Word of the day: 'Heimlich'

First of all, why are they called "maneuvers"? Wouldn't "Heimlich hugs" be more accurate? Wikipedia, in its page on choking, calls them "abdominal thrusts," but notes that the venerable Heimlich himself rejected that term on the grounds that it sounded disgusting.

Not really. In fact, Mr. Henry J. Heimlich objected because he felt the word "abdomen" was too vague, and might lead the thruster to apply his thrusts in the incorrect spot on the choker's torso.

I also like the word because of how it's spelled. It's obviously German, just like my name, and that makes me feel good. I wonder how many people tried to put a "k" on the end of his name, instead of the "h." Not to worry, Henry, very few get my "Pf" right. I feel your pain.

The pain of no one spelling your name correctly, that is--nothing that would require an abdominal thrust...

Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.

Word of the day: 'Classicist'

"n. An advocate or the principles of classicism ... one who advocates the teaching of Greek and Latin in the schools."

I have a friend (you know who you are) who has recently converted to classicism, which is basically a different and more logical way to approach education than what is currently in place today. This friend sent me a link to an article written by Dorothy Sayers, whose name I recognized, but whose writing I had never read. Sayers was a contemporary of Lewis and Tolkien, and she argued--convincingly--in a 1947 essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning," that classical education should be revived, updated and implemented instead of the modern system of education. After 60 years, her words ring truer than ever. In this post, I will include a few snippets from her essay, which can be read in its entirety here.

"Have you ever, in listening to a debate among adult and presumably responsible people, been fretted by the extraordinary inability of the average debater to speak to the question, or to meet and refute the arguments of speakers on the other side? Or have you ever pondered upon the extremely high incidence of irrelevant matter which crops up at committee meetings, and upon the very great rarity of persons capable of acting as chairmen of committees? And when you think of this, and think that most of our public affairs are settled by debates and committees, have you ever felt a certain sinking of the heart?"

(This happened to me on Sunday, as I was watching part of a debate among Democratic presidential candidates on C-SPAN.)

"Do you ever find that young people, when they have left school, not only forget most of what they have learnt (that is only to be expected), but forget also, or betray that they have never really known, how to tackle a new subject for themselves? ... Do you often come across people for whom, all their lives, a 'subject' remains a 'subject,' divided by watertight bulkheads from all other 'subjects,' so that they experience very great difficulty in making an immediate mental connection between let us say, algebra and detective fiction, sewage disposal and the price of salmon--or, more generally, between such spheres of knowledge as philosophy and economics, or chemistry and art?"

Sayers' argument goes on and on, with ample evidence of the failure of modern education to do its job. She then proposes a return to classical education, under which we would teach kids the tools of learning before we start throwing information at them by the bucketful. I encourage you to read the entire essay. This last quote sums up what I have felt for a long time about public education in the U.S.

"Is not the great defect of our education today--a defect traceable through all the disquieting symptoms of trouble that I have mentioned--that although we often succeed in teaching our pupils 'subjects,' we fail lamentably on the whole in teaching them how to think: they learn everything, except the art of learning."

Please share your thoughts on this subject. I would love to explore educational philosophy in further depth, if my readers would be interested in participating.

Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.

Word of the day: 'Noncontroversial'

You gotta love it when someone chooses to use this five-syllable word when they could just say "boring." I suppose things that are noncontroversial are not always boring, but usually that is the case. We are human. Our nature is to revel in observing a good controversy. We hate to be embroiled in one with consequences, but watching one from a safe place--is there anything more satisfying to our curiosity? Could this be the reason why we love gossip?

And could this word of the day be the antidote to gossip: To consider scandals and failure in other people's lives as noncontroversial because they were not our decisions to make, and not our consequences to reap? I can just imagine all the noncontroversy that wouldn't travel from person to person within our communities if our love for one another was so strong that we could override the gossip gene.

How boring, but how very safe, that community would be.

Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.

Word of the day: 'Gibbous'

"adj. More than half but less than fully illuminated."

Today's word was selected not for how it sounds or is spelled, but because I deem it useful in everyday conversation and writing. Before this word became part of my vocabulary about 30 seconds ago, the closest I could get to what it means was "partially-lit," which just doesn't cut it. In case you're wondering how it's said, the "g" is hard, as in "globe" or "gimme a break," which is what you're probably thinking right about now. You don't have to thank me for trying to expand your verbal horizons. It's what I do.

Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.

Word of the day: 'Fluorescent'

To the adjective describing the most mind-numbingly white light imaginable;
To the way that light drowns colors and bestows headaches;
To the way fluorescent bulbs pop when they shatter;
To the fact that it is perhaps the only kind of light that actually makes one feel colder;
To the frustrated writers who can never figure out how it's spelled;
I say,

At least it is an interesting word, with a "u" before an "o." And it even comes packaged with a verb that I bet no one has ever used before: "Fluoresce," which means, roughly, to act fluorescent. Please let me know if you ever use "fluoresce" legitimately in a sentence. You may win some kind of prize, and it will most likely be a pocket protector, because you are either a bored scientist or crossword puzzle freak and I know how you guys love your pencils.

Word of the day: 'Fisticuffs'

I love a good baseball fight, and there was a doozy on TV today. To make a long story short, Padres pitcher Chris Young beaned Derrek Lee, the best hitter in the big leagues, in this morning's game in Chicago. Lee charged the mound and punches were thrown. Jake Peavy, Marcus Giles, Lou Piniella--everyone got involved and three players and a coach got tossed. The announcers called it "fisticuffs."

The word is simply defined as "a fistfight," according to my dictionary, but it means so much more. When I hear it, I picture two gentlemen in three-piece suits and fedoras "putting their dukes up" to defend the honor of their women. You don't describe a UFC bout as "fisticuffs," nor a street brawl. But when baseball players punch each other, it still applies. Something about fighting over sticks and bases and a little leather ball deserves nothing more of a description than today's flippant and whimsical word of the day.

Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. (Baseball announcers are full of them, too.) Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.

Word of the day: 'Tarmac'

It's precious when dictionary definitions include other words you have to look up. Mine defines "tarmac" as "A bituminous road or surface." Wow, thanks.

"Bituminous," in turn, means "Like or containing bitumen." Oh, OK.

And finally we get to the bottom of it. "Bitumen" refers to a component of asphalt and tar.

I chose "tarmac" as my first word of the day because I just like it. It's no-nonsense. Doesn't even have a "k" on the end of it, which makes me wonder how it survived the spelling inquisition where all words ending with the letter "c" were forced to add a "k."

"Tarmack" just wouldn't be the same. So, tarmac, I salute you.

The word also reminds me of some great memories, tarmacs across which I have traveled on my way to somewhere better, bigger or more exciting. A tarmac is all I've seen of South Carolina, when a flight to North Carolina was diverted during a rainstorm and landed for half an hour just over the border. And I plan on seeing my first one in Asia this summer, when we fly to China (see "Countdown," below).

Blogger's note: Books, and especially dictionaries, are full of good words. Feel free to leave a comment sharing one of your favorites, and keep watching for more of mine.