The writer’s house

What are we looking for when we visit?

The writer’s house – The Boston Globe.

and

Joan Wickeresham’s webpage

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And here is the quotation:

“Market value is market value. Stop letting the financial industry call a duck a whale,” stated an e-mail message signed by Diane Walser.

For more, here’s the source.

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By Erin McKean May 1, 2011 – Published in the Boston Globe:

Consider the slight but significant difference between these two sentences: “The word failure isn’t in the dictionary” and “The word failure isn’t in his dictionary.” With the first, the blame falls on the hapless dictionary editor (who works, of course, on what lexicographer Rosamund Moon has called the UAD — “the Unidentified Authorizing Dictionary”).

Here’s a link to the whole article. Enjoy it.

Erin McKean is a lexicographer and founder of Wordnik.com. E-mail her at erin@wordnik.com.

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I didn’t hear you

I hear you.

Just one short verb to express so much. Hear. Pronounced just like its homonym: here.

I hear you. I understand what you’re saying …

and I’m paying attention to WHAT you’re saying. It has not only reached my ears … it’s reached my … reason. I’m taking what you’re saying into consideration.

Famous people have said this at some point in their political careers when they’re forced to listen!

Others might be … a little hard of hearing and say this:

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18022a1.mp3|titles=I didn’t hear you]

and when it comes to the latest news … or gossip:

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18022e1.mp3|titles=Have you heard]

and when we finally meet … one of us just might say :

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18022c1.mp3|titles=I’ve heard so much about you]

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Who values life more than the French? Who else has an expression ingrained in the language which says:  “Il n’y a pas mort d’homme.”

Literally, this could be translated as ‘No one died from it.” but it is most usually applied to put a situation in perspective and show that whatever happened, though not the positive, desired result, isn’t catastrophic.

In a world where there seems to be an immature tendency towards sensationalism, where the minor masquerades as the major and in which we are shocked numb by the repetition of history, this little expression which says “OK, we’ll get over it – It could have been worse” puts everything in its right perspective.

“Yes, it could have been worse.”

“Could have been better… Could have been worse.”

In any case, it wasn’t so serious that someone lost what was most precious; his or her life; the life of a loved, cherished one.

We tried … We didn’t succeed … but … so what? You’re still here and kicking, aren’t you? And so am I!

“Ce n’est pas grave.” It’s just not so serious. No need to get upset over it. No need to fret, to worry, to pout, to complain, to cry, to weep. It’s not the end of the the world.

And certainly no cause for mourning.

In French, there’s another saying that says:

“Il faut appeler un chat un chat.”

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This piece by Elliot Silberberg was published in today’s IHT. Thank you, Elliot!

If you like the Paris Savannah Connection, you’ll enjoy it!

For parrots, freedom is just another word.

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From The Last Word on the New York Times

Sidney Lumet

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at The American Museum of Natural History

There is an exhibit on at the American Museum of Natural History in New York that would make the trip worthwhile – if only for that!

But you can also get an incredible introduction to the show right here … The Brain: The Inside Story  or you can go straight to

Your Sensing Brain,    Your Emotional Brain,     Your Thinking Brain,     Your Changing Brain,

or

The 21st century Brain.

The adjective is brainy. That means smart, real smart.  Apparently, we only use a small part of it. You’re smarter than you think!

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Here’s the inside story …

THERE may be no city that takes shopping more seriously than Paris, the birthplace of haute couture and a place where mere browsers, while welcome, can still be made to feel snubbed in subtle ways. In fact, the French term for window shopping, faire du lèche-vitrine, translates directly as “to go window licking.” To shop more like a local, it helps to know the score at the coolest stores in town. Here are four of them

continue at the New York Times.

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As some of you know,  I’ve developed a vey specific method to deal with a fundamental language issue: forgetfulness.

The method is simple enough. We start with a word or a concept that’s used in everyday speech. It can be an adjective like “hot,” a verb like “to sit down” or even an adverb like “forward” or a preposition like “on.” It could also be a noun like “ceiling” or “night” or a pronoun like “us” or “here.”

What we then do is explore our memories for the opposites of these words. Sometimes the contrary comes instantaneously while for others, it takes a moment or two and for some, we just can’t find them even though we … “know” them.

Where are these words we can’t find?

Assuming they’re not new, never-encountered words but merely inactive or latent, are they just lost in our memories – covered in dust, or rusty … like an old bicycle in the back of the garage or is there some other psycho-linguistic reason we can’t recall them? Do we know them … but ignore them?

It seems that most of the time, these words we “know” but can’t remember – or seem to have forgotten – have fallen asleep … and like Sleeping Beauty who wakes up with a kiss from her Prince Charming, only need their complementary partners, their “other halves” to wake them up and come back to life!

And when this waking up happens, we’re bringing something up from our unconscious to our consciousness. And what do you know? Recognition happens.

Déjà vu?

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