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Jul 14, 2024
This week’s themeMisleading words This week’s words adulterate metromania sexennial placer psychrophobia How popular are they? Relative usage over time AWADmail archives Index 
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From: Eileen Denny Alexander (eileen dennycreative.com) Subject: Adulterate Mom and dad were thrifty and stretched each paycheck cleverly. One trick mom used was to buy both 100% “real” milk and a powdered variety, and on the sly, mix them together. My five siblings and I were onto her, though. We would open the fridge, hold up the milk bottle and exclaim, “This milk is adulterated!” Eileen Denny Alexander, Mill Valley, California From: Richard S. Russell (RichardSRussell tds.net) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--adulterate I recall a story about a group of Sunday school teachers who every week were receiving a new poster from the home office illustrating one of the 10 commandments. They were getting increasingly nervous as the weeks went on, but breathed a sigh of relief when they saw the prohibition against “adultery” depicting a sneaky looking farmer watering down his milk. Richard S. Russell, Madison, Wisconsin From: Richard Martin (info tellatale.eu) Subject: Adultery Teaching a lesson in my German secondary school to a group of 17-year-old girls, I asked if anyone knew the meaning of adolescence. A hand shot up: “It’s the time between childhood and adultery.” Ah, I thought, how true! As I happen to still know the young lady, I can report she is now a happily married mother of two adolescents, and a teacher herself. Richard Martin, Darmstadt, Germany From: Kathryn Freeman (kfreeman861 gmail.com) Subject: Metromania From Cornelius Webb’s infamous panning of Keats’s Endymion in Blackwood’s Magazine (1818): “Of all the manias of this mad age, the most incurable, as well as the most common, seems to be no other than the Metromanie.” Kathryn Freeman, Miami, Florida From: Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni (casa.digiovanni sympatico.ca) Subject: Metromania By a coincidence this word popped up today, hours after I completed the manuscript of my fifth poetry collection. What will my publisher say? Caroline Morgan Di Giovanni, Toronto, Canada From: Hal Goldberg (hrgoldberg earthlink.net) Subject: Metromania - A Disease? So if I had metromania Then I would find the time To find the right words That tend to rhyme But I have things that I do Occupied by a kid Who says, “Come right now! I need help with this lid” The lid to what I inquire? He pauses to think “I just wanted your attention” He says with a wink So I tried to stop writing But words are so cool It’s a disease that I have The need to rhyme as a rule I’m off to the doctor Who’s really a shrink Just give into it Hal Don’t create such a stink! I give up -- I’ve got it -- metromania ... Help me Dr. Seuss! Hal Goldberg, Spokane, Washington From: Peggy Savides (chickenheaven wwt.net) Subject: More definitions for metromania A few more possible definitions: 1. The thrill of being in the big city. 2. Insistence on traveling by public transportation. 3. A compulsion to measure everything. Peggy Savides, Mondovi, Wisconsin From: Sandra Reischel (sandrareischel yahoo.com) Subject: Living one’s life
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I wanted to live my life so that people would know unmistakably that I am alive, so that when I finally die people will know the difference for sure between my living and my death. -June Jordan, writer, teacher, and activist (9 Jul 1936-2002) The quote from June Jordan is amplified by one from writer Ann Patchett: “The question is whether or not you choose to disturb the world around you, or if you choose to let it go on as if you had never arrived.” Sandra Reischel, Washington, DC From: Steve Benko (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Subject: Nikola Tesla’s thrill
A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything. -Nikola Tesla, electrical engineer and inventor (10 Jul 1856-1943) I second that emotion when it comes to performance art. As a producer, director, and actor in community theater, that’s how I got into it in middle age -- making a living from my workaday job but enjoying the thrill of creation evenings and weekends, validated by enthusiastic applause such as I never received at the office. Steve Benko, New York, New York From: Janice Power (powerjanice782 gmail.com) Subject: Comment In line with the Thought for Today from Nikola Tesla, my life took a turn when I began to write serious poetry. No one taught me how... rhyming came naturally, so did free verse. And earning 46 literary awards was exhilarating all from national journals from west to east. But the high point was an evening of my poetry read aloud at the Beck Center for the Arts outside Cleveland. The applause still sounds sweet to this day. Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio From: Henry M. Willis (hmw ssdslaw.com) Subject: Sexennial There have been stories floating around for years about speeches in which politicians used perfectly innocuous words to depict their opponents as sex fiends or worse. A famous, but completely apocryphal, story involves George Smathers, when running against Claude Pepper for Senator for Florida in 1950. Smathers supposedly accused Pepper of being “a shameless extrovert” and of “practicing nepotism with his sister-in-law,” informing his audience that Pepper’s sister had once been “a thespian in Greenwich Village” and warning them that Pepper himself was a “sexagenarian”. Smathers not only said nothing of the sort, but for years offered $10,000 to anyone who could prove he had. No one ever stepped forward to claim the reward. This was instead a story made up by some bored newspapermen. It got repeated with new embellishments each time it was retold. It was not even new -- there were earlier versions in the decades before 1950 involving “men and women students matriculating in broad daylight, right before everybody” in Missouri, and male and female students “using the same curriculum” in Kentucky, while a candidate in Manitoba supposedly started a whispering campaign that his opponent was a sexagenarian. But the remarkable part of the story is that there is a kernel of truth to it. In 1920 James F. Sweeney, a politician from western Massachusetts running for the Massachusetts House of Representatives, warned his constituents of the dangers of a “sex hygiene” bill that would require teaching of birth control and sex hygiene to ten- and twelve-year-olds. He followed that warning by noting that his opponent was a member of the local school board and “is also a sexagenarian.” The word sexagenarian was in italics. Sweeney won the race by six percentage points. That appears to be the basis for the story that got repeated, with most of the details slowly worn away, and attributed to politicians in the Plains States and Provinces, the border States, and the Deep South, with more and more humorous doubletalk tacked on as the story traveled around. You can find all the details of this story, and some of the others, at Bonnie Taylor Blake’s blog: “Dirty Politics: Smathers, Pepper, and Quasi Malediction in American Political Folklore”. Henry M. Willis, Los Angeles, California From: Sandra Swain (torbaylaurelwood bigpond.com) Subject: placer What a surprise placer was! I lived near Placerville for many years and had no idea it meant anything. True, it was in the gravelly foothills and part of a belt of small mining towns humming with activity during the gold rush. Most are now tourist towns. What serendipitous learning occurs on the wonderful A.Word.A.Day. Love it! Sandra Swain, Albany, Australia From: Dan Bell (belldan hotmail.com) Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--placer I grew up in Placer County, California, a few miles up the Gold Country Highway, Hwy 49. In this amazing place, where water cannons were used to wash out the placer gold... the runoff changed the course of rivers in the Sacramento Valley, and years later when I was in law school I read cases about that. Dan Bell, Paradise, California From: Ron Betchley (emef2012 aol.com) Subject: psychrophobia
USAGE: “Do you live in an igloo? Then you definitely do not have psychrophobia.” North Hills News Record (Warrendale, Pennsylvania); May 30, 1978. It is because one has psychrophobia that one lives in an igloo. There, one can survive the worst of the cold with the heat from one candle. Ron Betchley, Yarker, Canada Anagrams
Make your own anagrams and animations. Limericks Adulterate I think that it’s truly a sin To adulterate great-tasting gin By adding vermouth. It’s the God’s honest truth, And really gets under my skin. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) Some people add seltzer to wine. I think they are crossing a line! So here’s what I’d say: “Go drink it that way, But please don’t adulterate mine!” -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) The rotisserie chef, with costs high of late, Had begun to quite slyly adulterate his signature cut; One could say with eyes shut, “Something’s wrong with an entrée that once was great.” -Shyamal Mukherji, Mumbai, India (mukherjis hotmail.com) “Justice Thomas we surely can cultivate,” Said the donor; “His views we’ll adulterate. We can offer RVs; Plus he’ll cry out, ‘Yes, please!’ to replacing his wife with another mate.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Metromania Metromania’s made my life worse, For it seems I’m addicted to verse. I’m obsessed day and night With these rhymes that I write, And this pastime is now one I curse! -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) Is THAT what I have? There’s a name? Oh, goody! Henceforth I’ll proclaim Metromania means That though sharing no genes, Ogden Nash and yours truly: the same! -Bindy Bitterman, Chicago, Illinois (bindy eurekaevanston.com) “Over 3,000 lim’ricks? Insane o’ ya!” say my friends. “Steve, you’ve got metromania!” “But it’s not only me,” I say; “Several, with glee, Are for Anu all busting our crania.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Sexennial The senator, I can confirm, Has served his sexennial term. Now, let me be clear -- That just means six-year, Not something to do with his sperm. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) “Though we lack private parts, I’m sure Kenny’ll Fix the problem before our sexennial,” Said Barbie. “Six years Being chaste! I’m all ears To know how he’ll give THAT deal a burial.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Placer (mineral deposits) A miner who studied at Vassar Lay claim to a very large placer. And then, very fast, Much gold she amassed -- In wealth, not a soul could surpass her. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) The miner, he found a great treasure, While panning for gold at his leisure. “A nugget of size!” He’d shout in surprise. “To find in my placer, a pleasure.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “She’s rich now, I’ll no longer sass her; She’s got nuggets of gold in her placer,” Said the other prospector. “I’ll love and protect her; I’ll say to her, ‘Let’s find a pastor.’ “ -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Placer (competition placing) I remember the Seabiscuit story. Every race that he won gave him glory. What of each second placer? Every one a good racer. I’ve forgotten those names. Oh, so sorry! -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) The horse, a famed thoroughbred racer, In the Derby came second: a placer. “I was favored to win; Got nosed out. A has-been!” he cried. “Here comes my owner -- can’t face her.” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Psychrophobia Oh look! There’s Ms. Sadie and Sammy On the sunny, hot beach of Miami. Psychrophobic were they, And they just couldn’t stay In New York, which gets cold, wet, and clammy. -Rudy Landesman, New York, New York (ydur36 hotmail.com) She lives in a tropical spot And thrives where it’s steamy and hot. Psychrophobia’s why She’s liable to cry When visiting somewhere it’s not. -Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com) There once was a penguin, I’m told, Who had a great fear of the cold. Psychrophobia’s toll, Made him leave the South Pole. “It’s warmer in Fiji. Don’t scold.” -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “For your winter vacation, Mongolia Won’t be good if you have psychrophobia,” Said the travel guide. “Summer there’s also a bummer; Too hot. Try Tahiti. Utopia!” -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Puns “Though she achieved popularity as a child actor, as an adulterate-ings grew even higher,” wrote Sarah Jessica Parker’s biographer. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) Parisians love their subway system. It borders on Metromania. -Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com) “Notwithstanding my famous quote, I might have metromania-ns I didn’t like had I lived over there at the time,” said Will Rogers after reading Dracula. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “All I have to do is have sexennial pay me six figures to keep quiet about it?” asked Stormy incredulously. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) “I’d placer first, she did a beautiful double axel and the difficult triple axel,” said one of the ice-skating judges. -Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (powerjanice782 gmail.com) “I can’t stand my mother-in-law-to-be. What table can I placer at so I don’t have to talk to her?” wondered the bridezilla. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) The ornithologist heaved a great psychrophobia having driven him from his favorite spot for observing smaller, more colorful birds. -Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com) A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
The power to define the situation is the ultimate power. -Jerry Rubin,
activist and author (14 Jul 1938-1994)
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