cater
verb, transitive. To provide food and drink, typically at social events and in a professional capacity. To provide what is needed or required. To try to satisfy a particular need or demand.
Ed cradled his head in both hands and stared at the surface of his desk. He could hear Mary talking to their daughter, Ellen, in the kitchen. As happened more and more often these days, the girl had had another crisis at school. Instead of calming and recovering after she arrived home, she was spiraling into a pattern of regret and self-recrimination. Ed feared that Mary’s probing and suggestions were making it worse, rather than helping. Sometimes, he felt that his wife catered to their daughter’s problems, rather than trying to help her to rise above them.
His thoughts turned to his sister Jennifer. He could remember her going through similar spells when she was in school, and she never seemed to find a way to solve her problems. Jenny had grown into a troubled woman, alone except for her mother and siblings. Last winter, she had tried to take her own life. They knew that she wanted help because she had done so in the parking lot of her workplace, where someone was sure to find her. One of her co-workers had done so, and had called an ambulance. Jenny had gone into a rehabilitation facility after her initial hospital stay, but had left after she began to feel better--a matter of days rather than the weeks Ed felt that she had needed. She hadn’t lost any weight. She hadn’t pursued psychotherapy any longer after leaving. She had moved in with their mother, who was doing her best to take care of Jenny and maintain both their households, despite her own troublesome health.
That situation was not going to end well, Ed thought. Mom had such diminished reserves of strength these days. He wished, for the hundredth or thousandth time, that his father was still alive. With his passing, Ed knew, his family now considered him to be the patriarch, to whom they could turn when they were at a loss as to how to solve their problems. He knew that in time, Ellen woulld do the same, but for now, he let Mary do the heavy lifting.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Friday, October 19, 2018
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Bandy
bandy
verb, transitive. To bat to and fro, as a tennis ball; to toss from side to side or pass about from one to another; to exchange words argumentatively; to discuss lightly or banteringly; to use in a glib or offhand manner.
Also a noun and an adjective.
Trish gazed at her niece--her namesake--and pressed her lips together. She hated seeing the young woman so unhappy.
“Want to take a walk with me?” she asked her.
Patricia nodded and got to her feet listlessly. The two descended the porch steps and headed toward the street.
As they negotiated the damp pavement with its mosaic of fallen leaves, Trish mentally rehearsed what she wanted to say for several minutes before she spoke: “You know that your dad is upset that you dropped out of school. He’s trying hard to avoid unloading his frustration on you. He knows that he needs to let you find your way through this.”
Patricia shook her head, watching the pavement in front of them. “I feel so bad, even though I know it’s the right thing for me to do right now. There was just so much--so much reading, so much homework, so many papers. Every day, more and more. I knew I would never be able to get on top of it all!”
Trish nodded. “David had a similar problem his freshman year. He got used to it by the end of his first semester, but it was a struggle. He waited until nearly the end of his first sophomore semester to drop out. His reasons were different from yours.
“A friend and I talked about the problems people have when they start college. He told me that colleges and universities use freshman year as a way to cull students who may not belong there. They use the required classes and make them extra-demanding; pile on the work until students reach a breaking point.”
“Well, they broke me,” Patricia admitted.
“Strained you,” Trish corrected her. “I don’t want to bandy words with you, hon. I think you just need time to figure out what you want out of life and how to achieve that. I think you should stick with your job for a year or two, and maybe take a class or two in subjects unrelated to what you thought you wanted to major in. Take things that might be fun, like--I don’t know--horticulture.”
“Horticulture!” At last, Trish saw the grin on the girl’s face that she had wanted to see.
“Okay, basket-weaving. Something you never thought you’d want to learn. Just give it a shot. And read. Read a lot. Read books that never appealed to you before, but keep reading the stuff you love, as well. Mix it up. Life is long. You can’t know what information and ideas may come in handy later.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To bat to and fro, as a tennis ball; to toss from side to side or pass about from one to another; to exchange words argumentatively; to discuss lightly or banteringly; to use in a glib or offhand manner.
Also a noun and an adjective.
Trish gazed at her niece--her namesake--and pressed her lips together. She hated seeing the young woman so unhappy.
“Want to take a walk with me?” she asked her.
Patricia nodded and got to her feet listlessly. The two descended the porch steps and headed toward the street.
As they negotiated the damp pavement with its mosaic of fallen leaves, Trish mentally rehearsed what she wanted to say for several minutes before she spoke: “You know that your dad is upset that you dropped out of school. He’s trying hard to avoid unloading his frustration on you. He knows that he needs to let you find your way through this.”
Patricia shook her head, watching the pavement in front of them. “I feel so bad, even though I know it’s the right thing for me to do right now. There was just so much--so much reading, so much homework, so many papers. Every day, more and more. I knew I would never be able to get on top of it all!”
Trish nodded. “David had a similar problem his freshman year. He got used to it by the end of his first semester, but it was a struggle. He waited until nearly the end of his first sophomore semester to drop out. His reasons were different from yours.
“A friend and I talked about the problems people have when they start college. He told me that colleges and universities use freshman year as a way to cull students who may not belong there. They use the required classes and make them extra-demanding; pile on the work until students reach a breaking point.”
“Well, they broke me,” Patricia admitted.
“Strained you,” Trish corrected her. “I don’t want to bandy words with you, hon. I think you just need time to figure out what you want out of life and how to achieve that. I think you should stick with your job for a year or two, and maybe take a class or two in subjects unrelated to what you thought you wanted to major in. Take things that might be fun, like--I don’t know--horticulture.”
“Horticulture!” At last, Trish saw the grin on the girl’s face that she had wanted to see.
“Okay, basket-weaving. Something you never thought you’d want to learn. Just give it a shot. And read. Read a lot. Read books that never appealed to you before, but keep reading the stuff you love, as well. Mix it up. Life is long. You can’t know what information and ideas may come in handy later.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Monday, September 17, 2018
Abbreviate
abbreviate
verb, transitive. To make briefer, to shorten, to reduce to a shorter form intended to stand for the whole.
As Mr. Kempke launched into his usual drone five minutes into class, Charley surveyed his fellow students, one by one. He needed to borrow someone’s notes taken during the previous day’s class, in order to prepare for the quiz Kempke planned to give them on Firday.
His gaze stopped on Hillary Meyer--the only student already diligently scribbling away as Kempke talked. Charley was reluctant to engage the girl in conversation. His friends would wonder what possessed him to spend time talking to such a dog, but he needed the information that he knew she possessed. He had cut classes yesterday and forged his dad’s signature on the written excuse he had handed in to the office this morning. He needed class notes that were richly detailed, and he could tell that Hillary’s would fill that requirement.
She was still busy annotating in her notebook when class ended. Charley stepped across two aisles and paused beside her. She capped her pen and peered at his face through her glasses. Their lenses were so thick that they magnified her eyes, which were, he noticed for the first time, a rich hazel.
“Hillary, I was wondering if I could borrow your notes from yesterday. I was out sick.”
She studied him as she shoved her pen, notebook and textbook into her massive tote without looking. “You don’t have anything contagious, do you?”
Charley was startled. What had caused his absence? For a moment, he couldn’t remember the reason he had included in the note he had written. He found himself gazing at Hillary’s smooth, faintly-rose-tinted cheeks, unmarred by a single pimple, thinking it a shame that such lovely skin was hidden behind those massive spectacles.
“Upset stomach,” he blurted, remembering. “Something I ate the night before.”
Hillary considered him, then heaved her tote from the floor to her desktop. “Can you photocopy them and return them today? I have to study, too, you know.”
Charley doubted that, but assured her that he could do as she asked, although he regretted the necessity of spending money to photocopy the notes. Without saying anything more, Hillary retrieved the notebook from the interior of her tote and offered it to him. Charley opened it and leafed through to the last used page, then turned back a page or two.
“Just let me find where you started yesterday’s notes,” he mused. Hillary stood and leafed back two pages further than he had.
“There.” She pointed at the top of the page, where she had jotted the date.
Charley read for a moment, then frowned. “What’s this ‘IR?’ What does that mean?”
“’Industrial Revolution.’ I abbreviated it after the first few minutes of note-taking. Didn’t you?”
Charley met her gaze with consternation, unwilling to admit that his own notes were so sketchy that he had never had to solve the problem of how to condense the material so as to make note-taking less laborious. When he didn’t reply, she pulled her tote’s strap over her shoulder and moved toward the classroom door. “At first, I abbreviated it as ‘Indus Rev,’ then ‘Ind Rev.’ Finally, I just shortened it to ‘IR.’ Saves a lot of ink.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To make briefer, to shorten, to reduce to a shorter form intended to stand for the whole.
As Mr. Kempke launched into his usual drone five minutes into class, Charley surveyed his fellow students, one by one. He needed to borrow someone’s notes taken during the previous day’s class, in order to prepare for the quiz Kempke planned to give them on Firday.
His gaze stopped on Hillary Meyer--the only student already diligently scribbling away as Kempke talked. Charley was reluctant to engage the girl in conversation. His friends would wonder what possessed him to spend time talking to such a dog, but he needed the information that he knew she possessed. He had cut classes yesterday and forged his dad’s signature on the written excuse he had handed in to the office this morning. He needed class notes that were richly detailed, and he could tell that Hillary’s would fill that requirement.
She was still busy annotating in her notebook when class ended. Charley stepped across two aisles and paused beside her. She capped her pen and peered at his face through her glasses. Their lenses were so thick that they magnified her eyes, which were, he noticed for the first time, a rich hazel.
“Hillary, I was wondering if I could borrow your notes from yesterday. I was out sick.”
She studied him as she shoved her pen, notebook and textbook into her massive tote without looking. “You don’t have anything contagious, do you?”
Charley was startled. What had caused his absence? For a moment, he couldn’t remember the reason he had included in the note he had written. He found himself gazing at Hillary’s smooth, faintly-rose-tinted cheeks, unmarred by a single pimple, thinking it a shame that such lovely skin was hidden behind those massive spectacles.
“Upset stomach,” he blurted, remembering. “Something I ate the night before.”
Hillary considered him, then heaved her tote from the floor to her desktop. “Can you photocopy them and return them today? I have to study, too, you know.”
Charley doubted that, but assured her that he could do as she asked, although he regretted the necessity of spending money to photocopy the notes. Without saying anything more, Hillary retrieved the notebook from the interior of her tote and offered it to him. Charley opened it and leafed through to the last used page, then turned back a page or two.
“Just let me find where you started yesterday’s notes,” he mused. Hillary stood and leafed back two pages further than he had.
“There.” She pointed at the top of the page, where she had jotted the date.
Charley read for a moment, then frowned. “What’s this ‘IR?’ What does that mean?”
“’Industrial Revolution.’ I abbreviated it after the first few minutes of note-taking. Didn’t you?”
Charley met her gaze with consternation, unwilling to admit that his own notes were so sketchy that he had never had to solve the problem of how to condense the material so as to make note-taking less laborious. When he didn’t reply, she pulled her tote’s strap over her shoulder and moved toward the classroom door. “At first, I abbreviated it as ‘Indus Rev,’ then ‘Ind Rev.’ Finally, I just shortened it to ‘IR.’ Saves a lot of ink.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Zero
zero
verb, transitive. To concentrate firepower on the exact range of, usually used with “in,” as “zero in”; to adjust an instrument to zero; to phase out or reduce to zero.
verb, intransitive. To adjust fire, as of artillery, on a specific target, usually used with “in; to move near to or focus attention as if on a target.
Also a noun and an adjective.
The kid was busy at the sink, finishing the most recent task Aaron had assigned him. Aaron decided to let him carry on and continued assembling ingredients on the table. The final thing he fetched was a small digital scale--his latest acquisition. He adjusted its unit value to pounds and ounces, then looked up as his assistant approached.
“Next?” the kid asked him.
“We’re going to make an Italian cream cake.” Aaron made a sweeping gesture across the table to indicate the containers and measuring implements he had gathered there. “I’ve done the mise en place,” he continued, hoping that he wouldn’t have to explain what that phrase meant.
“Thank you,” the kid said with a nod.
“Good. I’ll talk you through it.” Aaron stepped back and indicated that the kid should stand before the scale. “First, check the units on the scale. Look at your recipe. What should the scale read?”
“Pounds and ounces.”
“Correct. Place the large bowl on the scale, then zero it by pressing the ‘Tare’ button.” Aaron watched as the kid followed the instruction, then mused, “it seems as if ‘tare’ ought to be a verb. If it was, it would be less to say. I could just tell you to put the bowl on the scale, then to tare the scale. More efficient.” The kid met Aaron’s gaze and nodded. “Start with the flour.”
After the kid had weighed out the correct amount, Aaron instructed him to zero the scale again and add the next ingredient on the list. The process continued through the rest of the ingredients that had to be weighed, then those that had to be measured. The kid whisked the bowl of dry ingredients to remove any lumps, turned to the liquids and combined them, then gradually added the latter to the former. The cake, when it was done, was as good as any that Aaron’s bakery had ever produced.
The next morning, the kid was waiting at the shop door when Aaron arrived. He returned Aaron’s greeting, then said, “’Tare’ is a verb, sir. I had to look in two dictionaries, but in one of them it’s defined as a verb that means 'to zero.' So, I guess you can tell your trainees to ‘tare the scale.’”
Aaron smiled as he disabled the alarm. The kid was thorough, and capable of following up even without being told to. He might do, Aaron thought. Yes, he just might do.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To concentrate firepower on the exact range of, usually used with “in,” as “zero in”; to adjust an instrument to zero; to phase out or reduce to zero.
verb, intransitive. To adjust fire, as of artillery, on a specific target, usually used with “in; to move near to or focus attention as if on a target.
Also a noun and an adjective.
The kid was busy at the sink, finishing the most recent task Aaron had assigned him. Aaron decided to let him carry on and continued assembling ingredients on the table. The final thing he fetched was a small digital scale--his latest acquisition. He adjusted its unit value to pounds and ounces, then looked up as his assistant approached.
“Next?” the kid asked him.
“We’re going to make an Italian cream cake.” Aaron made a sweeping gesture across the table to indicate the containers and measuring implements he had gathered there. “I’ve done the mise en place,” he continued, hoping that he wouldn’t have to explain what that phrase meant.
“Thank you,” the kid said with a nod.
“Good. I’ll talk you through it.” Aaron stepped back and indicated that the kid should stand before the scale. “First, check the units on the scale. Look at your recipe. What should the scale read?”
“Pounds and ounces.”
“Correct. Place the large bowl on the scale, then zero it by pressing the ‘Tare’ button.” Aaron watched as the kid followed the instruction, then mused, “it seems as if ‘tare’ ought to be a verb. If it was, it would be less to say. I could just tell you to put the bowl on the scale, then to tare the scale. More efficient.” The kid met Aaron’s gaze and nodded. “Start with the flour.”
After the kid had weighed out the correct amount, Aaron instructed him to zero the scale again and add the next ingredient on the list. The process continued through the rest of the ingredients that had to be weighed, then those that had to be measured. The kid whisked the bowl of dry ingredients to remove any lumps, turned to the liquids and combined them, then gradually added the latter to the former. The cake, when it was done, was as good as any that Aaron’s bakery had ever produced.
The next morning, the kid was waiting at the shop door when Aaron arrived. He returned Aaron’s greeting, then said, “’Tare’ is a verb, sir. I had to look in two dictionaries, but in one of them it’s defined as a verb that means 'to zero.' So, I guess you can tell your trainees to ‘tare the scale.’”
Aaron smiled as he disabled the alarm. The kid was thorough, and capable of following up even without being told to. He might do, Aaron thought. Yes, he just might do.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Yank
yank
verb, transitive. To pull or extract with a quick, vigorous movement.
verb, intransitive. To pull on something with a quick, vigorous movement.
Also a noun.
Liz fumed as she laced her athletic shoes, wishing for the hundredth time that she had bought a different brand. These were too soft; too yielding. She was beginning to fear an injury because they felt so inadequate. The aches she felt around her insteps after her runs alarmed her. She was a big woman. Her feet needed support, not just cushioning. She yanked the lace tight and tied the knot, then turned to her other foot.
“Is something wrong?” her husband asked from the doorway.
Liz glanced up at him before returning her attention to her shoe. “Would you be upset with me if I told you that I want to drive to Edmond to buy a different pair of shoes?” She kept her eyes on her hands, knowing that he was probably gaping at her in disbelief.
He took his time responding. When he spoke, his voice was quiet: “I guess you should do as you think best, Liz. You’ve been complaining about those shoes since you bought them.”
She finished tying the second shoe and stood, looking at her feet while she wriggled her toes. “I know they’re really expensive,” she said, “but so is a podiatrist.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To pull or extract with a quick, vigorous movement.
verb, intransitive. To pull on something with a quick, vigorous movement.
Also a noun.
Liz fumed as she laced her athletic shoes, wishing for the hundredth time that she had bought a different brand. These were too soft; too yielding. She was beginning to fear an injury because they felt so inadequate. The aches she felt around her insteps after her runs alarmed her. She was a big woman. Her feet needed support, not just cushioning. She yanked the lace tight and tied the knot, then turned to her other foot.
“Is something wrong?” her husband asked from the doorway.
Liz glanced up at him before returning her attention to her shoe. “Would you be upset with me if I told you that I want to drive to Edmond to buy a different pair of shoes?” She kept her eyes on her hands, knowing that he was probably gaping at her in disbelief.
He took his time responding. When he spoke, his voice was quiet: “I guess you should do as you think best, Liz. You’ve been complaining about those shoes since you bought them.”
She finished tying the second shoe and stood, looking at her feet while she wriggled her toes. “I know they’re really expensive,” she said, “but so is a podiatrist.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
X
x
verb, transitive. To mark with an X; to cancel or obliterate with a series of X’s, usually used with “out”, as in “x’d out.” Also “x-ed”, “x’d” or “xed”; “x-ing” or “x’ing”.
Stu couldn’t help glancing at the stack of papers waiting for his examination before turning over the one before him. He certainly never expected that he would have to wade through hundreds of documents in order to investigate a crime when he opted for a law-enforcement career. “This bites. It bites big-time,” he thought. “I have an office the size of a closet, and the only time I get anywhere near a window is when I pass a couple of them on my way to the cafeteria at noon.” He heaved a massive sigh, relieved that there was no one with him in the office to hear it.
He returned to his study of the page before him. One-third of the way down the page, the type changed to a smaller size. Stu frowned and lifted the paper in order to read it more easily. That was when he saw it: someone had x-ed out a series of words in one paragraph in such a way that the deletions could have been mistaken for an ornamental pattern. Stu’s pulse quickened. He forgot the boredom he had felt only moments before. He moved the paper even closer in an effort to discern the words beneath the X’s. After a minute or two, he shook his head. Discovering what had been x-ed out was going to require one of the forensics experts’ tricks with different-colored lights and special software. His human eyesight was not enough.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To mark with an X; to cancel or obliterate with a series of X’s, usually used with “out”, as in “x’d out.” Also “x-ed”, “x’d” or “xed”; “x-ing” or “x’ing”.
Stu couldn’t help glancing at the stack of papers waiting for his examination before turning over the one before him. He certainly never expected that he would have to wade through hundreds of documents in order to investigate a crime when he opted for a law-enforcement career. “This bites. It bites big-time,” he thought. “I have an office the size of a closet, and the only time I get anywhere near a window is when I pass a couple of them on my way to the cafeteria at noon.” He heaved a massive sigh, relieved that there was no one with him in the office to hear it.
He returned to his study of the page before him. One-third of the way down the page, the type changed to a smaller size. Stu frowned and lifted the paper in order to read it more easily. That was when he saw it: someone had x-ed out a series of words in one paragraph in such a way that the deletions could have been mistaken for an ornamental pattern. Stu’s pulse quickened. He forgot the boredom he had felt only moments before. He moved the paper even closer in an effort to discern the words beneath the X’s. After a minute or two, he shook his head. Discovering what had been x-ed out was going to require one of the forensics experts’ tricks with different-colored lights and special software. His human eyesight was not enough.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, June 3, 2018
Ween
ween
verb, intransitive. (archaic) To be of the opinion; to think or to suppose.
“Sara?”
Sara looked up from her script at the portly young man on the stage. “Yes, King Henry?”
“There appears to be a misspelling in the script. It says ‘w-e-e-n.’ Shouldn’t that be ‘w-e-a-n?’”
Sara sat back and regarded the actor, suppressing a sigh. She had already had reason to regret casting the role of Henry VIII to resemble the portraits of the monarch during his reign. The costume mistress harangued her about the extra fabric and trim daily. After four days of rehearsal, Sara was learning that her Henry possessed only moderate intelligence, and that these rehearsals were evidently his first exposure to Shakespeare’s work.
“No, King Henry. W-e-e-n is correct. No doubt you have noticed that the language of Shakespeare’s time includes numerous words and phrases that people don’t use anymore. ‘Ween’ is one of those.”
The young man stood staring at his script, frowning.
“Are you having trouble figuring out what he’s talking about?” she prompted. The actor nodded, looking up at her hopefully. “You are referring to the sentence ‘Ween you of better luck,
I mean, in perjur'd witness, than your Master,
Whose minister you are, whiles here He liv'd
Upon this naughty earth?’ The word ‘ween’ means to think or to imagine. The king is asking the Archbishop of Canterbury if he thinks that he is luckier than Christ was during His time as a mortal man. It’s a veiled threat you’re making, King Henry.”
That seemed to get through. The actor nodded at his script and smiled a little. Sara glanced at the actor who was playing Cranmer and gestured that the scene should continue.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, intransitive. (archaic) To be of the opinion; to think or to suppose.
“Sara?”
Sara looked up from her script at the portly young man on the stage. “Yes, King Henry?”
“There appears to be a misspelling in the script. It says ‘w-e-e-n.’ Shouldn’t that be ‘w-e-a-n?’”
Sara sat back and regarded the actor, suppressing a sigh. She had already had reason to regret casting the role of Henry VIII to resemble the portraits of the monarch during his reign. The costume mistress harangued her about the extra fabric and trim daily. After four days of rehearsal, Sara was learning that her Henry possessed only moderate intelligence, and that these rehearsals were evidently his first exposure to Shakespeare’s work.
“No, King Henry. W-e-e-n is correct. No doubt you have noticed that the language of Shakespeare’s time includes numerous words and phrases that people don’t use anymore. ‘Ween’ is one of those.”
The young man stood staring at his script, frowning.
“Are you having trouble figuring out what he’s talking about?” she prompted. The actor nodded, looking up at her hopefully. “You are referring to the sentence ‘Ween you of better luck,
I mean, in perjur'd witness, than your Master,
Whose minister you are, whiles here He liv'd
Upon this naughty earth?’ The word ‘ween’ means to think or to imagine. The king is asking the Archbishop of Canterbury if he thinks that he is luckier than Christ was during His time as a mortal man. It’s a veiled threat you’re making, King Henry.”
That seemed to get through. The actor nodded at his script and smiled a little. Sara glanced at the actor who was playing Cranmer and gestured that the scene should continue.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Wean
wean
verb, transitive. To accustom an infant or other young mammal to food other than its mother’s milk. To accustom someone to managing without something upon which he has become dependent or of which he has become excessively fond. As “be weaned on”, to be strongly influenced by something, especially from an early age.
When Nancy learned that the neighbors’ cat had had kittens, she put dibs on two. She and Steve had noticed a bad rodent problem in and around their new house, and they knew that a pair of yard cats would solve it. They were delighted when Helen and her two children arrived about two weeks later, carrying two little cats. They were adorable, but it wasn’t long before Helen’s dishonesty became apparent. The kittens quickly latched onto Steve and Nancy’s dog, who was still nursing a litter of puppies, and joined the puppies in their meals.
“Their mother hadn’t weaned them yet,” Nancy told Steve as they stood and watched.
“Evidently not,” Steve agreed. “I guess Helen didn’t want to have to buy any more cat food than necessary.”
The fosterlings of a different species didn’t seem to cause the dog any anxiety. It wasn’t long before she weaned the puppies, and homes were found for them. The kittens continued to benefit from the dog’s condition and generosity, for although they continued to grow, they stopped doing so before they reached the size at which the puppies had been weaned. After a few weeks, the dog’s milk stopped, or the cats developed a taste for solid food, or both. It seemed a natural occurance and none of the three appeared to be unhappy.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To accustom an infant or other young mammal to food other than its mother’s milk. To accustom someone to managing without something upon which he has become dependent or of which he has become excessively fond. As “be weaned on”, to be strongly influenced by something, especially from an early age.
When Nancy learned that the neighbors’ cat had had kittens, she put dibs on two. She and Steve had noticed a bad rodent problem in and around their new house, and they knew that a pair of yard cats would solve it. They were delighted when Helen and her two children arrived about two weeks later, carrying two little cats. They were adorable, but it wasn’t long before Helen’s dishonesty became apparent. The kittens quickly latched onto Steve and Nancy’s dog, who was still nursing a litter of puppies, and joined the puppies in their meals.
“Their mother hadn’t weaned them yet,” Nancy told Steve as they stood and watched.
“Evidently not,” Steve agreed. “I guess Helen didn’t want to have to buy any more cat food than necessary.”
The fosterlings of a different species didn’t seem to cause the dog any anxiety. It wasn’t long before she weaned the puppies, and homes were found for them. The kittens continued to benefit from the dog’s condition and generosity, for although they continued to grow, they stopped doing so before they reached the size at which the puppies had been weaned. After a few weeks, the dog’s milk stopped, or the cats developed a taste for solid food, or both. It seemed a natural occurance and none of the three appeared to be unhappy.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Validate
validate
verb, transitive. To make legally valid; to grant official sanction to by marking; to confirm the validity of an election; to declare a person elected; to verify, substantiate or confirm.
Her experiment had only taken a couple of weeks to convince Leah that she was onto something. Although she hated to admit it, flossing her teeth every day was one of the best habits she had ever acquired, especially now that she was well into her middle years. By the time she was 40, her joints had begun to ache, especially in cold weather. Daily flossing reduced that discomfort, and now that she was flossing twice a day--after breakfast and before bedtime--the effect was even more pronounced.
She sat in the chair in her dentist’s examination room and smiled to herself. Keeping her teeth cleaner herself made the hygienist’s cleanings quick and almost pain-free. She was certain that the dentist would pronounce her good to go for the next six months, with no further work needed.
“Hi, Leah,” Dr. Roberts said as he entered at her back. “How are you doing?”
“Very well, Dr. Roberts,” she replied, “how about you?”
“Can’t complain.” He sat and pulled her chart close. A minute or two passed as he read the hygienist’s notes. “Open, please,” he told Leah as he picked up an instrument.
She closed her eyes and opened her mouth into an extended yawn. She could feel gentle poking and pressure as Dr. Roberts checked a few places among her teeth and on her gums. It wasn’t long before he sat up and told her that she appeared to need no more work today or in the near future.
As he moved the chair so that Leah was sitting up again, she announced her discovery: “I have learned something during the past few weeks, Dr. Roberts. I found out that the cleaner I keep my teeth, the less joint pain I have to put up with.”
To her astonishment, he sat up even straighter and gasped. “I’ve noticed that myself,” he told her, “but you’re the first patient I’ve had validate that!”
As Leah stood up and gathered her belongings, she suggested, “You could do a survey and write a paper.” She was rewarded when he smiled and nodded.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To make legally valid; to grant official sanction to by marking; to confirm the validity of an election; to declare a person elected; to verify, substantiate or confirm.
Her experiment had only taken a couple of weeks to convince Leah that she was onto something. Although she hated to admit it, flossing her teeth every day was one of the best habits she had ever acquired, especially now that she was well into her middle years. By the time she was 40, her joints had begun to ache, especially in cold weather. Daily flossing reduced that discomfort, and now that she was flossing twice a day--after breakfast and before bedtime--the effect was even more pronounced.
She sat in the chair in her dentist’s examination room and smiled to herself. Keeping her teeth cleaner herself made the hygienist’s cleanings quick and almost pain-free. She was certain that the dentist would pronounce her good to go for the next six months, with no further work needed.
“Hi, Leah,” Dr. Roberts said as he entered at her back. “How are you doing?”
“Very well, Dr. Roberts,” she replied, “how about you?”
“Can’t complain.” He sat and pulled her chart close. A minute or two passed as he read the hygienist’s notes. “Open, please,” he told Leah as he picked up an instrument.
She closed her eyes and opened her mouth into an extended yawn. She could feel gentle poking and pressure as Dr. Roberts checked a few places among her teeth and on her gums. It wasn’t long before he sat up and told her that she appeared to need no more work today or in the near future.
As he moved the chair so that Leah was sitting up again, she announced her discovery: “I have learned something during the past few weeks, Dr. Roberts. I found out that the cleaner I keep my teeth, the less joint pain I have to put up with.”
To her astonishment, he sat up even straighter and gasped. “I’ve noticed that myself,” he told her, “but you’re the first patient I’ve had validate that!”
As Leah stood up and gathered her belongings, she suggested, “You could do a survey and write a paper.” She was rewarded when he smiled and nodded.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Unbalance
unbalance
verb, transitive. To put out of balance, specifically to derange mentally.
John raised the garage door and squinted into the gloom. His son’s bicycle was in the back, in a corner, suspended from a hook in the ceiling. Ruefully, he looked over the row of items between it and him. He briefly considered giving up on the plan to cycle for exercise this morning, then thought of what his doctor had told him two months ago and stiffened his resolve. He needed to do this, in order to keep high blood pressure and diabetes at bay. Besides, Rick was waiting for him.
After backing the car out of the garage, John had little trouble reaching the bike, lifting it down and wheeling it out onto the driveway. He straddled the seat and lifted his feet while examining the tires. They bulged outward a little; not enough to indicate a need for air. He glanced back into the garage. He would have to rearrange it later, in order to make it easier to get the bike in and out. That was okay. That, too, would be exercise. He faced forward, leaning on the handlebars, and prepared to ride a few doors down the street to Rick’s house.
He felt paralyzed all of a sudden. How long had it been since he rode a bike? Ten years? Twenty? Would he remember what to do? He stared at the pavement before him, breathing long and deeply. It would be okay. They said that you never forget how to ride a bicycle, and he recalled that there were summers when he was a child when he must have spent as much time riding one as he spent on foot. The thought was reassuring. A quick check left and right to make sure no traffic was coming, and he pushed off.
He took the turn from the drive onto the street so slowly that he unbalanced for a moment, then he was going straight again and stopped wobbling. Speed was part of the trick, he remembered. A little more momentum would stabilize you on a bike.
There was a slight uphill grade between his driveway and Rick’s. John pedalled more confidently, shifting up one gear. Down the street, he saw Rick coast down his driveway and stop at the street. Then, Rick leaned over and appeared to be looking at the rear derailleur on his bike. John continued up the gentle slope until he was next to Rick and halted. “What--did you leave it in the top gear?” he asked.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To put out of balance, specifically to derange mentally.
John raised the garage door and squinted into the gloom. His son’s bicycle was in the back, in a corner, suspended from a hook in the ceiling. Ruefully, he looked over the row of items between it and him. He briefly considered giving up on the plan to cycle for exercise this morning, then thought of what his doctor had told him two months ago and stiffened his resolve. He needed to do this, in order to keep high blood pressure and diabetes at bay. Besides, Rick was waiting for him.
After backing the car out of the garage, John had little trouble reaching the bike, lifting it down and wheeling it out onto the driveway. He straddled the seat and lifted his feet while examining the tires. They bulged outward a little; not enough to indicate a need for air. He glanced back into the garage. He would have to rearrange it later, in order to make it easier to get the bike in and out. That was okay. That, too, would be exercise. He faced forward, leaning on the handlebars, and prepared to ride a few doors down the street to Rick’s house.
He felt paralyzed all of a sudden. How long had it been since he rode a bike? Ten years? Twenty? Would he remember what to do? He stared at the pavement before him, breathing long and deeply. It would be okay. They said that you never forget how to ride a bicycle, and he recalled that there were summers when he was a child when he must have spent as much time riding one as he spent on foot. The thought was reassuring. A quick check left and right to make sure no traffic was coming, and he pushed off.
He took the turn from the drive onto the street so slowly that he unbalanced for a moment, then he was going straight again and stopped wobbling. Speed was part of the trick, he remembered. A little more momentum would stabilize you on a bike.
There was a slight uphill grade between his driveway and Rick’s. John pedalled more confidently, shifting up one gear. Down the street, he saw Rick coast down his driveway and stop at the street. Then, Rick leaned over and appeared to be looking at the rear derailleur on his bike. John continued up the gentle slope until he was next to Rick and halted. “What--did you leave it in the top gear?” he asked.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Monday, May 21, 2018
Tutor
tutor
verb, transitive. To have the guardianship, tutelage, or care of; to teach or guide, usually individually in a special subject or for a particular purpose.
verb, intransitive. To do the work of a tutor; to receive instruction, especially privately.
Also a noun.
The phone interrupted Ruth just before she was about to save the business card she had just finished as a PDF and email it to the client. Compressing her lips, she continued with the steps, thinking that it was probably another telemarketing call. She would let the answering machine pick up.
“Ruth? Are you there? This is May Coolidge.”
Ruth was shocked at how much her anger flared at the sound of that voice. May was a customer of the printing company that had laid Ruth off a couple of months previously, and not a good customer, either. May dabbled in design and layout and was constantly calling the office to ask Ruth’s advice on how to use the software necessary to produce high-quality work. Once May finished one of her little projects, she would bring the files to Ruth’s company and do her best to coerce Ruth’s boss into printing it for free or at a deep discount. She had used up Ruth’s reservoir of patience long ago.
“Hello,” she spoke into the phone, wondering how May had tracked her down at home. She knew that no one at her former office would have given out her number.
“Oh, you’re there! Listen, I’m putting together a newsletter for my genealogy group, and I have a bunch of JPGs. Is it okay if I use those?”
“It depends. What’s the resolution?”
“Mmm. I haven’t opened them to find out yet.”
“They need to be 300 pixels per inch at the size they’re going to print. If they are, it would be better if you convert them to TIFs before you place them in the document.”
“Aww! TIFs take up so much memory...”
Ruth could hear the familiar whining tone in May’s voice. The woman insisted on doing everything on the cheap. Ruth was certain that May’s hard drive was already strained nearly to its limit by the software alone. She was surprised that the other woman wasn’t always complaining about it crashing. “There’s a good reason for that,” she remarked, but didn’t elaborate. Instead, she decided that it was high time she told May some unwelcome facts. “If you’re not going to set up the files properly, you shouldn’t do it at all, May. You will only cause problems on the press. That will cause delays and cost money, and if it costs you money, it will serve you right.” She heard May sputter on the other end of the line and went on: “You keep asking me pretty basic questions. You need to devote time to learning how to use your software to do your projects. There are thousands of free tutorials online that will teach you almost everything you need to know. You can also spend time reading discussions on the software users’ groups. That’s how I learned everything I know. If you want to continue calling me so I can tutor you over the phone--long distance--I’m going to have to bill you forty-five dollars an hour.”
“What?!?!” May shouted into her ear. “That’s outrageous!”
“That’s what I charge my freelance clients. You interrupted me while I was working on a project for one of them. It’s only fair that I charge you the same for taking up my time.” Ruth actually charged her clients thirty-five an hour, except for one who annoyed her. She charged him forty-five. May definitely qualified as annoying.
This was met with a long silence. Finally, May replied: “I’ll have to think about that.” She sounded defeated. Ruth smiled, but said nothing. After another moment, May said goodbye and hung up. Ruth hoped that that would be the last conversation she would ever have with the woman.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To have the guardianship, tutelage, or care of; to teach or guide, usually individually in a special subject or for a particular purpose.
verb, intransitive. To do the work of a tutor; to receive instruction, especially privately.
Also a noun.
The phone interrupted Ruth just before she was about to save the business card she had just finished as a PDF and email it to the client. Compressing her lips, she continued with the steps, thinking that it was probably another telemarketing call. She would let the answering machine pick up.
“Ruth? Are you there? This is May Coolidge.”
Ruth was shocked at how much her anger flared at the sound of that voice. May was a customer of the printing company that had laid Ruth off a couple of months previously, and not a good customer, either. May dabbled in design and layout and was constantly calling the office to ask Ruth’s advice on how to use the software necessary to produce high-quality work. Once May finished one of her little projects, she would bring the files to Ruth’s company and do her best to coerce Ruth’s boss into printing it for free or at a deep discount. She had used up Ruth’s reservoir of patience long ago.
“Hello,” she spoke into the phone, wondering how May had tracked her down at home. She knew that no one at her former office would have given out her number.
“Oh, you’re there! Listen, I’m putting together a newsletter for my genealogy group, and I have a bunch of JPGs. Is it okay if I use those?”
“It depends. What’s the resolution?”
“Mmm. I haven’t opened them to find out yet.”
“They need to be 300 pixels per inch at the size they’re going to print. If they are, it would be better if you convert them to TIFs before you place them in the document.”
“Aww! TIFs take up so much memory...”
Ruth could hear the familiar whining tone in May’s voice. The woman insisted on doing everything on the cheap. Ruth was certain that May’s hard drive was already strained nearly to its limit by the software alone. She was surprised that the other woman wasn’t always complaining about it crashing. “There’s a good reason for that,” she remarked, but didn’t elaborate. Instead, she decided that it was high time she told May some unwelcome facts. “If you’re not going to set up the files properly, you shouldn’t do it at all, May. You will only cause problems on the press. That will cause delays and cost money, and if it costs you money, it will serve you right.” She heard May sputter on the other end of the line and went on: “You keep asking me pretty basic questions. You need to devote time to learning how to use your software to do your projects. There are thousands of free tutorials online that will teach you almost everything you need to know. You can also spend time reading discussions on the software users’ groups. That’s how I learned everything I know. If you want to continue calling me so I can tutor you over the phone--long distance--I’m going to have to bill you forty-five dollars an hour.”
“What?!?!” May shouted into her ear. “That’s outrageous!”
“That’s what I charge my freelance clients. You interrupted me while I was working on a project for one of them. It’s only fair that I charge you the same for taking up my time.” Ruth actually charged her clients thirty-five an hour, except for one who annoyed her. She charged him forty-five. May definitely qualified as annoying.
This was met with a long silence. Finally, May replied: “I’ll have to think about that.” She sounded defeated. Ruth smiled, but said nothing. After another moment, May said goodbye and hung up. Ruth hoped that that would be the last conversation she would ever have with the woman.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Sever
sever
verb, transitive. To put or keep apart; to divide; to part by violence, as by cutting.
verb, intransitive. To become separated.
Ted almost turned and left when no one came to the door for five minutes after he pressed the doorbell button. He could hear the bell through the apartment door, so he didn’t bother to knock. He pressed the button again and was rewarded by the click of the deadbolt before the door opened a couple of inches.
“Oh, hi!” Clare looked surprised to see him, but not displeased. After half a breath, she smiled and opened the door wider. “Come in. It’s good to see you.”
Once inside, Ted surveyed the living room. It was sparsely furnished with comfortable-looking chairs. In contrast to the surroundings where he had last seen her, the room was tidy; the carpet recently vacuumed.
“I was visiting Jack and Kate this morning,” he began. At the disappearance of her smile, he paused. He had suspected that something had gone wrong in the relationship Clare had with the couple, but this was the first evidence of it he had seen. “I didn’t know that you had moved out.”
She nodded by way of confirming that, then motioned him toward a chair. “Can I get you some coffee?”
He shook his head. “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“Better than I was,” she stated, “and better every day.”
“Better because...?”
“Because we broke up the household of hell!”
Ted mused, “I had no idea you and Mike were unhappy, living with them. When did that start?”
She thought for a moment. “About six weeks after we moved in together. I did the unthinkable. I stopped at the store on my way home from work, then was told--at the top of Jack’s lungs--that I should have consulted him and Kate before I did something that concerned the entire household. Do you believe that? They wanted to have a group meeting for every decision. All I bought was a gallon of milk!”
“That does sound unreasonable. Did anything else happen?”
“Oh, yeah. That was only the beginning. It was always Jack finding fault, and if I tried with all my might to behave according to his rules after one of his tirades, the rules would change, somehow. Over time, it became more and more clear that I couldn’t do anything right and neither could Mike: not for the group, not for the kids--even ours--nothing. Anything one of us did was an excuse for him to pick a fight.”
“What did Kate do? Was this happening when she was at work?”
“No. It usually happened when she was at home. She almost invariably backed him up. I have a nickname for her now: ‘Enabler-in-Chief.’”
Ted shook his head sadly. “I feel bad, Clare. I encouraged you to consent to moving in with them, then I had to work so much that I couldn’t come by very often. Maybe I could have helped.”
“No, you couldn’t have.” Her expression had grown sorrowful. “We might have been able to find a way of getting along with them in time, but when they began to belittle Mike Junior, we decided that we had to sever the relationship.”
He was surprised. “Sever? You mean that you never see them any more?”
“That’s right. It took some doing, let me tell you: going for long drives in late afternoon or evening; weekend camping trips.... A couple of times, we just pretended we weren’t here. After awhile, they stopped trying to drop in.” She scoffed. “The few times they did catch us at home, all they did was ask for money. We kept saying ‘No.’ We’ve subsidized them enough for one lifetime.”
Ted sat back and regarded Clare sardonically. “That explains it. This morning, Jack told me that you two aren’t doing well at all.”
She threw back her head and guffawed. Her delight was so intense that Ted began to smile in concert with her laughter. “I’m going to tell you a secret, Ted,” she finally stated. “And I know that you will let it go no further than these walls.” She gestured at the boundaries of the room. “We realized that it’s in our best interests not to let Jack and Kate know how well we’re doing.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To put or keep apart; to divide; to part by violence, as by cutting.
verb, intransitive. To become separated.
Ted almost turned and left when no one came to the door for five minutes after he pressed the doorbell button. He could hear the bell through the apartment door, so he didn’t bother to knock. He pressed the button again and was rewarded by the click of the deadbolt before the door opened a couple of inches.
“Oh, hi!” Clare looked surprised to see him, but not displeased. After half a breath, she smiled and opened the door wider. “Come in. It’s good to see you.”
Once inside, Ted surveyed the living room. It was sparsely furnished with comfortable-looking chairs. In contrast to the surroundings where he had last seen her, the room was tidy; the carpet recently vacuumed.
“I was visiting Jack and Kate this morning,” he began. At the disappearance of her smile, he paused. He had suspected that something had gone wrong in the relationship Clare had with the couple, but this was the first evidence of it he had seen. “I didn’t know that you had moved out.”
She nodded by way of confirming that, then motioned him toward a chair. “Can I get you some coffee?”
He shook his head. “I can’t stay long. I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”
“Better than I was,” she stated, “and better every day.”
“Better because...?”
“Because we broke up the household of hell!”
Ted mused, “I had no idea you and Mike were unhappy, living with them. When did that start?”
She thought for a moment. “About six weeks after we moved in together. I did the unthinkable. I stopped at the store on my way home from work, then was told--at the top of Jack’s lungs--that I should have consulted him and Kate before I did something that concerned the entire household. Do you believe that? They wanted to have a group meeting for every decision. All I bought was a gallon of milk!”
“That does sound unreasonable. Did anything else happen?”
“Oh, yeah. That was only the beginning. It was always Jack finding fault, and if I tried with all my might to behave according to his rules after one of his tirades, the rules would change, somehow. Over time, it became more and more clear that I couldn’t do anything right and neither could Mike: not for the group, not for the kids--even ours--nothing. Anything one of us did was an excuse for him to pick a fight.”
“What did Kate do? Was this happening when she was at work?”
“No. It usually happened when she was at home. She almost invariably backed him up. I have a nickname for her now: ‘Enabler-in-Chief.’”
Ted shook his head sadly. “I feel bad, Clare. I encouraged you to consent to moving in with them, then I had to work so much that I couldn’t come by very often. Maybe I could have helped.”
“No, you couldn’t have.” Her expression had grown sorrowful. “We might have been able to find a way of getting along with them in time, but when they began to belittle Mike Junior, we decided that we had to sever the relationship.”
He was surprised. “Sever? You mean that you never see them any more?”
“That’s right. It took some doing, let me tell you: going for long drives in late afternoon or evening; weekend camping trips.... A couple of times, we just pretended we weren’t here. After awhile, they stopped trying to drop in.” She scoffed. “The few times they did catch us at home, all they did was ask for money. We kept saying ‘No.’ We’ve subsidized them enough for one lifetime.”
Ted sat back and regarded Clare sardonically. “That explains it. This morning, Jack told me that you two aren’t doing well at all.”
She threw back her head and guffawed. Her delight was so intense that Ted began to smile in concert with her laughter. “I’m going to tell you a secret, Ted,” she finally stated. “And I know that you will let it go no further than these walls.” She gestured at the boundaries of the room. “We realized that it’s in our best interests not to let Jack and Kate know how well we’re doing.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, May 13, 2018
Revel
revel
verb, intransitive. To take intense satisfaction; to roister; to take part in a revel.
Also a noun, meaning a wild party or celebration.
Ruth plopped onto the porch swing and stretched the sleeve of her t-shirt out so she could mop her face with it. It always surprised her, that she could resist the urge to exercise as hard as she did, leaping upon any excuse to avoid it, but then, soon after she began, she would revel in the activity, and the longer she kept at it, the better it felt. As she had kept moving until just this moment: ten minutes, twenty, twenty-five and finally thirty minutes, she reflected that this hadn’t been so difficult while she was working. Somehow, the more restrictions there were on her time, the more discipline she was able to apply in using that time.
When she had a normal job, in town, she would rise early in order to arrive at least forty-five minutes before she was expected at the office. She would lock the car and take off down one of the city’s excellent walking/cycling trails, nodding greetings to others who were using the trail, thinking about the day to come as she walked. Before lunch, she would take a shorter walk on the sidewalks in the neighborhood of her office. Most days, she walked for about an hour, and gleefully watched her excess weight melt away. Now, she worked from home, had all the time in the world to organize as she saw fit, and nothing could be more challenging than setting aside time to exercise every day.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, intransitive. To take intense satisfaction; to roister; to take part in a revel.
Also a noun, meaning a wild party or celebration.
Ruth plopped onto the porch swing and stretched the sleeve of her t-shirt out so she could mop her face with it. It always surprised her, that she could resist the urge to exercise as hard as she did, leaping upon any excuse to avoid it, but then, soon after she began, she would revel in the activity, and the longer she kept at it, the better it felt. As she had kept moving until just this moment: ten minutes, twenty, twenty-five and finally thirty minutes, she reflected that this hadn’t been so difficult while she was working. Somehow, the more restrictions there were on her time, the more discipline she was able to apply in using that time.
When she had a normal job, in town, she would rise early in order to arrive at least forty-five minutes before she was expected at the office. She would lock the car and take off down one of the city’s excellent walking/cycling trails, nodding greetings to others who were using the trail, thinking about the day to come as she walked. Before lunch, she would take a shorter walk on the sidewalks in the neighborhood of her office. Most days, she walked for about an hour, and gleefully watched her excess weight melt away. Now, she worked from home, had all the time in the world to organize as she saw fit, and nothing could be more challenging than setting aside time to exercise every day.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Quash
quash
verb, transitive. To reject or to void, especially by legal procedure; to put an end to or to suppress
Ruth turned from ‘net-surfing to a writing exercise, propelled by the momentum she had experienced earlier that morning while writing a journal entry, then a practice piece. She loved the way her mind would awaken and generate ideas that she had had no idea were waiting in the wings when her hands were idle. Sometimes, her fingers would begin to ache with the strain of typing so quickly. These were the times when she knew beyond any doubt that she was a writer--no question. When the act itself gave her more happiness than almost anything else she did.
Then an unexpected sensation interrupted her focus: she felt hungry.
“Wha...? It seems as if I just ate breakfast!” she muttered. The previous day, she had decided to eliminate wheat from her diet, as an experiment, after reading thirty or forty pages in a book her sister had sent for her birthday: William Davis’ Wheat Belly. She had seen copies of it in bookstores and in health-food stores for several years, but had never picked it up to sample the contents. She had figured that she was already following enough diet restrictions, with little to show for it. Her abdomen continued to grow. Every time she weighed, she was disgusted by the higher number on the scale.
Then yesterday, she found herself reading on and on in the Davis book. His premise was alarming. Agronomists have been changing the DNA of wheat for decades, and now, after 50 years or so, our bodies probably cannot recognize it as food. This is similar to the body’s response to the High Fructose Corn Syrup we ingest. Yes, it’s made of corn, but it is so intensively processed that our bodies can’t recognize it as food. The puzzled body stores it in the liver as fat. Ruth suspected that the body was converting wheat to abdominal fat and storing it as well, for a similar reason.
Her hunger pangs distracted her again. She slowed her typing. “Maybe I should put on my Sauconys and go out and get some exercise,” she thought. “Exercise always seems to quash these hunger pangs.” She stopped typing and pushed away from the desk.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To reject or to void, especially by legal procedure; to put an end to or to suppress
Ruth turned from ‘net-surfing to a writing exercise, propelled by the momentum she had experienced earlier that morning while writing a journal entry, then a practice piece. She loved the way her mind would awaken and generate ideas that she had had no idea were waiting in the wings when her hands were idle. Sometimes, her fingers would begin to ache with the strain of typing so quickly. These were the times when she knew beyond any doubt that she was a writer--no question. When the act itself gave her more happiness than almost anything else she did.
Then an unexpected sensation interrupted her focus: she felt hungry.
“Wha...? It seems as if I just ate breakfast!” she muttered. The previous day, she had decided to eliminate wheat from her diet, as an experiment, after reading thirty or forty pages in a book her sister had sent for her birthday: William Davis’ Wheat Belly. She had seen copies of it in bookstores and in health-food stores for several years, but had never picked it up to sample the contents. She had figured that she was already following enough diet restrictions, with little to show for it. Her abdomen continued to grow. Every time she weighed, she was disgusted by the higher number on the scale.
Then yesterday, she found herself reading on and on in the Davis book. His premise was alarming. Agronomists have been changing the DNA of wheat for decades, and now, after 50 years or so, our bodies probably cannot recognize it as food. This is similar to the body’s response to the High Fructose Corn Syrup we ingest. Yes, it’s made of corn, but it is so intensively processed that our bodies can’t recognize it as food. The puzzled body stores it in the liver as fat. Ruth suspected that the body was converting wheat to abdominal fat and storing it as well, for a similar reason.
Her hunger pangs distracted her again. She slowed her typing. “Maybe I should put on my Sauconys and go out and get some exercise,” she thought. “Exercise always seems to quash these hunger pangs.” She stopped typing and pushed away from the desk.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Pique
pique
verb, transitive. To stimulate interest or curiosity; to feel irritated or resentful.
Also a noun, as "a fit of pique."
Alice was at a loss to recall what had piqued her interest in the late-night talk show first: had she tuned into it by accident one night after the NPR affilitate stopped broadcasting jazz and went off the air at midnight? More likely, she had walked to the back of the shop and heard the warm baritone voice issuing from the pressman’s radio: “I’m Art Bell, and this is Coast to Coast A.M.” She had heard that name; heard about the show. After she brewed her tea, she had returned to her desk and fiddled with her radio until she found it, then sat down, resumed her work, and listened until she finished her shift and left the office.
That was when she still worked graveyard shift. By the time she discovered Bell’s show, she had been working those hours for about ten years. Sometimes she had the company of the pressman, sometimes not. He was the boss’ brother-in-law and had a lot of freedom. He was also even more of a recluse than she was.
Alice loved her hours. She wasn’t very sociable, and preferred to be able to arrive at the shop, clock in and spend the next eight hours producing something. The phone rang rarely, and when it did, it was usually for her. She ate at her desk. She kept the radio on all the time she was there. At midnight, she had been in the habit of changing from NPR to a rock oldies station. After she found out where Bell’s show aired, she began to switch to it instead. The third night she did so, a caller regaled him with a story about a terrible date she had had. When she finished, Art asked her a few questions, then thanked her and announced, “Everyone who is on hold, hang up. I’m only going to take calls from people who want to talk about ‘Dates from Hell!’”
And he did. What followed was two hours of the most outlandish and frightening stories Alice had ever heard. The most riveting was told by a woman who had probably gone out with a serial killer, who had kept herself from panicking and thereby gotten away from him. After that show, Alice was hooked.
Since she kept the same hours on weekends, she would listen to Coast to Coast A.M. on Saturday and Sunday nights at home. It was the most entertaining era of her career. She listened avidly to Art interview callers about hauntings, alien abductions and a vast array of other topics that skirted the fringes of science and ordinary experience. She visited the show’s website regularly. After the first few weeks, she had to bring herself up short and remind herself that everything she was hearing couldn’t possibly be true, and should be taken with healthy skepticism. She was well-educated and not prone to dismissing her learning casually, but Art made those arcane subjects so much fun to think about!
Art Bell made the last few years Alice worked graveyard shift a delight, even though she had enjoyed it before she had found him. It was with deep sadness when she learned, nearly twenty years after she had first listened to his show, that Art passed away on April 13, 2018. Friday the thirteenth. As she uttered a silent prayer that the next phase of Art’s life would be as wonderful and fulfilling for him as his stay on Earth had been, she couldn’t help thinking how ironic the date of his death was. It was almost as if he had planned it.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To stimulate interest or curiosity; to feel irritated or resentful.
Also a noun, as "a fit of pique."
Alice was at a loss to recall what had piqued her interest in the late-night talk show first: had she tuned into it by accident one night after the NPR affilitate stopped broadcasting jazz and went off the air at midnight? More likely, she had walked to the back of the shop and heard the warm baritone voice issuing from the pressman’s radio: “I’m Art Bell, and this is Coast to Coast A.M.” She had heard that name; heard about the show. After she brewed her tea, she had returned to her desk and fiddled with her radio until she found it, then sat down, resumed her work, and listened until she finished her shift and left the office.
That was when she still worked graveyard shift. By the time she discovered Bell’s show, she had been working those hours for about ten years. Sometimes she had the company of the pressman, sometimes not. He was the boss’ brother-in-law and had a lot of freedom. He was also even more of a recluse than she was.
Alice loved her hours. She wasn’t very sociable, and preferred to be able to arrive at the shop, clock in and spend the next eight hours producing something. The phone rang rarely, and when it did, it was usually for her. She ate at her desk. She kept the radio on all the time she was there. At midnight, she had been in the habit of changing from NPR to a rock oldies station. After she found out where Bell’s show aired, she began to switch to it instead. The third night she did so, a caller regaled him with a story about a terrible date she had had. When she finished, Art asked her a few questions, then thanked her and announced, “Everyone who is on hold, hang up. I’m only going to take calls from people who want to talk about ‘Dates from Hell!’”
And he did. What followed was two hours of the most outlandish and frightening stories Alice had ever heard. The most riveting was told by a woman who had probably gone out with a serial killer, who had kept herself from panicking and thereby gotten away from him. After that show, Alice was hooked.
Since she kept the same hours on weekends, she would listen to Coast to Coast A.M. on Saturday and Sunday nights at home. It was the most entertaining era of her career. She listened avidly to Art interview callers about hauntings, alien abductions and a vast array of other topics that skirted the fringes of science and ordinary experience. She visited the show’s website regularly. After the first few weeks, she had to bring herself up short and remind herself that everything she was hearing couldn’t possibly be true, and should be taken with healthy skepticism. She was well-educated and not prone to dismissing her learning casually, but Art made those arcane subjects so much fun to think about!
Art Bell made the last few years Alice worked graveyard shift a delight, even though she had enjoyed it before she had found him. It was with deep sadness when she learned, nearly twenty years after she had first listened to his show, that Art passed away on April 13, 2018. Friday the thirteenth. As she uttered a silent prayer that the next phase of Art’s life would be as wonderful and fulfilling for him as his stay on Earth had been, she couldn’t help thinking how ironic the date of his death was. It was almost as if he had planned it.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, May 2, 2018
Peek
peek
verb, intransitive. To look quickly, typically in a furtive manner; to protrude slightly so as to be just visible.
Also a noun.
The new neighbors’ flock of guineas didn’t take long to discover that Hillary’s yard was a good source of ticks and other nutritious bugs. They wandered across the dirt road every mid-morning and spent at least half an hour there, foraging. Hillary chuckled when she recalled Rick’s visit the second or third time his birds had invaded her yard.
“I hope they’re not bothering you?” he had ventured uneasily.
“Of course not,” she had told him. “I appreciate the service!”
She knew that he was asking because a flock of guineas could make a lot of racket, if they felt threatened. Since the only threat on her property in daylight might be her pair of yard cats, she doubted that she would have cause to complain to him ... as if he would ever be able to control the barely-domesticated birds.
Just then, Hillary heard them: a loud, chorus of “Buckwheat, buckwheat, buckwheat!”
She rose from her desk and looked out the kitchen window. The guinea flock had formed a tight cluster a few feet from the edge of the porch. It looked like a circle of feather-clad soccer-sized balls, with heads on tapering necks thrusting outward from it randomly. All the birds seemed to be looking at a large flower pot at the edge of the porch. When Hillary saw that one of her cats was peeking at the guineas from behind it, she burst out laughing. Her fear that her cats would attack Rick’s guineas disappeared. The birds knew how to handle small feline predators.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, intransitive. To look quickly, typically in a furtive manner; to protrude slightly so as to be just visible.
Also a noun.
The new neighbors’ flock of guineas didn’t take long to discover that Hillary’s yard was a good source of ticks and other nutritious bugs. They wandered across the dirt road every mid-morning and spent at least half an hour there, foraging. Hillary chuckled when she recalled Rick’s visit the second or third time his birds had invaded her yard.
“I hope they’re not bothering you?” he had ventured uneasily.
“Of course not,” she had told him. “I appreciate the service!”
She knew that he was asking because a flock of guineas could make a lot of racket, if they felt threatened. Since the only threat on her property in daylight might be her pair of yard cats, she doubted that she would have cause to complain to him ... as if he would ever be able to control the barely-domesticated birds.
Just then, Hillary heard them: a loud, chorus of “Buckwheat, buckwheat, buckwheat!”
She rose from her desk and looked out the kitchen window. The guinea flock had formed a tight cluster a few feet from the edge of the porch. It looked like a circle of feather-clad soccer-sized balls, with heads on tapering necks thrusting outward from it randomly. All the birds seemed to be looking at a large flower pot at the edge of the porch. When Hillary saw that one of her cats was peeking at the guineas from behind it, she burst out laughing. Her fear that her cats would attack Rick’s guineas disappeared. The birds knew how to handle small feline predators.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Peak
peak
verb, intransitive. To reach a highest point, either of a specified value or at a specified time. Archaic: to decline in health and spirits or to waste away.
Also a noun and an adjective.
Erin heard a murmur from the front desk and turned to see who it was. Joe Baker, the elderly founder of the small recording company who used her company to print CD inserts and booklets, was talking to Christine as he handed her a packet of papers. For the first time, Erin noticed that he was leaning on a cane. “When did that start?” she wondered.
Joe turned toward the front door, then stopped and returned to the desk to add to what he had already told Christine. When he finally left, Erin rolled her chair back so that she could watch his progress. He had a limp and definitely needed the cane. He was leaning on it, after positioning it cautiously. She watched him negotiate the sidewalk back to his car, then she got up and approached Christine, who was scribbling notes to attach to the papers Joe had handed her.
“Want me to write that up?” Erin asked her.
“No need. They’re returned proofs.” She sneered at the packet as she paperclipped her note to it. “There are a lot of changes.” She handed Erin the papers and looked back at her monitor.
“I’ve never seen Joe use a cane before,” she said before looking at the proofs. “Did he have an accident?”
“No. I guess his old football injuries are catching up to him,” Christine answered.
“That’s right,” Erin tilted her head in thought. “He was a big deal when he played for the university, wasn’t he?”
Christine nodded. “I don’t recommend that you ask him about that, not unless you’ve got at least half an hour to spend listening to the answer.” Her sour expression told Erin that Christine had made that mistake once and was not planning to do so again.
“That’s sad,” Erin said after a moment, staring out the window as she thought.
“No it isn’t,” Christine spat, surprising Erin with her vehemence.
“Yeah, I think it is,” Erin returned. “He peaked before he turned twenty-three.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, intransitive. To reach a highest point, either of a specified value or at a specified time. Archaic: to decline in health and spirits or to waste away.
Also a noun and an adjective.
Erin heard a murmur from the front desk and turned to see who it was. Joe Baker, the elderly founder of the small recording company who used her company to print CD inserts and booklets, was talking to Christine as he handed her a packet of papers. For the first time, Erin noticed that he was leaning on a cane. “When did that start?” she wondered.
Joe turned toward the front door, then stopped and returned to the desk to add to what he had already told Christine. When he finally left, Erin rolled her chair back so that she could watch his progress. He had a limp and definitely needed the cane. He was leaning on it, after positioning it cautiously. She watched him negotiate the sidewalk back to his car, then she got up and approached Christine, who was scribbling notes to attach to the papers Joe had handed her.
“Want me to write that up?” Erin asked her.
“No need. They’re returned proofs.” She sneered at the packet as she paperclipped her note to it. “There are a lot of changes.” She handed Erin the papers and looked back at her monitor.
“I’ve never seen Joe use a cane before,” she said before looking at the proofs. “Did he have an accident?”
“No. I guess his old football injuries are catching up to him,” Christine answered.
“That’s right,” Erin tilted her head in thought. “He was a big deal when he played for the university, wasn’t he?”
Christine nodded. “I don’t recommend that you ask him about that, not unless you’ve got at least half an hour to spend listening to the answer.” Her sour expression told Erin that Christine had made that mistake once and was not planning to do so again.
“That’s sad,” Erin said after a moment, staring out the window as she thought.
“No it isn’t,” Christine spat, surprising Erin with her vehemence.
“Yeah, I think it is,” Erin returned. “He peaked before he turned twenty-three.”
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
Obligate
obligate
verb. To bind or compel someone, especially legally or morally.
verb, transitive. To commit assets as security, as "the money must be obligated within thirty days."
Also an adjective.
June was surprised and annoyed when two airline employees flagged down her and Tom. They had just deplaned and had less than thirty minutes to reach their connecting flight. She had only been in the Atlanta airport once before but remembered how large it was: the size of a small city. It even had its own mass-transit system to speed passengers between the far-flung gates and concourses.
“You two are heading for concourse A, right?” asked one of the uniformed women. In response to Tom’s “Yes,” she went on: “Would you accompany this young man to his gate?” She turned to him. “Is it gate 19?” The boy nodded, and Tom stated that he and June would be happy to help.
After one searching up-and-down look at the boy, June spun on one foot and headed toward the concourse exit. She was appalled. The airline staff had no business fobbing off their responsibility onto a couple of random passengers. She knew that there were rules for dealing with “unaccompanied minors.” Now that Tom had obligated them to take care of the child, it was too late to protest. An inner voice griped as she walked: “Really? We could be anybody--serial child predators! Unbelievable.”
She led their trio as fast as she could without breaking into a jog, turning her head now and then to make sure that Tom and the boy were keeping up. The latter appeared to be about twelve years old, and was holding his own at the pace she was setting. She had to pause and read overhead signs several times to make sure they were heading toward concourse A, and when she did, she noticed that the boy was staying a cautious distance from her and Tom: just far enough away so that neither nor both of them could grab him. She smiled at his good sense. Not an idiot. He knew better than to trust strangers.
After walking for nearly ten minutes, they reached the tram. One was waiting, and the electronic sign indicated that concourse A would be its next stop. She led the way on board, moved to one side and grabbed a bar.
“Have you ever ridden one of these before?” she addressed the boy. He shook his head “No.” “It’s going to go really, really fast and it will stop suddenly,” she warned. “Hang on tight to the rail and keep your knees flexed so it won’t throw you.” He nodded. A few more people boarded, then the doors closed and the tram car started down its track. She had tried to estimate the speed of the tram the last time they had been in Atlanta. It seemed to go at fifty miles per hour or higher. She was convinced that it travelled at least a mile.
As she had warned, it came to an abrupt halt and the doors slid open. She, Tom and the boy exited, then followed the signs toward concourse A. After about five minutes of walking, they arrived at gate 19. She flanked the boy as he approached the desk. “Does it look as if you’re in the right place?” she asked him. “Yes,” he answered, nodding. She and Tom withdrew a few feet as they saw two desk attendants turn their attention to the boy. June could tell that they were willing to take over his care. Relieved, she and Tom exchanged a glance, then continued their rapid pace down the concourse to their gate.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb. To bind or compel someone, especially legally or morally.
verb, transitive. To commit assets as security, as "the money must be obligated within thirty days."
Also an adjective.
June was surprised and annoyed when two airline employees flagged down her and Tom. They had just deplaned and had less than thirty minutes to reach their connecting flight. She had only been in the Atlanta airport once before but remembered how large it was: the size of a small city. It even had its own mass-transit system to speed passengers between the far-flung gates and concourses.
“You two are heading for concourse A, right?” asked one of the uniformed women. In response to Tom’s “Yes,” she went on: “Would you accompany this young man to his gate?” She turned to him. “Is it gate 19?” The boy nodded, and Tom stated that he and June would be happy to help.
After one searching up-and-down look at the boy, June spun on one foot and headed toward the concourse exit. She was appalled. The airline staff had no business fobbing off their responsibility onto a couple of random passengers. She knew that there were rules for dealing with “unaccompanied minors.” Now that Tom had obligated them to take care of the child, it was too late to protest. An inner voice griped as she walked: “Really? We could be anybody--serial child predators! Unbelievable.”
She led their trio as fast as she could without breaking into a jog, turning her head now and then to make sure that Tom and the boy were keeping up. The latter appeared to be about twelve years old, and was holding his own at the pace she was setting. She had to pause and read overhead signs several times to make sure they were heading toward concourse A, and when she did, she noticed that the boy was staying a cautious distance from her and Tom: just far enough away so that neither nor both of them could grab him. She smiled at his good sense. Not an idiot. He knew better than to trust strangers.
After walking for nearly ten minutes, they reached the tram. One was waiting, and the electronic sign indicated that concourse A would be its next stop. She led the way on board, moved to one side and grabbed a bar.
“Have you ever ridden one of these before?” she addressed the boy. He shook his head “No.” “It’s going to go really, really fast and it will stop suddenly,” she warned. “Hang on tight to the rail and keep your knees flexed so it won’t throw you.” He nodded. A few more people boarded, then the doors closed and the tram car started down its track. She had tried to estimate the speed of the tram the last time they had been in Atlanta. It seemed to go at fifty miles per hour or higher. She was convinced that it travelled at least a mile.
As she had warned, it came to an abrupt halt and the doors slid open. She, Tom and the boy exited, then followed the signs toward concourse A. After about five minutes of walking, they arrived at gate 19. She flanked the boy as he approached the desk. “Does it look as if you’re in the right place?” she asked him. “Yes,” he answered, nodding. She and Tom withdrew a few feet as they saw two desk attendants turn their attention to the boy. June could tell that they were willing to take over his care. Relieved, she and Tom exchanged a glance, then continued their rapid pace down the concourse to their gate.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Monday, April 23, 2018
Narrate
narrate
verb, transitive. To give a spoken or written account of. Often, as "be narrated." To provide a spoken commentary to accompany a film, broadcast, piece of music, etc.
Not everyone had entered the room when Curt began to narrate the series of events that had led to the accident.
"I was waiting for Joe to signal, then for Chris to move the van into line. My foot slipped off the brake pedal--I don't know why I didn't engage the parking brake; shift into neutral; whatever.... Before I knew it, the hood was buried in the side of Lee's trailer!"
No one said anything. The men stole glances at each other, then looked at the floor or their feet. No one would look at Curt. Was he fishing for sympathy, or hoping that someone would offer an explanation that he could use as an excuse? If so, he was asking the wrong crowd. Every man present had been inconvenienced or harmed by Curt's laziness, carelessness or both. He may have had friends in his private life, but he didn't at work.
"So, how do we deal with this?" he finally went on, looking around the circle of downturned faces. "What's the procedure?"
"There's no 'we' dealing with this," Lee snarled. "You caused the accident; you find the boss and confess." There was a rustle of winter clothing as the group nodded agreement and shuffled in preparation for going back outside to deal with the vehicles. If anyone had looked at Curt, they would have seen his face pale.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To give a spoken or written account of. Often, as "be narrated." To provide a spoken commentary to accompany a film, broadcast, piece of music, etc.
Not everyone had entered the room when Curt began to narrate the series of events that had led to the accident.
"I was waiting for Joe to signal, then for Chris to move the van into line. My foot slipped off the brake pedal--I don't know why I didn't engage the parking brake; shift into neutral; whatever.... Before I knew it, the hood was buried in the side of Lee's trailer!"
No one said anything. The men stole glances at each other, then looked at the floor or their feet. No one would look at Curt. Was he fishing for sympathy, or hoping that someone would offer an explanation that he could use as an excuse? If so, he was asking the wrong crowd. Every man present had been inconvenienced or harmed by Curt's laziness, carelessness or both. He may have had friends in his private life, but he didn't at work.
"So, how do we deal with this?" he finally went on, looking around the circle of downturned faces. "What's the procedure?"
"There's no 'we' dealing with this," Lee snarled. "You caused the accident; you find the boss and confess." There was a rustle of winter clothing as the group nodded agreement and shuffled in preparation for going back outside to deal with the vehicles. If anyone had looked at Curt, they would have seen his face pale.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, April 15, 2018
Mandate
mandate
verb, transitive. To give someone authority to act in a certain way. To require something to be done; to make mandatory.
Also a noun. Also an adjective, as "mandated"
Production staff gathered at the conference table, bleary-eyed. Troy's hair looked uncombed. Stacy had not yet applied makeup and appeared undefined--not her assertive self. All nursed takeout coffee. Brad felt a moment's regret for calling a meeting so early, but shook it off. He might as well get it over with. Maybe the new requirements headquarters mandated would shake them up and wake them up. Now that he considered them in this light--both the illumination from the east window-wall next to the table, and the figurative light of the new corporate bosses' criticisms--he realized that his staff could stand a little upset. All of them, including Brad, had become complacent.
"I know you're not used to being alert and productive at eight a.m.," he began, "but this comes from Delaware. The new owners have had time to look at our numbers and they're not happy. We look lazy, and they want changes, starting with our daily schedule. Everyone is supposed to be in the office, ready to begin work, at eight, starting today. I know it's going to be an adjustment, but we'll all have to make it or they'll find people who can."
Ken scoffed. "They'll never be able to replace us with a more-talented team!"
Brad met Ken's eyes and shook his head. "They can and they will. Argue all you want, Ken. They don't want to hear it. They want to see results and they want to see them soon."
"How soon?" This was Stacy, her eyes widening in fear. Brad felt a twinge of sympathy. She was a single mother, after all, but he quashed it. If she didn't shape up with the others, there would be nothing he could do to salvage her position.
"Immediately," he answered.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To give someone authority to act in a certain way. To require something to be done; to make mandatory.
Also a noun. Also an adjective, as "mandated"
Production staff gathered at the conference table, bleary-eyed. Troy's hair looked uncombed. Stacy had not yet applied makeup and appeared undefined--not her assertive self. All nursed takeout coffee. Brad felt a moment's regret for calling a meeting so early, but shook it off. He might as well get it over with. Maybe the new requirements headquarters mandated would shake them up and wake them up. Now that he considered them in this light--both the illumination from the east window-wall next to the table, and the figurative light of the new corporate bosses' criticisms--he realized that his staff could stand a little upset. All of them, including Brad, had become complacent.
"I know you're not used to being alert and productive at eight a.m.," he began, "but this comes from Delaware. The new owners have had time to look at our numbers and they're not happy. We look lazy, and they want changes, starting with our daily schedule. Everyone is supposed to be in the office, ready to begin work, at eight, starting today. I know it's going to be an adjustment, but we'll all have to make it or they'll find people who can."
Ken scoffed. "They'll never be able to replace us with a more-talented team!"
Brad met Ken's eyes and shook his head. "They can and they will. Argue all you want, Ken. They don't want to hear it. They want to see results and they want to see them soon."
"How soon?" This was Stacy, her eyes widening in fear. Brad felt a twinge of sympathy. She was a single mother, after all, but he quashed it. If she didn't shape up with the others, there would be nothing he could do to salvage her position.
"Immediately," he answered.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, April 11, 2018
Lame
lame
verb, transitive. To make a person or animal lame.
adjective. Of a person or animal, unable to walk normally because of an injury or illness affecting the leg or foot. Of an explanation or excuse, unconvincingly feeble.
John set forth on his usual early-morning walk, determined to put in his thirty minutes. By the time he met Rick at the end of Rick's driveway, he was limping.
"What's this?" Rick asked, looking at John's right foot.
"Evidently," John stopped and raised the painful foot off the pavement a little, "I have lamed myself."
"Stone bruise?"
John shook his head. "That was what I thought at first. I was walking on that gravel side road just before the pain appeared, so it kind of followed. I've had a stone bruise before, and it always healed within two or three days. This pain has gone on for a week, and it seems to be getting worse. I did some research on this kind of thing online, and it seems to be plantar fasciitis."
Rick's frown became more pronounced. "I've heard that's a long-term thing. Did you run across any quick fixes for it?"
"No, unfortunately." John turned toward the stop sign at the end of their cul-de-sac and gestured for Rick to walk alongside him. "All the credible medical websites advise using the painful foot as little as possible; maybe ice packs. My brother says to roll a tennis ball under the instep, to stretch those ligaments and tendons. I think I'm just stuck like this for awhile." He turned his morose gaze on his companion. "I'm sorry. To the stop sign and back is all I dare do. The last thing I want is to injure it more and make it worse. This really hurts!"
Rick stopped moving. "I don't want that either. Let's just stop."
The two turned and returned the few yards to Rick's driveway, John limping. At Rick's house, they stood for awhile and traded a few tidbits of personal news. Rick looked at his friend then with more hope. Do you have a bicycle?"
"I ... the household has one," John replied. "John Junior never took his when he moved out. He was leery about riding it in the city."
"It's big enough for you, isn't it?"
"Sure."
"Let's cycle, then, instead of walking," Rick suggested. He hesitated, looking tentatively at John to see how the other would react. "If you want to, that is. I exercise a lot more when I do it with someone else. We've been able to do this pretty steadily, and we've both lost a little weight. What do you say?"
John nodded. "That may be ideal. It's been fifteen or twenty years since I rode a bike, but they say you never forget how. You get yours out; I'll go get John Junior's." He turned and began limping more rapidly toward his house. "Hope the tires are still aired up," Rick heard him mutter as he moved away.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To make a person or animal lame.
adjective. Of a person or animal, unable to walk normally because of an injury or illness affecting the leg or foot. Of an explanation or excuse, unconvincingly feeble.
John set forth on his usual early-morning walk, determined to put in his thirty minutes. By the time he met Rick at the end of Rick's driveway, he was limping.
"What's this?" Rick asked, looking at John's right foot.
"Evidently," John stopped and raised the painful foot off the pavement a little, "I have lamed myself."
"Stone bruise?"
John shook his head. "That was what I thought at first. I was walking on that gravel side road just before the pain appeared, so it kind of followed. I've had a stone bruise before, and it always healed within two or three days. This pain has gone on for a week, and it seems to be getting worse. I did some research on this kind of thing online, and it seems to be plantar fasciitis."
Rick's frown became more pronounced. "I've heard that's a long-term thing. Did you run across any quick fixes for it?"
"No, unfortunately." John turned toward the stop sign at the end of their cul-de-sac and gestured for Rick to walk alongside him. "All the credible medical websites advise using the painful foot as little as possible; maybe ice packs. My brother says to roll a tennis ball under the instep, to stretch those ligaments and tendons. I think I'm just stuck like this for awhile." He turned his morose gaze on his companion. "I'm sorry. To the stop sign and back is all I dare do. The last thing I want is to injure it more and make it worse. This really hurts!"
Rick stopped moving. "I don't want that either. Let's just stop."
The two turned and returned the few yards to Rick's driveway, John limping. At Rick's house, they stood for awhile and traded a few tidbits of personal news. Rick looked at his friend then with more hope. Do you have a bicycle?"
"I ... the household has one," John replied. "John Junior never took his when he moved out. He was leery about riding it in the city."
"It's big enough for you, isn't it?"
"Sure."
"Let's cycle, then, instead of walking," Rick suggested. He hesitated, looking tentatively at John to see how the other would react. "If you want to, that is. I exercise a lot more when I do it with someone else. We've been able to do this pretty steadily, and we've both lost a little weight. What do you say?"
John nodded. "That may be ideal. It's been fifteen or twenty years since I rode a bike, but they say you never forget how. You get yours out; I'll go get John Junior's." He turned and began limping more rapidly toward his house. "Hope the tires are still aired up," Rick heard him mutter as he moved away.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Kedge
kedge
verb, transitive. To move (especially a ship or boat) by hauling in a hawser attached to a small anchor dropped at some distance.
verb, intransitive. Of a ship or boat, to move in such a way.
Also a noun.
Marcy ventured one leg out of the canoe and regretted it. Sticky mud engulfed it halfway up her shin. With effort, she retrieved her ankle and foot, relieved that the mud had not sucked off her water sandal.
She turned to look at Hal. "We're grounded. The water fell while we were sleeping."
He grimaced at her stating the obvious, but agreed. "No way we could tell that when we stopped."
They had paddled for more than an hour after dusk began, unsuccessfully seeking a place to spend the night. Finally, after full dark, with only the beams of flashlights to guide them, they had dropped anchor in a quiet eddy downstream of a bend, and slept as best they could, curled in the bottom of the canoe. Marcy's left arm and hip felt bruised where she had lain on the slats without any padding. Suddenly, she felt angry. Why had she agreed to come on this trip with Hal? Ahead, she could see nothing but more conflict between the two of them.
Hal climbed out, sinking into the mud bar where they rested.
"Careful not to lose your shoes," she cautioned.
He nodded, with that same grimace. "You stay there, for now. Pull up the anchor, then tie the long rope to the forward thwart. I want you to brace your feet against that thwart and hold onto that rope. Maybe we can kedge the boat off this bar."
"Maybe we can what?"
"You'll see."
He moved in slow motion through the mud toward the bow of the canoe, then waited while she did as he had instructed. The anchor--a twenty-five-pound free weight, the rope threaded through the hole in its center--was bogged in mud. Marcy avoided Hal's eye as she dragged it to the gunwale, then wiped it as clean as she could with her hands. She didn't want to add any more mud to the boat's interior. After she pulled the anchor in, she turned to the long rope coiled in the bow and knotted it to the thwart.
"Toss me the coil," Hal told her.
He caught it, then began to move, in slow motion again, away from the canoe, feeding out rope as he did. After a few yards, he was off the mudbank and in water. He paused to agitate mud off his feet and lower legs, then moved faster. A few yards further, he was below a stout tree that grew out of the steep bank at an angle, then curved upward. Marcy saw him take a deep breath, then he surged out of the water and up the bank, the rope resting on his near shoulder. Hal clung to the bank somehow and shook the rope to one hand. He tossed it over the tree trunk, then secured it with some kind of hitch. Marcy almost recognized it from the book of knots she had looked at in Hal's apartment. Then, he let himself slide back down to the water and returned to the canoe.
He moved to the stern instead of climbing in. "Pick up the rope, brace your feet on the thwart, and get ready to pull," he instructed. "I'll push from back here."
Marcy obeyed, and began to pull as hard as she could. Nothing happened. She berated herself for skipping the push-ups and pull-ups so many times when she was at the gym. How could she have known that she would need so much more upper-body strength on a canoe trip?
The canoe shifted, maybe half an inch. Encouraged, she got a better grip on the rope and renewed her effort, leaning back so that her weight was balanced between her feet and her arms. When she reached a sort of "sweet spot" of leverage, the canoe moved an encouraging couple of inches. She could hear Hal grunting behind her as he pushed at the stern. Again, the boat moved, further this time. Soon, it began to slide on the mud. Marcy began to get excited. Hal's strategy was working. They were going to get off the mudbank and be able to continue downstream.
"Are we kedging?" she called as she kept up a steady tension on the rope.
"You are kedging. I'm pushing."
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To move (especially a ship or boat) by hauling in a hawser attached to a small anchor dropped at some distance.
verb, intransitive. Of a ship or boat, to move in such a way.
Also a noun.
Marcy ventured one leg out of the canoe and regretted it. Sticky mud engulfed it halfway up her shin. With effort, she retrieved her ankle and foot, relieved that the mud had not sucked off her water sandal.
She turned to look at Hal. "We're grounded. The water fell while we were sleeping."
He grimaced at her stating the obvious, but agreed. "No way we could tell that when we stopped."
They had paddled for more than an hour after dusk began, unsuccessfully seeking a place to spend the night. Finally, after full dark, with only the beams of flashlights to guide them, they had dropped anchor in a quiet eddy downstream of a bend, and slept as best they could, curled in the bottom of the canoe. Marcy's left arm and hip felt bruised where she had lain on the slats without any padding. Suddenly, she felt angry. Why had she agreed to come on this trip with Hal? Ahead, she could see nothing but more conflict between the two of them.
Hal climbed out, sinking into the mud bar where they rested.
"Careful not to lose your shoes," she cautioned.
He nodded, with that same grimace. "You stay there, for now. Pull up the anchor, then tie the long rope to the forward thwart. I want you to brace your feet against that thwart and hold onto that rope. Maybe we can kedge the boat off this bar."
"Maybe we can what?"
"You'll see."
He moved in slow motion through the mud toward the bow of the canoe, then waited while she did as he had instructed. The anchor--a twenty-five-pound free weight, the rope threaded through the hole in its center--was bogged in mud. Marcy avoided Hal's eye as she dragged it to the gunwale, then wiped it as clean as she could with her hands. She didn't want to add any more mud to the boat's interior. After she pulled the anchor in, she turned to the long rope coiled in the bow and knotted it to the thwart.
"Toss me the coil," Hal told her.
He caught it, then began to move, in slow motion again, away from the canoe, feeding out rope as he did. After a few yards, he was off the mudbank and in water. He paused to agitate mud off his feet and lower legs, then moved faster. A few yards further, he was below a stout tree that grew out of the steep bank at an angle, then curved upward. Marcy saw him take a deep breath, then he surged out of the water and up the bank, the rope resting on his near shoulder. Hal clung to the bank somehow and shook the rope to one hand. He tossed it over the tree trunk, then secured it with some kind of hitch. Marcy almost recognized it from the book of knots she had looked at in Hal's apartment. Then, he let himself slide back down to the water and returned to the canoe.
He moved to the stern instead of climbing in. "Pick up the rope, brace your feet on the thwart, and get ready to pull," he instructed. "I'll push from back here."
Marcy obeyed, and began to pull as hard as she could. Nothing happened. She berated herself for skipping the push-ups and pull-ups so many times when she was at the gym. How could she have known that she would need so much more upper-body strength on a canoe trip?
The canoe shifted, maybe half an inch. Encouraged, she got a better grip on the rope and renewed her effort, leaning back so that her weight was balanced between her feet and her arms. When she reached a sort of "sweet spot" of leverage, the canoe moved an encouraging couple of inches. She could hear Hal grunting behind her as he pushed at the stern. Again, the boat moved, further this time. Soon, it began to slide on the mud. Marcy began to get excited. Hal's strategy was working. They were going to get off the mudbank and be able to continue downstream.
"Are we kedging?" she called as she kept up a steady tension on the rope.
"You are kedging. I'm pushing."
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Jack
jack
verb, phrasal. As "jack someone around": to cause someone inconvenience or problems. As "jack in or into": to log into or connect up. As "jack something up": to raise something, especially a vehicle, with a jack.
verb, transitive. To take something illicitly, to steal.
Also a noun.
Marie saved her work when she heard the back door open. Larry entered with a heavy sigh and made his way to the armchair by her desk, where he flopped.
She studied his face before she spoke. His forehead was showing a little sunburn; his eyes were puffy; streaks of dirt decorated his cheeks. "How's it going?" she ventured.
"Nowhere." Marie waited, then he continued: "Why do I let you talk me into these things?"
"Talk you into what? You were planning to cut down a tree today regardless."
"Not where you talked me into cutting it," he cried. "Now I've got a forty-foot tree hung up on another tree, and the chainsaw blade is stuck in its trunk. My saw is trapped inside a tree, and it's going to rain."
And it's your fault, Marie mentally finished for him. Thirty years of marriage had taught her not to take the complaint personally. She knew that it was just his frustration talking. The rain wasn't predicted to start for nearly two days. Larry had encountered this situation before when logging and had always managed to solve the problem. Felling trees that stood near other trees was a puzzle that he relished solving, after the initial tirade.
Marie rolled her chair back and reached for his hand. "Let's go look at it," she suggested. After another sigh and a look from him that was half-glare, half-resigned, he rose and followed her outside.
The tree lay diagonally across a small clearing, its top branches resting on a few limbs in two neighboring trees. Larry slowly approached its base, examining the branches above. She followed, but kept her distance. Careful not to step where the leaning trunk could kick back and hit him, Larry studied angles and calculated forces. Marie looked at the tools already in the clearing: a chain, a pry bar, the temporarily-useless chain saw pinched in the tree.... He had already tried several ideas.
"Maybe," Larry mused, sighting up the trunk, "if I jack it up from there," he gestured at a point just above the saw bar, then reached up and forward, aligning his arm with the truck. He rotated his arm from the shoulder, in anticipation of how it would fall after that. "Yeah," he said, "that might do it."
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, phrasal. As "jack someone around": to cause someone inconvenience or problems. As "jack in or into": to log into or connect up. As "jack something up": to raise something, especially a vehicle, with a jack.
verb, transitive. To take something illicitly, to steal.
Also a noun.
Marie saved her work when she heard the back door open. Larry entered with a heavy sigh and made his way to the armchair by her desk, where he flopped.
She studied his face before she spoke. His forehead was showing a little sunburn; his eyes were puffy; streaks of dirt decorated his cheeks. "How's it going?" she ventured.
"Nowhere." Marie waited, then he continued: "Why do I let you talk me into these things?"
"Talk you into what? You were planning to cut down a tree today regardless."
"Not where you talked me into cutting it," he cried. "Now I've got a forty-foot tree hung up on another tree, and the chainsaw blade is stuck in its trunk. My saw is trapped inside a tree, and it's going to rain."
And it's your fault, Marie mentally finished for him. Thirty years of marriage had taught her not to take the complaint personally. She knew that it was just his frustration talking. The rain wasn't predicted to start for nearly two days. Larry had encountered this situation before when logging and had always managed to solve the problem. Felling trees that stood near other trees was a puzzle that he relished solving, after the initial tirade.
Marie rolled her chair back and reached for his hand. "Let's go look at it," she suggested. After another sigh and a look from him that was half-glare, half-resigned, he rose and followed her outside.
The tree lay diagonally across a small clearing, its top branches resting on a few limbs in two neighboring trees. Larry slowly approached its base, examining the branches above. She followed, but kept her distance. Careful not to step where the leaning trunk could kick back and hit him, Larry studied angles and calculated forces. Marie looked at the tools already in the clearing: a chain, a pry bar, the temporarily-useless chain saw pinched in the tree.... He had already tried several ideas.
"Maybe," Larry mused, sighting up the trunk, "if I jack it up from there," he gestured at a point just above the saw bar, then reached up and forward, aligning his arm with the truck. He rotated his arm from the shoulder, in anticipation of how it would fall after that. "Yeah," he said, "that might do it."
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, April 1, 2018
Identify
identify
verb, transitive. To establish or indicate who or what someone or something is. To recognize or distinguish. As "identify someone or something with": to associate someone closely with, or to regard someone as having strong links with. To equate.
verb, intransitive. To regard oneself as sharing the same characteristics or thinking as someone else.
The door creaked softly as Tim pushed it. "Hello? Anyone home?" He remained on the threshold, listening, but no one answered or appeared, so he stepped into the apartment.
As soon as he inhaled, he knew that no one had been there for a long time--weeks, maybe. He stirred dust with every step, and the air was stuffy, as if it hadn't moved lately.
"What a dump," he muttered as he approached what passed for the bed: a mattress on the floor in the far corner, covered with creased, stained sheets and a thin blanket. No one had bothered to spread it up, much less make it. He crouched over it, grimacing at the greasy-looking pillowcases and sniffed. He could barely detect the odor of sweat. So, they had been gone for awhile, but not all that long. Seven-to-ten days, maybe.
A gooseneck lamp with a dusty, sixty-watt bulb sat on a cardboard box next to the head of the bed. Beside it, on the matted brown carpet, was an aluminum pie pan that had been used as an ashtray, brimming with cigarette butts. Tim hunkered down to poke through them. They all seemed to be the same brand--brown paper around the filters--but as he stirred them, he spotted a few that were different: filters covered in white paper and stained with lipstick. He lifted one to take a closer look and immediately identified it: her brand; her shade. He dropped the butt and rose to his feet, turning to look at the galley kitchen and the door to the bathroom. She had been here, all right. Now, he needed to find something that would suggest where she might have gone.
He entertained a brief hope that she and the man she had stayed with in this apartment might have split up when they left, but realized that that probably wasn't the case. She hated being alone. It was one of the reasons she was no longer living with Tim.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To establish or indicate who or what someone or something is. To recognize or distinguish. As "identify someone or something with": to associate someone closely with, or to regard someone as having strong links with. To equate.
verb, intransitive. To regard oneself as sharing the same characteristics or thinking as someone else.
The door creaked softly as Tim pushed it. "Hello? Anyone home?" He remained on the threshold, listening, but no one answered or appeared, so he stepped into the apartment.
As soon as he inhaled, he knew that no one had been there for a long time--weeks, maybe. He stirred dust with every step, and the air was stuffy, as if it hadn't moved lately.
"What a dump," he muttered as he approached what passed for the bed: a mattress on the floor in the far corner, covered with creased, stained sheets and a thin blanket. No one had bothered to spread it up, much less make it. He crouched over it, grimacing at the greasy-looking pillowcases and sniffed. He could barely detect the odor of sweat. So, they had been gone for awhile, but not all that long. Seven-to-ten days, maybe.
A gooseneck lamp with a dusty, sixty-watt bulb sat on a cardboard box next to the head of the bed. Beside it, on the matted brown carpet, was an aluminum pie pan that had been used as an ashtray, brimming with cigarette butts. Tim hunkered down to poke through them. They all seemed to be the same brand--brown paper around the filters--but as he stirred them, he spotted a few that were different: filters covered in white paper and stained with lipstick. He lifted one to take a closer look and immediately identified it: her brand; her shade. He dropped the butt and rose to his feet, turning to look at the galley kitchen and the door to the bathroom. She had been here, all right. Now, he needed to find something that would suggest where she might have gone.
He entertained a brief hope that she and the man she had stayed with in this apartment might have split up when they left, but realized that that probably wasn't the case. She hated being alone. It was one of the reasons she was no longer living with Tim.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Harass
harass
verb, transitive. To subject to aggressive pressure or intimidation. To make repeated small-scale attacks (military).
The cheek of birds when confronting creatures who can and do prey on them is always surprising.
Bluejays steal food from the housecats' bowl. It's easy for them to get away with this when the bowl sits on the porch; not so easy when the bowl is in the garage. The side door is open, but it is a mostly-enclosed space. One marauding jay was caught while snacking. The cat trotted out of the garage, the bird in his mouth. The cat changed the grip of his jaw and the bluejay was able to escape. Within three minutes, he returned with all his friends and relatives, who landed in the trees and proceeded to squawk insults at the cat, who sat glumly, sphinxlike, glaring at them.
More surprising is what crows do to hawks and owls when they find one. A group of crows will pursue a raptor, cawing and even approaching it and pecking at it in flight. They will harrass the larger, more threatening bird until they have driven it out of their territory.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
verb, transitive. To subject to aggressive pressure or intimidation. To make repeated small-scale attacks (military).
The cheek of birds when confronting creatures who can and do prey on them is always surprising.
Bluejays steal food from the housecats' bowl. It's easy for them to get away with this when the bowl sits on the porch; not so easy when the bowl is in the garage. The side door is open, but it is a mostly-enclosed space. One marauding jay was caught while snacking. The cat trotted out of the garage, the bird in his mouth. The cat changed the grip of his jaw and the bluejay was able to escape. Within three minutes, he returned with all his friends and relatives, who landed in the trees and proceeded to squawk insults at the cat, who sat glumly, sphinxlike, glaring at them.
More surprising is what crows do to hawks and owls when they find one. A group of crows will pursue a raptor, cawing and even approaching it and pecking at it in flight. They will harrass the larger, more threatening bird until they have driven it out of their territory.
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Gall
gall
verb, transitive. To fret and wear away by friction. To chafe, irritate or vex. To harass.
verb, intransitive. To become sore or worn by rubbing. Also, a noun.
The executive desk chair creaked faintly as Darrel pushed away from the keyboard and leaned back. He flexed his shoulders, trying to ease their tension. He must be getting old, he thought, then chuckled aloud. Of course he was: he had turned sixty-seven on his last birthday. He wondered again why he had accepted the job of running this company when the owner decided he wanted to take early retirement. It had seemed a good idea at the time, but since then, the restrictions on what he could do to promote and grow the business had galled him, more with each passing month.
He didn't need to review the books to know that they had now been operating in the red for more than half a year. He had done everything he knew how to do as a manager: kept strict tabs on employee performance and hours, made countless suggestions to the customer-service representative, and held endless phone conversations with former and present clients. Still, revenues continued to drop.
Conversations with the employees whose opinions he trusted the most yielded the same conclusion he had reached himself, some time ago.
"We need to advertise," Lizzy had advised, her round face solemn. Darrel didn't need to ask Russ, who sat glumly, staring at the floor. He knew that Russ would agree.
"What if we just did it, in a small way, then justified it to Steve later, after it bore fruit?" Nancy had asked, her head cocked to one side. "You've heard that old saying, haven't you Darrel? 'It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.'"
verb, transitive. To fret and wear away by friction. To chafe, irritate or vex. To harass.
verb, intransitive. To become sore or worn by rubbing. Also, a noun.
The executive desk chair creaked faintly as Darrel pushed away from the keyboard and leaned back. He flexed his shoulders, trying to ease their tension. He must be getting old, he thought, then chuckled aloud. Of course he was: he had turned sixty-seven on his last birthday. He wondered again why he had accepted the job of running this company when the owner decided he wanted to take early retirement. It had seemed a good idea at the time, but since then, the restrictions on what he could do to promote and grow the business had galled him, more with each passing month.
He didn't need to review the books to know that they had now been operating in the red for more than half a year. He had done everything he knew how to do as a manager: kept strict tabs on employee performance and hours, made countless suggestions to the customer-service representative, and held endless phone conversations with former and present clients. Still, revenues continued to drop.
Conversations with the employees whose opinions he trusted the most yielded the same conclusion he had reached himself, some time ago.
"We need to advertise," Lizzy had advised, her round face solemn. Darrel didn't need to ask Russ, who sat glumly, staring at the floor. He knew that Russ would agree.
"What if we just did it, in a small way, then justified it to Steve later, after it bore fruit?" Nancy had asked, her head cocked to one side. "You've heard that old saying, haven't you Darrel? 'It is easier to get forgiveness than permission.'"
Definitions adapted from The New Oxford American Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005 (eBook Edition, copyright 2008), and from Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam Company, Publishers, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, 1965, depending on which is more convenient to hand.
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