Dark Skies Over the Grand.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Word Watching ~
Fascinator / n. As we recall, we first heard the word when a Scottish friend returned to Canada from a wedding in Scotland. Describing how essential it was to own a "fascinator" and the skirmish to purchase one, she was obviously traumatized over the thought that attendance without one would have been a travesty. At the time, we had no idea what this essential was. What could so insult a bride and groom? Since that of course, the British Royal Wedding news has made "fascinator" a household word. It is a type of hat! It appears to us to be a whimsical, feathery, perhaps lacey item ~ flamboyant in nature ~ worn on an angle on the side of the head.
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary The foremost authority on current Canadian English lists but does not define the word "fascinator" ~ only "fascinate"/ v. capture the interest of; attract irresistibly. deprive of the power of escape or resistance; transfix.
Webster's New World Dictionary appears to get it right. Fascinator/ n. a woman's scarf made of lace, net, yarn, etc., worn around the head and neck.
Fascinator / n. As we recall, we first heard the word when a Scottish friend returned to Canada from a wedding in Scotland. Describing how essential it was to own a "fascinator" and the skirmish to purchase one, she was obviously traumatized over the thought that attendance without one would have been a travesty. At the time, we had no idea what this essential was. What could so insult a bride and groom? Since that of course, the British Royal Wedding news has made "fascinator" a household word. It is a type of hat! It appears to us to be a whimsical, feathery, perhaps lacey item ~ flamboyant in nature ~ worn on an angle on the side of the head.
The Canadian Oxford Dictionary The foremost authority on current Canadian English lists but does not define the word "fascinator" ~ only "fascinate"/ v. capture the interest of; attract irresistibly. deprive of the power of escape or resistance; transfix.
Webster's New World Dictionary appears to get it right. Fascinator/ n. a woman's scarf made of lace, net, yarn, etc., worn around the head and neck.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Mired in election hype? Disillusioned with the endless attack sound bites? Feeling that the politicians are just bickering again?
"Indeed, part of what makes the juxtaposition of competing press releases so alluring to reporters is that it feeds that old journalistic standby -- personal conflict. It's hard to deny that political civility has declined in the past decade, and that the parties differ sharply on major policy issues. But at least some of the decline in civility arises from the fact that, from the press' perspective, civility is boring. Your quote doesn't run if you say, "I see the other guy's point of view" or "The issue's really complicated." Go on the attack, though, and you can barely fight off the cameras. Often, reporters will go out of their way to stir up the pot, asking questions in such a way as to provoke an inflammatory response."
~ Barack Obama, p. 125 The AUDACITY of HOPE, Random House, Inc., 2006.
"Indeed, part of what makes the juxtaposition of competing press releases so alluring to reporters is that it feeds that old journalistic standby -- personal conflict. It's hard to deny that political civility has declined in the past decade, and that the parties differ sharply on major policy issues. But at least some of the decline in civility arises from the fact that, from the press' perspective, civility is boring. Your quote doesn't run if you say, "I see the other guy's point of view" or "The issue's really complicated." Go on the attack, though, and you can barely fight off the cameras. Often, reporters will go out of their way to stir up the pot, asking questions in such a way as to provoke an inflammatory response."
~ Barack Obama, p. 125 The AUDACITY of HOPE, Random House, Inc., 2006.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
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