Living In the World, Not on It

1) Does hearing about the health benefits of food products ever discourage you from eating those products (like hearing about the fiber content in cereal or probiotics in yogurt)? Sometimes. Let's face it, low-fat cheese is synonymous with plastic. Other things, not so much. It's a hit or miss with these things. 2) If you were fired from a job for no good reason and could do anything on your way out without the possibility of any future retribution, what might you do to get a little revenge? I wouldn't. Having done Human Resources for years, I'm not one to find any pleasure in revenge. How many people told me they were going to sue and the percentage of suits brought against a company is well under .009%. And the number won? Less. 3) You're at a job interview and the person interviewing you is extremely physically attractive. Do your raging hormones effect how well you carry yourself during the remainder of your interview? I have had that hap...

Q1 - Life : Talking about yours for a moment ( i.e., the fact that you're among the living )... Do you think of life as a right or privilege , and how does your answer impact the way you live your life? It is a privilege . I have a genetic condition, so I consider each day above ground a good one. I enjoy every day, even the ones when I feel terrible, and do my best to see the magic in them. Q2 - Unexplained : Incidents of mass animal deaths have been reported in the U.S. and around the world in the past two months. Thousands of dead birds fell from the sky in Arkansas on New Year's Eve, following a massive fish kill just 100 miles away days earlier. In the week following, other mass bird deaths were reported in nearby Louisiana and Kentucky. Birds were also reported to fall dead from the sky in Italy and Sweden, and more recently similar incidents have been reported in California and Alabama. Mass fish kills have also been reported in Chicago, Maryland, Brazil and...

The Washington Post's Style Invitational also asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are this year's winners: Bozone (n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future. Giraffiti (n): Vandalism spray-painted very, very high. Sarchasm (n): The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. Hipatitis (n): Terminal coolness. Osteopornosis (n): A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.) Karmageddon (n): its like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. Dopeler effect (n): The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter w...

with Anu Garg Fear and Desire. That sounds like the name of some 19th century novel. Instead, it is the theme for this week's words in AWAD . It seems that in English there's a word for every imaginable phobia and mania -- let's face up to some of these during the next few days. agoraphobia PRONUNCIATION: (ag-uhr-uh-FO-bee-uh) MEANING: noun: A fear of being in public places, open spaces, or in crowds ETYMOLOGY: From Greek agora (marketplace). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ger- (to gather) that is also the source of egregious , gregarious , disgregate , aggregate, congregation, and segregate. USAGE: "Concerns a polar bear would suffer agoraphobia after moving from a city zoo to four acres in the Highlands were unfounded." Agoraphobic Bear Fears 'Allayed'; BBC News (London, UK); Oct 30, 2009. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: You write to communicate to the hearts and minds of others what's burning inside you. And we edit to let th...

Remember the old days when I could post all the time? They disappeared for a while, so I have weeks worth of A Word A Day posts to put up! Here we go: Week ending 29 November 2009: A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg Last week we featured verbs. Now it's the turn for their little helpers: adverbs. Adverbs help verbs describe the action with more precision or more detail. How did she enter the room? Cautiously, gingerly, excitedly, etc. We know adverbs as words ending in -ly, but adverbs come in many garbs. This week we'll feature five unusual adverbs. doggo PRONUNCIATION: (DOW-goh, DOG-oh) MEANING: adverb: Still and quiet (used in the form: to lie doggo) ETYMOLOGY: Probably from dog USAGE: "The possibility is that [the Australian cricket team members ] are merely lying doggo before they come out blazing in the next three days." Stephen Brenkley; Cricket: Anderson Has Australia in Deep Strife ; The Independent (London, UK); Jul 18, 2009. A THOUGH...

with Anu Garg Little strokes make a letter and those letters come together to form words. We assign meanings to the words. Often they express simple ideas: a tree, a rock, water, and so on. Sometimes a word describes a more complex idea. Have you ever found yourself wondering, "Wouldn't it be nice if there were a word for it?" Well, there is a word for almost everything under the sun. This week we have dug up five words you may not have known existed. acnestis PRONUNCIATION: (AK-nist-uhs) MEANING: noun: The part of the body where one cannot reach to scratch ETYMOLOGY: From Greek aknestis (spine), from Ancient Greek knestis (spine, cheese-grater). USAGE: "In what has to be the longest post-election season in living memory, the last five months have felt like an acnestis upon our collective soul; like that little patch of skin on our backs that we just can't reach to scratch ourselves. It's irritating. It's annoying. It's left us reaching and spinning a...

From oldest to most recent (Monday through Friday every week): from Anu Garg 28 September 2009: A writer usually doesn't have a boss. On the other hand, a writer's boss is his readers. You could say I have 800,000 bosses. But this relationship is not so clearcut. Let me explain. From time to time a reader is displeased with something I have written, and emails: "Keep your opinions to yourself or you will lose readers." Appreciative as I am of my readers -- they are whom I write for -- I do not always write to try to please them. I express my opinion. Some opinions resonate and some leave them fuming, but they all can see -- I hope -- that it comes from my heart. I don't expect everyone to agree with me or my beliefs. Well, at least this week, I'm at your service hand and foot, etymologically speaking. All words to be featured have either hand or foot as their origin, even though it may not always be obvious. prestidigitation PRONUNCIATION:(pres-ti-dij-i-TAY-sh...