1398, "something invented," from L. fictionem (nom. fictio) "a fashioning or feigning," from fingere "to shape, form, devise, feign," originally "to knead, form out of clay," from PIE *dheigh- (cf. O.E. dag "dough;" see dough). As a type of literature, 1599. Fictitious is 1615, from M.L. fictitus, a misspelling of L. ficticius "artificial, counterfeit," from fictus, pp. of fingere.

12. train: V."instruct, discipline, teach," 1542, from train (n.), probably from earlier sense of "draw out and manipulate in order to bring to a desired form" (1375). The meaning "to travel by railway" is recorded from 1856. Trainer is recorded from 1598; trainee from 1841.

n.c.1330, "a drawing out, delay," later "trailing part of a skirt" (c.1440), also "retinue, procession" (c.1440), from O.Fr. train (fem. traine), from trainer "to pull, draw," from V.L. *traginare, extended from *tragere "to pull," back formation from tractus, pp. of L. trahere "to pull, draw" (see tract (1)). Train of thought first attested 1651. The railroad sense is recorded from 1824, from notion of a "train" of carriages. British train-spotting "hobby of observing trains and recording locomotive numbers" is recorded from 1958.
2.Specific to storytelling: the locomotive engine that affords storytellers at the Nat'l Festival the opportunity to test their improvisational prowess.

Class Notes: Tuesday, 7/21/09

Initial discussion grew out of Rachel's working rehearsal of "Rumpelstiltskin." David was discussing w/Rachel how to "color the story" when

the class began to assemble. Then followed a discussion on naming, naming rituals and their importance. David offered "Rumplepoorskin" as a variation on the tale's namesake. There was also discussion of seeing the tale from Rumpelstiltskin's point of view, and the context of an adoptive parent was offered as a way to re frame that character.

Assignment:
Skip chapters 8,9,10 unless feeling compelled to read the entire text.
Read Chapter 11 on Non-verbal behavior, and the articles that will be sent via e-mail.
Analysis of conversational story due Monday, July 27. Use the Story Analysis article on the Blog dated 2/20/09 as a model for organizing that paper.

Then we listened to a recording of one of the group discussions from Monday's class. Following are the observations:

• Steve's story about the elephant was played, and David pointed out that there was an innate sense of story structure in that. It was also a good example of how a story may need a coda to be completed for both teller and listener.
• Ilene jumped into the assigned task of discussing the reading, "Social Work." There was an example of citing David's words to give added weight to the speaker's words (name dropping). As the discussion progressed, there was a shift in energy and tone that was easily discerned, indicating that the group members were more comfortable with the task at hand.
• Group members began connecting the threads of discussion and connecting them to personal story. (Kristi's story about her grandmother and the bugs!) This was seen as an attempt to be inclusive and affirming of one another.

"PS 10"
David told the story of "PS 10" which is a trickster tale about his experience of telling stories in an alternative school in the Bronx. The trickster was a 2ND grader who bested his teacher with a wad of gum.
The story served as a springboard to discuss involvement strategies. These included:

1. seeking common ground - Beth and Ilene's stories about parents and bugs that followed Kristi's story about Grandma and the bugs
   
2. affirmations
   
3. use of specific details
4. ellipses - what is left unsaid, i.e. the punchline for Steve's elephant story.
5. entry behaviors into the conversation

"Drowning on Sullivan St.": from the website "The Moth"
We listened to the story of a man who had gone to NY seeking his fortune as a master craftsman. We followed him to a point of relative success, and then he was the victim of a random act of violence and nearly lost his life. He shared the story of his rescue and recovery and came to the conclusion that NYC saved his life.

The effectiveness of the telling was due to:

1. the fairy tale structure of his story follows the heroic journey. There is the call to adventure, the road of trials, the descent into the darkness, the magical helpers, the return into the world, and the sharing of the boon.
2. the grooming of the audience through his affiliations - the police, the Mafia, the ladies on the street
3. ability to create phrases that had a poetic quality to them : "I realized I was running a non-profit support group for earnest woodworkers, " and "wool hat wearing carpenters from Vermont."
   

The Moth is a club in NYC and LA, as well as a website, that is devoted to urban storytelling. These are all personal stories. The founder of The Moth hails from Georgia, and is attempting to re-create the community and atmosphere of telling stories on the porch in his native Georgia, and the camaraderie that is built as a result.

Check this out: a recommendation by Ilene
Vivian Gussin Paley's work about early childhood education using storytelling

David then tried to start a discussion on discourse analysis, but alas, his brain was fried. Discussion to be continued...

Beth Ohlsson - Language 1-5

1. ker·fuf·fle : \kər-ˈfə-fəl\ noun
Etymology: alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled. 1946. chiefly British : disturbance, fuss

While driving to TN on July 12, I used the time to catch up with friends. A conversation with my best friend contained my new favorite phrase. She was talking about her son,William, who had been involved in a misunderstanding at his place of employment. It appeared that there was some misunderstanding and William had managed to at least annoy, if not enrage, just about everyone within ear shot of his words. As it's William's first summer job, he got caught up in the drama of it all and was catastrophizing the event as he relayed it to his mother. Cat, ever the one who is grounded said, " 'Caused a kerfuffle did you?" And she laughed.

What I loved about this reported exchange is that it didn't negate her son's experience. What it offered was some much needed perspective and some much needed humor. Having known William's flair for the dramatic, coupled with anxiety run rampant and teenage hormones, takes him out control, and his mama stepped in and brought the incident down to a manageable size. Then the learning could begin. I really admire her ability to know just what word to use when.

2. Verbal vomit is a term used to describe the monologue in which person A dumps his/her troubles on a willing listener, person B. It is also called "spilling your guts out." One must be a person of great importance to be granted this privilege w/out repercussion or consequence. It can be ugly and painful while in process, however, what is expelled from the person is the words that contain the toxic feelings and experiences, rather than any sort of ingested toxin. The effect is quite cathartic for person A. This is why one must have a best friend to return the favor. Interesting that the metaphor uses the words from the digestive tract which is the 3rd chakra...where all the survival stuff lives... I thought about it today when I was listening to a woman whom I sponsor in a 12 Step fellowship...

3. Daft dimbo comes to us from the new Harry Potter movie, which many of us went to see Sunday night. Ron Beasley has been injured and he is in the infirmary @ Hogwart's. Hermione is by his bedside when Ron's hearthrob flies into the room, stands at the end of the bed, and asks if Ron has asked for her. Hermione stares at her and with great venom, spits out a reply, "You daft dimbo!"

4. After the Teller in Residence performance last week, Teju provided us with rich language and imagery even after the show during the discussion portion of the afternoon. When asked how he became a storyteller, he summarized the story with "through a confluence of extraordinary events." Not only is this a rich epithet, it implies a 'tale too long for the tellin' ; one that has more than a few unpleasant occurances that just don't matter any more. It also set a boundary in a very poetic way. I think it is a phrase worth remebering.

5. Later in that conversation, Teju was describing the evolution of his own particular style and brand of storytelling. David Novak interjected a phrase which I did not here, but Teju certainly did. Teju's response to David's words were, " That's my technique. He just peeped it." And Teju laughed heartily, as did David. I'd never heard the word used quite that way, but it seemed to imply that Teju had been 'found out', exposed in some way, or perhaps simply validated.

Beth Ohlsson - Neologisms 1-22

:1. Google: N: a trademark used for and internet search engine
V: to research anything on the world wide web and have the website do all the grunt
work. Requires internet connection. No gasoline required.

2. Webcast: N: Video Programming that is broadcast on the internet. No television required. Circumvents the need for a cable or digital or satelitte television provider.

3. Podcast: N: Audio Programming available on one's iPod.

4. Webcam N: Video camera that is used to broadcast via satellite

5. e-file: V. To submit one's income taxes electronically via the world wide web.

6. e-card: N. An electronic greeting card, sent via the world wide web.

7. ACH Deposit - N. An electronic transfer of monies from one bank to another. This may
one's paycheck, or bills one pays from directly from one's bank account.
Eliminates the need for actual visits to the bank, paper checks, stamps and
envelopes. Also eliminates the possiblity of late charges due to snail mail.

8. Snail Mail: N: United States Postal Service. Actual transporting of hard copies of
correspondence. Takes an inordinate amount of time. Often responsible for
late fees assessed on unsuspecting consumers.
which takes an unpredictable amount of time.

9. texting: V. To send a written communication via cellular telephone (cell phone) that is brief and to the point. Phonetic spelling preferred as it supports the required brevity.

10. sexting: V. To send pornographic written communication via cellular telephone.

11. search engine: N.

1. A software program that searches a database and gathers and reports information that contains or is related to specified terms.
2. A website whose primary function is providing a search engine for gathering and reporting information available on the Internet or a portion of the Internet.

12. smoothie: N. A new family of beverages descended from the milk shake. Made primarily with fruit and ice. Designed as a healthy alternative to soda. May also be made with yogurt to approximate the milk shake and thus deceive younger consumers.

13. energy drink: N. A new family of beverages exceedingly high in caffine and sugar content. Designed to replace the need to consume real food so that Americans can continue to work...work...work and succeed in becoming human doings instead of human beings.

14. vitamin water: N. distilled water enhanced with vitamins and no calories, or at least very few.

15. Muggle: n. British; 1997;from the Harry Potter books, meaning earth people or mortal beings.

16. Quidditch: n. British; 1997; from the Harry Potter books. A team game played on broomsticks; appears to be derived from lacrosse.

17. Blog: n. an online diary requiring daily or almost daily entries.

18. Blackberry: n. 1. a plant that yields berries. 2. new generation of smart cellular phones that provides multiple services, above and beyond the previous generations of cellular phones.

19. iPod: n. 2001. a trademark for a portable media player.

20. Patch: n. originally a piece of fabric used to mend an article of clothing or some other household good. 2. an adhesive bandage that transmits medications through the skin.
v. to connect various pieces of computer hardware to each other.
21. Flash Drive: N: Small device that contains a mini hard drive to contain and then manually transport computer files/programs from one location to another.

22. pizone: N. Pizza Hut, 2008. A cross between a pizza and a calzone. Frequently on special.

Beth Ohlsson - etmology 1-14

1. myth–noun
1830, from Gk. mythos "speech, thought, story, myth," of unknown origin.

Myths are "stories about divine beings, generally arranged in a coherent system; they are revered as true and sacred; they are endorsed by rulers and priests; and closely linked to religion. Once this link is broken, and the actors in the story are not regarded as gods but as human heroes, giants or fairies, it is no longer a myth but a folktale. Where the central actor is divine but the story is trivial ... the result is religious legend, not myth." [J. Simpson & S. Roud, "Dictionary of English Folklore," Oxford, 2000, p.254]
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2. legend c.1340, from O.Fr. legende (12c.), from M.L. legenda "legend, story," lit. "(things) to be read," on certain days in church, etc., from neuter plural gerundive of L. legere "to read, gather, select" (see lecture). Used originally of saints' lives; extended sense of "nonhistorical or mythical story" first recorded 1613. Meaning "writing or inscription"

3. genre 1770, from Fr. genre "kind, sort, style," from O.Fr. (see gender). Used especially in Fr. for "independent style," as compared to "landscape, historical," etc.

4. concert (n.) 1665, from Fr., from It. concerto "concert, harmony," from concertare "bring into agreement," in L. "to contend, contest," from com- "with" + certare "to contend, strive," freq. of certus, var. pp. of cernere "separate, decide" (see crisis). Before the word entered Eng., meaning shifted from "to strive against" to "to strive alongside." But Klein considers this too much of a stretch and suggests L. concentare "to sing together" (from con- + cantare "to sing") as the source of the It. word. Sense of "public musical performance" is 1689. Concerto was borrowed 1730 directly from It. as a musical term.

5. focus 1644, from L. focus "hearth, fireplace," of unknown origin, used in post-classical times for "fire" itself, taken by Kepler (1604) in a mathematical sense for "point of convergence," perhaps on analogy of the burning point of a lens (the purely optical sense of the word may have existed before 1604, but it is not recorded). Introduced into English 1656 by Hobbes. Sense transfer to "center of activity or energy" is first recorded 1796. The verb is first attested 1814 in the literal sense; the fig. sense is recorded earlier (1807).

6. caricature: 1748, from Fr. caricature, from It. caricatura "satirical picture," lit. "an overloading," from caricare "to load, exaggerate," from V.L. carricare (see charge). The It. form had been used in Eng. from c.1682.

charge :
c.1225, from O.Fr. chargier "load, burden," from L.L. carricare "to load a wagon, cart," from L. carrus "wagon" (see car). Meaning "responsibility, burden" is c.1340 (cf. take charge, 1389; in charge, 1513), which progressed to "pecuniary burden, cost" (1460), and then to "price demanded for service or goods" (1514). Legal sense of "accusation" is 1477; earlier "injunction, order" (1380s). Sense of "rush in to attack" is 1568, perhaps through earlier meaning of "load a weapon" (1541). Electrical sense is from 1767. Slang meaning "thrill, kick" (Amer.Eng.) is from 1951. Charger "horse ridden by officer in the field" is from 1762. Chargé d'affairs was borrowed from Fr. 1767.


7. Tradition: c.1380, from O.Fr. tradicion (1292), from L. traditionem (nom. traditio) "delivery, surrender, a handing down," from traditus, pp. of tradere "deliver, hand over," from trans- "over" + dare "to give" (see date (1)). The word is a doublet of treason (q.v.). The notion in the modern sense of the word is of things "handed down" from generation to generation. Traditional is recorded from c.1600; in ref. to jazz, from 1950. Slang trad, short for trad(itional jazz) is recorded from 1956; its general use for "traditional" is recorded from 1963.

8. Dialogue: c.1225, "literary work consisting of a conversation between two or more people," from O.Fr. dialoge, from L. dialogus, from Gk. dialogos, related to dialogesthai "converse," from dia- "across" + legein "speak" (see lecture). Sense broadened to "a conversation" 1401. Mistaken belief that it can only mean "conversation between two persons" is from confusion of dia- and di-.

U s a g e N o t e : I n r e c e n t y e a r s t h e v e r b s e n s e o f d i a l o g u e m e a n i n g " t o e n g a g e i n a n i n f o r m a l e x c h a n g e o f v i e w s " h a s b e e n r e v i v e d , p a r t i c u l a r l y w i t h r e f e r e n c e t o c o m m u n i c a t i o n b e t w e e n p a r t i e s i n i n s t i t u t i o n a l o r p o l i t i c a l c o n t e x t s . A l t h o u g h S h a k e s p e a r e , C o l e r i d g e , a n d C a r l y l e u s e d i t , t h i s u s a g e t o d a y i s w i d e l y r e g a r d e d a s j a r g o n o r b u r e a u c r a t e s e . N i n e t y - e i g h t p e r c e n t o f t h e U s a g e P a n e l r e j e c t s t h e s e n t e n c e C r i t i c s h a v e c h a r g e d t h a t t h e d e p a r t m e n t w a s r e m i s s i n n o t t r y i n g t o d i a l o g u e w i t h r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h e c o m m u n i t y b e f o r e h i r i n g t h e n e w o f f i c e r s .

9. Rhythm: c.1557, from L. rhythmus "movement in time," from Gk. rhythmos "measured flow or movement, rhythm," related to rhein "to flow," from PIE base *sreu- "to flow" (see rheum). In M.L., rithmus was used for accentual, as opposed to quantitative, verse, and accentual verse was usually rhymed. Rhythm method of birth control attested from 1940. Rhythm and blues, U.S. music style, is from 1949.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper

10. Timbre: "characteristic quality of a musical sound," 1849, from Fr. timbre "quality of a sound," earlier "sound of a bell," from O.Fr., "bell without a clapper," originally "drum," probably via Medieval Gk. *timbanon, from Gk. tympanon "kettledrum" (see tympanum). Timbre was used in O.Fr. (13c.) and M.E. (14c.) to render L. tympanum in Ps. 150.

11. Pace " a s t e p , " c . 1 2 8 0 , f r o m O . F r . p a s , f r o m L . p a s s u s " a s t e p , " l i t . p p . o f p a n d e r e " t o s t r e t c h ( t h e l e g ) , s p r e a d o u t , " f r o m P I E * p a t - n o - , f r o m b a s e * p e t e - " t o s p r e a d " ( c f . G k . p e t a l o n " a l e a f , " O . E . f Ê m " e m b r a c e , b o s o m , f a t h o m " ) . T h e v e r b i s f i r s t a t t e s t e d 1 5 1 3 , f r o m t h e n o u n . A l s o , " a m e a s u r e o f f i v e f e e t " [ J o h n s o n ] . P a c e - m a k e r w a s o r i g i n a l l y ( 1 8 8 4 ) a r i d e r o r b o a t t h a t s e t s t h e p a c e f o r o t h e r s i n t r a i n i n g ; s e n s e o f " m a n - m a d e d e v i c e f o r s t i m u l a t i n g a n d r e g u l a t i n g h e a r t b e a t " i s f r o m 1 9 5 1 . P a c e - s e t t e r i n f a s h i o n i s f r o m 1 8 9 5 .

12. olio O r i g i n : Spanish. 1 6 3 5 4 5 ; < S p o l l a p o t , s t e w < L o l l a , M l a p o t , j a r
a dish of many ingredients; a mixture of heterogeneous elements; hodgepodge.
a medley or potpourri, as of musical or literary selections; miscellany.

13. Dialect: 1577, from M.Fr. dialecte, from L. dialectus "local language, way of speaking, conversation," from Gk. dialektos, from dialegesthai "converse with each other," from dia- "across, between" + legein "speak" (see lecture).

14. Damsel: 1199, from O.Fr. dameisele, modified by association with dame from earlier donsele, from Gallo-Romance *domnicella, dim. of L. domina "lady" (see dame). Archaic until revived by romantic poets, along with 16c.-17c. variant form damozel.