A.Word.A.Day -- AWADmail Issue 776

May 14, 2017

This week’s theme
Words originating in running

This week’s words
au courant
runnel
concur
palindrome
excursus

How popular are they?
Relative usage over time

AWADmail archives
Index

Next week’s theme
Words that aren't what they appear to be

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keeps on giving,
all year long:
A gift subscription of A.Word.A.Day or the gift of books

AWADmail Issue 776

From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Interesting stories from the Net

The introduction to last week’s words touched a lot of readers, in various ways. More than 600 of you wrote back, from the US and around the world. Thanks to all for writing.

Read on for a small sampling of these comments.

I am a second-generation American. All four of my grandparents were Polish immigrants who met and married in this country.

At a recent Town Hall, the new Town Supervisor tried to curry favor by glad-handing audience members before the meeting began. The only thing that he said to me, after he introduced himself, was, “You look All-American!”

After over a hundred years of my family’s and my acclimations, I guess I “passed”.

All of that is a preamble to this: I am grateful for and inspired by your introduction to yesterday’s A.Word.A.Day. I had never felt more All-American than after having read your words.

From: Jonathan Mersel (jonathan.mersel gmail.com)
Subject: Preamble to this Week’s Word Choices

I have just read your preamble to this week’s word choices. Right on! Write on! Run on!

Please consider RUNNING for local office. Thinking in large terms, we can make a small effort, and the response will be enormous.

I love your introductory essay to this week. In your brief essay I can feel your ire, your peacefulness, your love of all living things, and your certainty that sincere effort, well directed, will always produce goodness. I share your sense that in time right will always prevail. Thank you.

From: Jennifer Spencer (mythsbc yahoo.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

So, it’s ok to insult those who voted for Trump. What arrogance! What temerity! Your words are good but your incivility is repulsive.

Thank you so much for a wonderful introduction this week to the word of the day. Beautifully written, succinct, and captures my feelings perfectly. When I read it to my wife she was in tears. As you say, this nightmare shall pass and the country will survive albeit a little worst for wear. Sad we seem to have these people who are so focused on going backwards rather than forward.

Thank you, Anu, for your comment. As we face this four-year marathon of changes, I am reminded of the words, oft quoted: The arc of the moral universe is long, but bends toward justice. Yes. But not without our help. The moral universe by definition requires human intervention, we must hang on and bend it by our efforts. Like freedom, it is a constant struggle.

Thank you, Anu, for your moving introduction to today’s word. Most of us are in a marathon race to get back to the open, optimistic, forward-looking America we love. The others -- fearful, yearning for a past that never was, will doubtless attack you. Keep moving forward!

From: Polly Hardee (econjn central.uh.edu)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

Some of your readers endorse the policies of President Trump, and know them to be much more efficacious for our country than the welfare state. So, save your diatribe for those who believe the more liberal platform. Don’t spread it to all in your Internet “net”. Or, take me off your list -- spare me of your views. I’ll expand my vocabulary in other ways.

Polly Hardee, PhD, Professor, Economics Department, University of Houston, Houston, Texas

I found this quotation at the end of an article about why people believe our current president: The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance,” Fry says in the clip. “It is the illusion of knowledge.”
[The seven-minute video in this article is a must-watch for everyone, even college professors. -Ed.]

From: Nancy L. Porter (nlinder ellijay.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

If I were not 82 years old with a bad back, I would be there running with you. My ancestors fought in the American Revolution. I join you in your shock and disbelief that we now are saddled with a President who wants to destroy the freedoms we fought for during the Revolution and all wars since. He is making a mockery of the Constitution. He thumbs his nose at moral decency. Keep up the faith, Anu. This, too, will pass... like a kidney stone, but it will pass.

From: Faye Wilson, Ed.D. (geefaye comcast.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

Thank you for your perspective on where we are/headed in this country. The sadness is that he is speaking for so many people who NEVER changed ... they want to ‘steal’ the ideas and/or credit for what others bring to this country and not acknowledge the NEED.

I live in a rural community where farmers rely on migrant workers and yet I do not see or hear ONE of those farmers stand up to this immigrant rhetoric and policy ... rather, they hold fast to their Republican stances and are perfectly happy with LYING about their role in immigration and treating families UNFAIRLY and BLAMING the school system for needing more money for ELL/ESL classes as if the school system created the demand for services.

From: Weyman Wong (weymanwong comcast.net)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

Thanks for your moving words. Last night on CBS 60 Minutes, they had the story of an undocumented immigrant who’d arrived 25 years ago, married, and started a thriving restaurant business in Indiana. He was deported, leaving his wife and two kids behind. Sadly, they revealed they’d voted for Trump for “business” reasons but never expected he’d be one of those selected to be deported. They said they made a mistake in voting for Trump. Bummer! Too many realize now or will realize they’d made a mistake. But we will rebound. I do still believe this is a country brimming with fairness and overflowing with generosity. You made the right choice immigrating here, and America’s richer for it. Thanks.

I’m an Italian former priest, former translator, now teacher. I thank you for your introduction into this week’s words, that reflexion about running and fighting against dire straits.

From: Michael Poole (michaelpoole paradise.net.nz)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

Your President is none of my business of course, since, although I speak the same mother tongue as most Americans, I have only ever been a visitor to the USA. Your president, however, is currently the most influential person on the planet, so all of us out here are extremely interested in what he (or she, when you get a lady president) says and does. We’ve all seen and variously admired and disliked many US Presidents in my time on this earth, but I think I can say this is the first one in my lifetime who has us all completely foxed. We hang on his every last word, but all too often can’t understand what he’s driving at -- or, in fear and trembling, wish we didn’t.

Along with the rest of the world, I’ll watch and ponder and wish you Americans (and all the rest of us) the best of luck.

That said, there’s one thing that stands to safeguard you and us all. If there’s one country that has a population with the spirit of democracy ingrained in the very pores of their skins, it’s the United States of America. Your Presidents wield great power, but there are limits to that power, and those are set in the living rooms of the very same people who elect them. I’m confident that your current President, being an American, is at heart very well aware of that, his tweets notwithstanding.

From: Mike Eldon (mike.eldon depotkenya.org)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--au courant

Wonderfully expressed, Anu. I so enjoy receiving your daily stimulation, inspiration, and education. Many thanks again.

Your site and insights make my day and millennium: always informative and to the point, usually sending a dart, with intentions not to hurt necessarily, but to awaken contemplation and critique.

Your opening today moved me deeply indeed. Although I am not an American, two of my children live there. They (and I) share the pain that you are living through, and hope that the abomination that inhabits the White House will not remain there for too long. It is an on-going farce and tragedy, and the feelings of despair that come with it are not to be denied, white-washed or avoided, but looked on full-faced with great determination.

I’m sure many are running beside you and hope for the best. Thank you for your inherent kindness, no small trait in today’s worldly mess.

This morning I read your bit before the actual words, and my heart went out to you in understanding because we are a couple of British pensioners living in very rural north Spain, watching with such pain not only the election of Trump, but the horrifying Brexit disaster. They are two sides of the same coin.

We do a bit of long-distance walking on The Camino de Santiago near us here in Galicia, so good luck with your marathon. And keep smiling, keep saving those earthworms, it is still a beautiful world.

Many thanks for your piece about running and your feelings about America. I’ve been inspired by it to regard my own country, South Africa, in the same light. After our bloodless revolution over twenty years ago we were an example to the world, but now we’re on the brink of becoming just another kleptocracy (there’s a word for you!). But we must overcome!

I am from India, and the conditions which you wrote about are happening here as well. Strongmen and demagogues are in rise here too. Things are being done on the basis of nationalism. Maybe your advice needs to be acted here as well.

Just heading out for a run with my crazy looping dog on one of the best beaches ever, here in Donegal, Ireland. May is the best time: full of the sounds of bees and birds (cuckoos, pheasants, terns, curlews, finches, the list goes on) and scent of gentle greening.

Anyway I have to take this moment to applaud your essay with a resounding “Hear-hear”, with tears in my eyes. An accidental ex-pat, I miss my native USA with every heartbeat, even as I lament the view from across the sea -- and sometimes feel quite smug that my personal carbon footprint is halved just by living at the end of the road in a strange throwback county on an island hellbent for American-style everything. (Don’t get me started.)

Thank you for your work, words, ethos, and personal touch, which nourishes me and my family every week.

Kindest regards from the American President (of the Donegal Chapter of the A.Word.A.Day Fan Club),

I’ve said it before, but will say it again, since there can never be too much positive feedback -- especially these days, I think.

Your daily words mean a lot to me, in so many ways. They’re humorous, uplifting, consoling, thought-provoking -- oh, and yes, also very informative!

I’m -- unfortunately -- a pessimist, sort of. But am doing my best to fight it. It means that I was one of the few who didn’t think the current US presidency unthinkable and was not surprised it happened. But there is always hope -- and people like you and your daily words help me sustain it.

And then there is, over here in Europe, the great relief that France did not vote for Le Pen. Another reason to hope things will get better. And, yes, it takes more than just hoping. So I’ll keep trying to do my bit, too. Which you help me do -- thanks!

Come to Canada, we have marathons and a Prime Minister who welcomes the new. Email me when you get here,

Canada is a marvelous place. We’re lucky to have you as a neighbor. But this is my home now; I’d rather stay here and fight. Thank you.
-Anu Garg

From: Mary Helen Espinosa (maryhelen.espinosa usa.net)
Subject: thank you and gracias!

Although I live abroad, I am mortified at what is happening in the good ol’ US of A. Thank you, thank you... for AWAD and for your personal tale.

Your introduction today struck a special chord with me. I am originally Czech and came to Canada almost 50 years ago. I taught computing at a small university, retired, and live in a small town enjoying retirement. Like you, I want my “new” country to be strong, compassionate, and forward-looking.

Like you (but for different reasons) I decided to run marathons; I was 74 years old when I ran my first one, shortly after a surgery. Now I have done about 15 around the world, two Boston marathons among them, one just a few weeks ago -- and I improved by 26 minutes compared to last year. My secret plan (only two people know about it; now three) is to do an ultramarathon in the fall.

Only 15? Real men (and women) run 40 marathons in 40 days. Just kidding. I hope to be half as active as you are when I’m your age. Best wishes with the ultramarathon! (now only 8391203493749334 people know the secret! We all will be cheering for you. Keep us posted.)
-Anu Garg

I am a bicycle rider and my mind trick is this: when I have ridden one mile on a 50-mile ride, I dauntingly realize that I’ve only gone 1/50 of the distance - thinking about the 49 miles yet to ride, I wonder if I will be able to complete 50 miles. At the end of the next mile, I calculate that I’ve completed 2/50 or 1/25 of the ride. Psychologically, I’ve cut the distance magically in half. At mile 4 I’ve ridden 4/50 or 1/12 of my ride - in only four miles I’ve gone from 1/50 to 1/12. I continue this for the duration of the ride, and at mile 45, I’m 9/10 of the way done - wow, nearly home. This mind trick at each mile keeps my 80-year-old math synapses firing as my odometer ticks off each mile and keeps my spirits high. Some people who prefer percentages may find their mind trick is: 2%, and then 4% (4% is double so that feels good), then 4 miles = 8% which is double that, and then pretty soon I’m 50% done. At 45 miles you are 90% done which is an “A” so just like in college you can coast the last 5 miles.

In Dutch, a newspaper is a “courant”, but in Afrikaans it’s “koerant”.

But how the mind wanders... You ran a series on ugly words, but I do like the isiXhosa word for a newspaper -- “phepha-ndaba”: literally, talking paper or paper that talks.

I have long felt that in a coldly rational world, Wordsmith would be banned because it’s such a distraction from Things That Must Be Done!

You may have heard from other cyclists about another use of the word “runnel”. We have a few in Pittsburgh -- and a lot of steps -- although I also encountered a street consisting of steps when I was walking to work in Seattle.

My Introductory Psychology students used to accuse me of instead wanting to be an English professor, as I often would (try to) teach them new vocabulary words and etymologies. For example, I’d explain that “hippocampus” (a part of the brain) derived from “hippokampos,” Greek for “seahorse,” which describes the shape of the organ. I’d also say that “hippos” = “horse” and “kampos” = “sea monster.” I’d then ask if anyone knew what a hippodrome was. No one ever did, nor a velodrome.

I suppose that instead of the above paragraph, I could have written that when I inadvertently ran across a TV news video segment about a former candidate for vice president, I replied back to the screen, “Oh no, not Palin (again).” But that would have been too easy.

Let me quote from an Australian comedian, Hannah Gadsby: “My name is Hannah. It’s a palindrome. All my family have names that are palindromes. There’s Mum, and Dad, and Nan, and Pop, and my brother Kayak ...”

Robert Trebor was the actor who played Salmoneus, a comic relief character in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess. Because of his name, his online fans called themselves “The Palindrome Pals”.

Thanks for that word today: I’m using it to remember my niece, Ressa Greer Gasser. We used to marvel at her name every time we thought of it. Now, as a teenager, she’s just Ressa. A funny and strong growing girl.

We have a friend who sends annual limerick postcards based around the name of his holiday destination. A few years ago I was thrilled to be name-checked in that year’s postcard, sent from the Drôme department in the South of France, where he was staying between the towns of Bouchet and Baume. To clarify, my friends all call me Ede ... It goes like this:

An amorous youth called Jérôme
Has a girl in both Bouchet and Baume.
But the girls aren’t agreed
Whether Ada or Ede
Is at present his best pal in Drôme.

Not too surprisingly, all of Willy Williamson’s many friends treasure his postcards!

One of my favorite songs by the band They Might Be Giants, released on their “Apollo 18” album, is the song I Palindrome I. It contains several palindromes of different types including letters, words, concepts, and the music itself. A puzzle in a song, I love it!

In reading Anu Garg’s inspiring account of his running for the upcoming first-ever marathon, I couldn’t help recalling the short story, circa late 1950s, by author Alan Sillitoe, titled “The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner”, where the main character finds solace, self-esteem, and moral fortitude in his earnest pursuit of cross-country running.

For me, Anu’s commitment to pursuing the personal challenge of this upcoming race is a kind of metaphor for his brave and undaunted willingness to rise above the madding crowd and consistently speak truth to power... rightfully extolling what has always been great, decent, and laudatory about this blessed adopted country of ours*, whilst voicing his extreme umbrage toward the scary, dangerous, negative turn America has seemingly taken with the current powers-that-be, that appear to be hell-bent in taking this nation on a retrograde, insular, and societally divisive course.

^*Like Anu, I too am a “foreign import” to the US. Still a proud Canuck, but feeling very at home, and much-appreciated in my adopted country, after 38 years living here in Los Angeles.

When I pondered the etymology and meaning of the word “palindrome”, I immediately conjured up the notion of “duality”... the flip-side, heads-or-tails, tit-for-tat, comings-and-goings, tête-à-tête.

Then the image of the dual-headed god of Roman mythology, Janus, popped into my noggin, inspiring this quirky illustrative scenario. My toga-wearing Grecian frog, a chorus-of-one, contemplates these “attached” sculpted twin heads, tossing in his two drachmas’ worth of snarky commentary.

From: Anu Garg (words at wordsmith.org)
Subject: Anagrams of this week’s words

The critics raved about her dress.
She posed in it with great finesse.
Comme des Garçons
Is au courant --
But I find it sheer craziness!
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

The histrionic prez is an actor,
a keeping-us-guessing distracter.
D’you think you’re au courant?
You’ll soon find you aren’t,
so Protean’s this vile malefactor.
-Glenn R. Diamond, Highland Park, New Jersey (slartibartfastx yahoo.com)

The President seems nonchalant
About keeping himself au courant.
Oh Lord, what a choice,
I still yearn for the voice
Of the white-haired old guy from Vermont.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

If your cake batter pours like a runnel,
You have put too much milk through the funnel.
There’s something gone wrong
If it rushes headlong
Like a train on its way through a tunnel.
-Janice Power, Cleveland, Ohio (jpower wowway.com)

Our candidates should be vetted,
So we’d know if they’re indebted.
Let’s find the runnel
Through which funds funnel
And who to Moscow has jetted.
-Marion Wolf, Bergenfield, New Jersey (marionewolf yahoo.com)

In search of a calm English runnel
my myriad musings to funnel . . .
from Calais to Dover
in a jiff I’ll be over
if the tunnel I run is the Chunnel!
-Brenda J. Gannam, Brooklyn, New York (gannamconsulting earthlink.net)

At the beach too much time in the sun’ll
Mascara soon melt like a runnel.
But up there guys won’t look
If your top you unhook.
Further south will their vision be tunnel.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

His enablers might loudly demur,
but worldwide nervous millions concur:
With each screw-up and lie
they all cringe and then cry,
Why, oh why, is it him and not her?
-Zelda Dvoretzky, Haifa, Israel (zeldahaifa gmail.com)

She is forced to agree and defer,
With a curtsy, a bow, and “Yes, sir.”
Ah, but next time she’ll win,
So she stifles a grin.
She is down now -- she stoops to concur.
-David Goldberg, Pinckney, Michigan (goldberg wccnet.edu)

The Right did not concur with the Left
And foisted a maniac of klep.
In a coup de Trump
Sanity did stump.
Now we endure neath a flag bereft.
-Charles Harp, Victoria, Canada (texzenpro yahoo.com)

“I was sipping my evening liqueur,”
Explained Donald, “The rest is a blur.
An anchor on Fox
Said, ‘Like Archibald Cox
Comey’s bad,’ and I thought, ‘I concur.’”
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

We’re running a fun pleasure-dome
that lim’ricks and I call our home.
Come in, join the games.
By the way, dear, your name’s
very queer, I must say. “Palindrome”?
-Anne Thomas, Sedona, Arizona (antom earthlink.net)

I just love a good palindrome,
But which one to use in this poem?
While the “Step on no pets,”
Is as good as it gets,
“Madam I’m Adam,” takes me home.
-Joan Perrin, Port Jefferson Station, New York (perrinjoan aol.com)

A palindrome runs forward and back.
Good examples are gnu dung and kayak,
Or Madam, I’m Adam.
But now I can’t fathom
Do geese see God playing a camac?
-Kathy Deutsch, Melbourne, Australia (kathy deutsch.net.au)

A war fought with weapons atomic
Could change our whole sequence genomic.
ATA, GCG,
CCC, TCT,
Every strand might become palindromic.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)

All the progress we’ve made he reverses,
while his petulant grudges he nurses.
Rampant falsehood and greed
give me outrage fatigue
and I desperately need an excursus.
-Zelda Dvoretzky, Haifa, Israel (zeldahaifa gmail.com)

After long-winded and corruptive excursus,
By which The Donald tries to coerce us,
The White House superpower
Should go back to Trump Tower.
He’s making us all rather nervous.
-Judith Marks-White, Westport, Connecticut (joodthmw gmail.com)

When explaining a point needs excursus,
You can hear down the hall Donald’s curses.
He shouts, “It’s all lies!”
And from Washington flies
To his golf club but won’t reimburse us.
-Steve Benko, New York, New York (stevebenko1 gmail.com)